Women In Sales Awards India 2015 Magazine

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 1
Women in Sales
Awards
The
I N D I A
MARCH 2015
THE
WINNERS
2015Meet
the
SALES SUPERS
RUCHITA
TANEJA
AGGARWAL,the most distinguished
sales woman of 2015
TAKING
THE LEAD,
Women in Sales

2 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015
CONGRATULATIONS FROM BACARDÍ, PROUD SPONSORS
T O T H O S E W H O ’ V E
GLASS
T H E B A R
RAISED
R A I S E A

WELCOME
If talent is not recognized, does that mean it does not exist? Of course
it doesn’t, but in our fast-moving world the everyday brilliance of gifted
saleswomen does often go unnoticed. Using the Women In Sales Awards as a
platform, we hope to change this by recognizing and celebrating the women
driving businesses forward in India.
Thank you to the companies that nominated and supported the inaugural
Women In Sales Awards – India. Congratulations to all the nominees, the
finalists and the winners.
I would like to thank all the judges, our partners, Business Salt and Sales
Express, and our generous supporter Bacardi, without whom this event would
not have been possible.
A special thank you to Chandni Mehta and Deepti Keshari whose dedication
and hard work has helped make the event a success amidst all the challenges
we faced in organising the Awards.
This competition should not be seen as a one-off for any nominee, finalist or
winner. We would like to stay in touch with you, and see how your careers and
ideas develop. You are the best Ambassadors to promote the Women In Sales
program in India specifically, and to help promote the furtherance of Women’s
careers in the Sales Industry in India more generally!
We look forward to more companies taking part next year. Thank you.
Afi Ofori
Managing Director,
Zars Media

In this magazine
Taking the Lead
Women in Sales
Judges Profiles
& The Judging Process
Sales - the Perfect Antidote:
a Focus on India
UK Still a Selling Country
Interview with 2014
Sales Director Winner
Nicola Robinson (Europe)
2014 Winners - Women in
Sales Awards Europe
Interview with 2014
Financial Sales Winner
& the Most Distinguished
Saleswoman of the Year
Serra Erelcin (Europe)
Performance Potential in
the Global Talent Pool
The Winners
6.
8.
12.
34.
38.
36.
41.
42.
14.
6.
32.
Innovation, Productivity
and Insight
32.

The Women In Sales Awards Magazine
is published by Zars Media
Data breakdown, n = 348
Data breakdown, n= 377
9%
25%
%
By geography:
By geography:
By industry:
By industry:
g
Asia 11%
Australia & New
Zealand 0.5%
Europe 33.5%
Middle East 0%
North America
(USA and Canada) 1%
South Africa 48%
South America 6%
Business services
(including recruitment)
9%
Construction 11%
Healthcare 39%
Insurance 4%
IT 10%
Manufacturing 15%
Pharmaceutical 5%
Utilities 5%
Europe 60%
Middle East 0.5%
North America
(USA and Canada) 32%
South Africa 5%
Banking 19%
Business services
(including recruitment) 9%
Construction 28%
Electronics 0.2%
Engineering 6%
Hospitality 0.1%
IT 8%
Manufacturing 23%
Publishing 0.1%
Utilities 3%
42.
14.
Thanks To Our Partners :
8 Heathfield Court Fleet,
Hampshire GU51 5DX England
01252612025
info@wisawards.com

Women in sales…
By Priya Sachdev
www.business-salt.com

I
have witnessed this phenomenon in the numerous sales workshops
that I have facilitated wherein women have always been a minority.
Both globally and in India there is a serious crunch of women in
the leadership and executive boards despite high level of aspirations
amongst women employee to reach these levels.
Is this truly the effect of the “glass ceiling”? I think not!
As per Women Matter a research by McKinsey & Company there isn’t a
single glass ceiling but a pipeline towards the top that is dropping women
at every transitional point.
Hence, the need of the hour is to retain women in sales and groom more
women to join the sales force and nurture them into leadership roles.
My own experience of being in sales for over two decades has taught me
that to succeed in this field what one needs is the passion to outperform, a
supportive team and most importantly mentors.
So, my advice for a successful sales career would be:
Understand the buyers & the buying process – THE most
important style element in a successful sales cycle isn’t how
sales professionals sell, but how the buyers buy. The focus is
on the customer, not the salesperson. One of the key tenets of
the MHI Global sales philosophy is that every buyer makes
every decision differently, every time. Even if this is the third
time they have bought a solution like yours – or even your
solution – there will be nuances to this buying decision.
Globally,
women influence
70% of buying decisions,
yet, even with this
significant influence,
women worldwide
fall severely short
in contributing to
the world of sales.
Stay optimistic but know when to move on! – Winning fast is
great, winning slowly is ok, loosing fast is also manageable but
losing slowly is pathetic! Hone discipline to run opportunities
and against a carefully vetted set of criteria to decide when to
chase or walk away.
Retention is the name of the game – While account
acquisition is one of the main drivers of growth, acquiring
new accounts is extremely challenging and costly for most
businesses. Experts place the cost of acquiring a new customer
between 4 and 10 times the cost of maintaining an existing
one. Not all companies can weather the financial strain
associated with losing a customer and it could be especially
critical to the individual salesperson.
Sell and negotiate solely on value – If price was the main
reason for losing a sale, it would be a lot easier to win by
simply dropping it. The reality is that there are solutions
customers will pay a premium for and this is the point where
knowing your buyer will help you win. Ultimately, customers
decide to buy from you because they believe you brought to
the table something that has value to them that they can’t get
elsewhere.
1.
“We must be authors of the history of our age.”
Madeleine Albright
2.
3.
4.
Echoing the sentiments behind the words of Madeleine Albright the 1st
woman to have become the United States Secretary of State, I would say
that this is the time to take the lead and sway the balance of influence to
our favour.

