“She believed that she could, so she did!”
Sales have been a male dominant industry for a long time now. And so, it’s no wonder we don’t get to see many women in here. Our previous blog on Sales influencers proves this dominance, with almost 85% names being men.
However, it’s a new era, and women are getting more exposure than ever before!
Today, women are making their mark on the world, be it any industry, any stream; we now know at least one feminine name that defines success in each of those careers.
Not only did they carve a niche for themselves, but they also stood as examples of strength and versatility for every other woman who wants to do something big in this world.
We have put together a list of 15 such female influencers who have done their best and have become role models to look up to!
But first, let us understand what difference do women make in sales.
Why do we need more women in Sales?
We can talk about gender equality and feminism as much as we want, but certain facts make female performers stand out compared to their male counterparts.
Here are some of those reasons that would make you think about getting more women into your workforce!
Women are good at sales
Women love to talk; there’s no denial to that. And women are good at handling relationships too! This is what makes them good at sales. According to a study, women tend to close more deals than men. In fact, female performers of this study outperformed men by 73.9%.
Women can be better for your bottom-line
“Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.”- Coco Chanel
Through diversity and different perspectives, a business can grow leaps and bounds in less time. And hence, gender diversity adds to the diverse thought processes as well as different look out towards the world.
This makes a case for more female onboarding into companies, as it simply proves to be better for your bottom-line.
Women can help you connect better with your customers
Customer relationship is the foremost important thing for any salesperson to maintain throughout his/ her sales career. There’s no doubt that women are more empathetic and can connect with the customers better, and even on a different level altogether.
Having such diversity in your workforce can help you deal better with your diverse customer base as well!
How can businesses make a case for gender diversity?
A study held at the University of Illinois in Chicago showed that companies with higher gender diversity, in general, are 15% more likely to have a higher profit.
This confirms that women are truly the future of B2B sales.
Now, it is up to the companies how they manage their employment policies. So, more women can join into sales and change the face of the sales world with their prowess.
Here’s how companies can make efforts towards getting more female employees into the business and make a case for gender diversity.
Diversity-focused recruiting
Many of the job descriptions we see today focuses on male employees rather than aiming them towards all kinds of salespeople, male or female. They contain words as ‘aggressive’ and ‘competitive’ which are more masculine in their approach.
However, companies can make these descriptions more attractive to female applicants as well by slightly changing their vocabulary, and using phrases such as ‘customer-focused’ or ‘succeed’.
These job descriptions should emphasize problem-solving and client responsibilities. So, it gets clear to the applicants that the job doesn’t require only a certain gender, but is open for all!
Female mentorship programs
Making an environment for women in which they can feel comfortable is of utmost importance. A financial firm came with an amazing idea.
They matched each female employee with a female mentor to get their questions answered without hesitation and settle in well into the corporate environment.
The firm also hosted ‘lunch and learn’ sessions where female salespeople openly discussed their challenges and solutions. This helped them build relationships with those they felt comfortable with and could easily confide in.
With this as just one of the many examples, companies can develop their own unique ideas of how they can make their female employees more comfortable and encourage them to perform better.
Better coaching
Just like how females feel comfortable talking about challenges with other females, it is also necessary to get them comfortable with their male colleagues.
Companies can get males to coach the female salespeople to get the same reviews as their male counterparts would do.
More promotion for women
It was revealed in a study that the teams led by females had an equal number of males and females, while those teams led by men had more than three-quarters of men.
Promoting more women to managerial posts is a sure way to retain more female employees and attract new ones.
Women who are killing it in B2B sales
So finally, we are at the part where we introduce some of the best female influencers in the sales industry to look up to in the upcoming year.
These women have shaped their careers in a way that they now mentor and coach others in the sales industry. And they have a lot more to offer than just closed deals! Check them out on their social media handles and learn the nitty-gritty of sales from the best!
Jill Konrath
There’s no need to introduce her. She’s one of the most influential women in the sales industry. She is known throughout the industry as an author, speaker, and leader.
Her knowledge is exceptional, having been listed in 50 most influential people sales lead management for 4 consecutive years
Tiffani Bova
Named one of the Most Powerful and Influential Women in California and Top 50 Sales and Marketing voices by LinkedIn, Bova has a unique experience in both sales execution and management. She has a dynamic approach of interpreting and solving business problems catering to all sales levels.
Cynthia Barnes
A LinkedIn Top Sales influencers in 2019, Barnes has dedicated her career to motivating and empowering women with the necessary skills to rise up to the highest levels in the sales industry.
With over 20 years of experience in sales, and the foundation of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals (NAWSP) in 2016, Barnes has embarked on a journey to redefine what it means to be a woman in sales.
Heidi Solomon-Orlick
Heidi Solomon-Orlick is an award-winning Vice President of Global Sales at VXI Global Solutions and Founder and CEO of GirlzWhoSell. In addition to winning two Gold Stevie Awards for Worldwide Sales Executive of the Year and Women of the Year in Sales in 2021, Heidi is listed in Top 100 Women Magazine, is a 2X author, and recently released her book Heels to Deals: How Women Are Dominating in Business-to-Business Sales.