THE JUDGING DAY
The judges were organised into groups;
each group was made up of 3 judges and
interviewed a number of finalists within
their assigned categories. Nomination
forms and any supporting documents
were reviewed by the judges prior to a
nominee being selected as a finalist. Each
nomination was evaluated and scored
out of a total of 5 points. The next stage
of the process was an interview with the
judges.
JUDGESPROFILES
THE JUDGES
A group of senior executives from
various industries were carefully selected
as an evaluation panel of independent
judges. Their objective was to review the
nominations and interview each of the
finalists.
&THE JUDGING
PROCESS
WHY AN INTERVIEW
WITH THE JUDGES?
The interview allows the judges to
further assess each finalist’s sales skills,
strategies and process etc. The interview
also complements their review of the
submitted nomination forms.
THE FINALISTS TIME
WITH THE JUDGES
This was an opportunity for the finalists
to engage the judges by telling them
the story of their success. Each judge
awarded points across the same criteria.
After the interview, all finalists answered
one final question: “why they should win
the award in their category?”
Each finalist’s overall score was the sum
of the scores from the interview with the
3 judges in their category. The finalist
with the highest score in each category
was selected as the winner in that
category.
THE DISTINGUISHED SALES
WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
This award is for the finalist who scored
the highest among all the finalists.
"I love the idea behind the awards
and feel that this recognition
will go a long way in building
confidence and creating awareness
that more and more women are
entering and succeeding in the
sales field. Leaders across the
industries are looking forward
to this and the participation is
a clear indication of this. Both
the nominees and the winners
have impressive credentials and
my only wish is that they should
mentor more women to join them."
Urvashi Mehta
GM Sales & Marketing , Carnoustie Resorts
"The Women in Sales Awards India chapter -2015 was orchestrated
professionally. It was heartening to see the nominees vying for the top slot
with focused presentation and engaging reviews with the judges. I would
like congratulate all the winners and wish Afi & her team the very best
for sustaining this momentum."
Salil Bhatnagar
Sr. VP Sales Training Canara HSBC Oriental Bank
of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited

Sunil Lulla
Chairman and Managing Director,
Grey Group
Over the last 26 years, Sunil has enriched
himself with extensive experience in
building brands and businesses. Having
worked with a number of start-ups and
turnaround businesses. Sunil has worked
with media, entertainment, technology
and television broadcast.
Monica Tata
Managing Director,
HBO India Pvt Ltd
With over 24 years of experience
behind her; Monica has expertise in
management of television networks
operations in the Media and
Entertainment industry. She worked as
part of the leadership team at Star and
Turner. She has had a consistent record
of increasing sales, effective negotiations,
profit and loss analysis and strategic
implementation of business operations.
Priya Sachdev
CRO & Head Strategic Alliances,
Business Salt
Priya has over 20 years of professional
experience spanning multiple business
verticals and diverse sectors and across
geos. In the past few years she has been
responsible as profit centre head for
successful start ups and has led Business
Development initiatives across sectors
such as Office Automation, Training &
Development, Consulting and FMCG.
Salil Bhatnagar
Sr. Vice President - Sales Training
at Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance
Co. Ltd.
A Sales & Marketing professional
Salil has over 24 years’ experience. He
specializes in Sales, behavioural and
LeadershipTraining aimed at building
people excellence and has trained across
India, Middle East and Asia Pacific
countries, i.e Singapore, China, Malaysia,
Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
Sandhya Vasudevan
Managing Director at DBOI Global
Services Pvt Ltd; Deutsche Bank
Group
Sandhya has over 24 years of rich
industry experience in the field of
Operations, Financial Services and
the IT Enabled Services industry and
has worked in organisations such as
Guardian Royal Exchange, Thomson
Reuters and AXA. Her most recent roles
prior to joining Deutsche Bank were in
strategic development and integration of
Thomas Reuters.
Sumit Chadha
Ex Managing Director & Country
Head, BlackRock India
Sumit Chadha is a Business Leader,
Management consultant, Mentor, and
Advisor with over 25 years of experience
in the Financial Services Industry with
expertise in Setting up/Scaling up
operations, Strategy development &
execution, Business Transformation,
Contact Center Management, Client
Experience, Retail banking products,
Diversity & Inclusion practices.

FAQ'sWho are the judges?
Where do they come from?
Zars Media invites judges from all over
India. Judges may be executives with social
innovation expertise, business people,
educators and university administrators and
leading practitioners in the field.
How do you choose the judges?
We usually look for executives with sales
backgrounds and with more than 15 years
sales experience. We actively recruit and
also take suggestions from partners and
past judges.
What do the judges evaluate?
Judges will review all the entries within
their assigned categories and give their
scores as per the guidelines. This will
include reviewing the nomination forms
and any confidential supplemental
documents and project information that is
included in the application.
Is the judging by invitation only, or can I
apply to be a judge?
We recruit judges after screening their profiles
using LinkedIn and other news sources. We
are happy to consider suggestions. If you'd
like to be considered,or suggest future judges,
please emailjudges@wisawards.com
Pradeep Dwivedi
ChiefCorporateSales&MarketingOfficer,
DainikBhaskarGroup|DBCorpLtd.
Pradeep has an experience of nearly 22
years of B2B as well as B2C management-
cutting across functions and industries.
Earlier Pradeep was Regional Chief
Operating Officer of Enterprise Business
ofTataTeleservices Ltd,and has previously
worked with American Express Bank,
Standard Chartered Bank,GE Capital &
Eicher Motors.
Rehan A. Khan
Managing Director,Abbott India Ltd
General Management responsibility for
publicly traded company which is India’s
third largest multinational Pharma
business. Leadership of a 3000 person
team, with a P&L responsibility of $400
million for South Asia (India, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan).
Ashish Dewan
Sales Director Indian Operations at
Nivea
Ashish is a key player in developing
and implementing the overall business
strategy and plan for Nivea India’s sales
strategy. Prior to joing Nivea he was the
National Sales Manager at ColorBar
Cosmetics and spent 14 year at at L'oreal
in various roles.
Deep Bhandari
Director Marketing & Sales Excellence,
UCB
As Director Marketing and Sales
Excellence, Deep’s key role includes
driving Sales Force Effectiveness and
Sales Force Optimization, continuously
evaluate and optimize sales force sizing
and structure, hiring and designing
career pathways.
Urvashi Mehta
GM - Sales & Marketing ,Carnoustie
Resorts
In her current role as GM Sales &
Marketing for Carnoustie Resorts,
Urvashi handles the Revenue Generation
and Brand Building for the newly opened
resort in Kerala. She is also responsible
for their international presence.
"This Awardswillcertainlypaveawayandhelpbringagreaterawarenessof theneedfor
genderdiversityinsalesandinexecutivesalesleadershipteams,aswellashelpgrowthepipeline
of femalesalestalentandtopavethewayformorewomentosecureboard-levelpositions.”
Urvashi Mehta
GM Sales & Marketing , Carnoustie Resorts