Heidi is a frequent industry keynote speaker and host of the GirlzWhoSell Spotlight podcast. She’s truly an inspiration, role model, and mentor for other women who are carving out their place in the sales industry.
GirlzWhoSell is a revolution and movement that aspires to democratize professional sales and to build the largest pipeline of diverse, early-stage female sales talent. More than an influencer, Heidi is a leader in sales and has been encouraging others to consider sales as a viable career alternative.
Hilary Headlee
Headlee was listed in 2019 as a top LinkedIn sales voice and is an active speaker at the top sales conferences such as SaaStr, Outreach UNLEASH, and TOPO Summit.
She blends strategic insights, technical knowledge, and unlimited energy and inspiration into her team management and inspires her colleagues and team members.
Becc Holand
Listed by Drift among the 12 sales development leaders, Becc has been inspiring a whole new generation of salespeople.
She’s the Head of Sales at Chorus.ai and recently developed her brainchild, ‘Flip the script’ from a webinar to a North America tour.
Elinor Stutz
Stutz is recognized as Top 1% influencer in sales.
She’s a leading contributor to many leading publications as an author and is passionate about her message- Believe, Become, Empower.
Jill Rowley
Rowley is the single most influential thought leader in Social Selling.
Her impressive track record of over 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley and software sales companies like Oracle and Eloqua makes her worthy of following for great sales hacks.
Trish Bertuzzi
Trish is highly regarded as one of the most influential people in sales and is the proud author of the number 1 bestselling book- “The Sales Development Playbook.”
In the last two decades, she has helped over 320+ companies in building, optimizing and expanding Inside Sales- from building pipelines to generating revenue.
Lori Richardson
Lori is recognized by Forbes as one of the “Top 30 Social Sales Influencers” worldwide.
Not only an amazing Sales leader, but Richardson is also a strong advocate of women in sales, and her social media feeds include all kinds of valuable tips on Sales.
Jennifer Gluckow
Jennifer is a Sales trainer, author, and host of one of the world’s most popular sales podcasts- Sell or Die.
Her content is one of the best in the sales industry, something to follow ardently!
Julie Hansen
She’s one of the top 50 sales bloggers, author of Sales Presentations for Dummies, and a keynote speaker. She’s the one to follow if you like reading blogs on sales.
Carole Mahoney
Founder of Chief Sales Coach, Mahoney follows the mantra of “Always be helping.”
You can follow her for her blogs on growing your business and other sales tricks.
Amy Franko
She’s the CEO at Amy Franko Associates and has excellent experience of more than 14 years in the sales industry.
She’s also the author of Amazon’s #1 release – The Modern Seller.
Kim Orlesky
Listed as LinkedIn Top Sales Leader, Orlesky is the CEO at KO Advantage Group, and co-founder of Sales Unicorn, which helps companies look for highly-skilled virtual salespeople.
Colleen Francis
Colleen is LinkedIn’s #1 Sales influencer 2024, Hall of Fame keynote speaker, and author of a bestseller- Nonstop Sales Boom.
She’s an award-winning sales strategist and owner at Engage Selling Solutions.
The changing sales environment is favoring women, and so should you!
Getting more women into sales is not only about social justice but also about the enhanced performance of the company.
The ways in which to encourage more females into joining the force are plenty, and it is up to the companies how they attract and maintain female leadership in their businesses.
The female sales influencers listed above are just a few of those many who are reshaping the world, and it is necessary for all of us to understand that the sales environment is favoring women, and women are truly going to be the future of B2B sales world.
You may also enjoy these
Sales follow up: 7 Tried & tested strategies [8 templates inside]
Sales follow up is a process that salespeople use to reconnect with potential clients after their initial meeting...
27 Min readHow to use sales battle card to boost win rates (Templates)
Claiming you're unmatched doesn't always seal the...
17 Min read10 Best sales management tools that you must check in 2024!
A sales management software solution designed to manage and optimize the sales process, from lead management to...
21 Min readValue-based selling: Transforming customer needs into sales
In a survey by ValueSelling Associates Inc., it was found that 87% of high-growth companies use a value-based...
21 Min readDiscovery meeting: How to do it successfully? [Free template]
Imagine stepping onto the stage, the spotlight hits, and the audience waits with bated breath. This is your...
19 Min read
Make sales sexy again 😉
- Save at least 50% on subscriptions and integrations.
- Save 30% more time for your sales team.
- Choose a CRM trusted by 5000+ businesses.
Parijat Lamba
Being an avid reader, Parijat developed a keen interest in writing at a very young age. She's passionate about topics like Spirituality, History, Psychology, and Philosophy. She's now a Product Specialist at Salesmate and strives to write her own novel someday.