www.teamchat.com

A
s more and more companies make a beeline to
India and develop strategies to bolster their
balance sheets by exploiting its growing market,
the demand for skilled sales professionals will grow
multifold. It is ironical to note that barring a few
MBA colleges, which can be counted on the fingertips, majority
of the B- Schools have failed miserably to make the future
business leaders aware of the importance of sales in business
and consequently train them on contemporary sales skills.
A recent research by Times of India, found out that 60% of
graduates from tier II and 35% graduates from tier I B-Schools
are below industry standard in Sales Acumen! Yet another study
by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India) discovered that only 10% of the graduates are
employable barring top B-Schools!
Though it is a well-established fact that sales function offers
tremendous growth opportunity, youngsters in India and
especially girls are unaware of sales as a career option let alone
knowing about sales skills. The awareness about sales being
an effective tool to grow in career is by and large restricted to
the metros and that too with limited emphasis on continually
improving sales skills. For majority of those who join the sales
force their decision is shaped largely by uncertainty of getting
a job after the course completion or financial pressure. The
percentage of youth taking up a sales job as a planned step to
rise in career is dismally low.
SALES - THE PERFECT
ANTIDOTE:
In India, sectors like Telecom, FMCG, Manufacturing
companies (especially 2- wheeler segment) etc. have been
investing a lot to tap the vast rural and semi- rural markets to
increase their topline. Companies in these sectors have huge
requirement of skilled sales professionals for deeper market
penetration.
Fortunately, India enjoys considerable demographic advantage
and is well placed to fuel the growth of companies in these
sectors. All such areas like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand etc. are
under the radar of big companies and have sufficient manpower
that is educated and have fire in the belly to make it big. This
youth can be trained on sales skills and brought into the
workforce to the benefit of all stakeholders.
India under the new government regime is pushing the reforms
in order to make India a conducive place to do business for
overseas companies. This can be reality only when it has good
manpower, who can effectively translate the board room level
strategies into sales at the ground level.
Unlike many other skill development courses, sales skills
can be imparted in a relatively short span of time and make
individuals competent enough to join the workforce at an entry
level. It is thus, a potent tool to dismantle the vicious circle
of unemployment created by obsolete courses, which are not
offering an accurate reflection of the market demands.
It is appalling to note that in a
developing country like India the
percentage of educated unemployed youth
is among the highest in the world! Though the
government machinery is undertaking a slew of
measures to improve the traditional skill sets and
develop proficient manpower, a critical area is
being overlooked- Sales Skills!
a Focus on India


Enabling
Sales
Leadership
and
Enhancing
Profitability

Through
Innovative
Sales
Solutions

At
Sales
Express,
our
mission
is
to
empower
sales
professionals
and

organizations
with
means
to
grow
their
business
by
engaging
with

multiple
stakeholders
and
to
find
best
possible
solutions
through

mentoring,
networking
and
training
in
sales
domain.

www.salesexpress.in

The
Winners

The inaugural Women In Sales Awards – India attracted nominations from
some of the leading organisations in India, Including Nike, Capgemini,
America Express, Dr Reddy’s, Thomson Reuters, Abbott, Citi etc. After hours
of application reviews and a day of interviews with the judges please meet your
2015 Women In Sales Awards India Super Stars!

BEST WOMAN
SALES
DIRECTOR
I was super excited upon learning the news and
immediately shared it with my family. I thanked
my management and celebrated with my team as
this recognition is shared with them for the hard-
work and successes that we have had together as a
team.
Achievement is important to me and drives me to
excel in Sales. I have been privileged to be part of
Citi, an organization that recognizes and rewards
meritocracy. Being nominated by my management
for this award and now winning it is a great
moment for me and motivates me to scale greater
heights in the future.
Many research reports have talked about there
being a limited pool of successful women leaders
around for other women to aspire to. I hope this
recognition can serve as that catalyst for other
women colleagues within Citi to allow them to
know that it is indeed possible for a woman to
have a family and also do well at work. In the many
more years of professional life that I have ahead of
me if I can use this platform to help other women
(within/outside Citi) feel confident in straddling
both their personal and professional aspirations, I
would feel a sense of gratitude and satisfaction for
having had the opportunities including this award.
The journey from getting nominated to being
on the shortlist along with other strong women
achievers was a challenging and interesting
experience. In the final interview round while
competing with fellow candidates I learnt a lot
from studying their (shortlisted women) individual
career paths and from the opportunity to interact
with distinguished panellists. Responding to the
insightful questions posed by the panellists allowed
me to appreciate different perspectives required to
be a successful senior leader.
I would definitely advice my company to nominate
more women in sales for this award as the external
/ independent recognition that this platform
provides is very special, the process of selection
and the opportunity to network with other
women colleagues across companies/industries is
a valuable experience that adds to one’s personal
and professional development. Citi has taken on
a lot of initiatives with regards Diversity and this
would be a great add-on to furthering the Diversity
agenda at Citi.
Companies can build more visibility around this
recognition and therefore, inspire more women to
participate in future. This will also facilitate
increasing aspirational quotient of these awards.
& THE MOST DISTINGUISHED
SALESWOMAN OF THE YEAR

RUCHITA
TANEJA
AGGARWALDirector, North & East India Sales Head, Citibank

CHARISMA
MAHAJANHead – Account Management, Thomson Reuters

BEST WOMAN
SALES
MANAGER
The first thing I did when I was told I had made it to the finalist
stage was call my mom.
It means the world to me that I have won in my category. It has
reiterated my confidence and given me the boost to go on to become
an accomplished sales professional.
I plan to share my experiences so that other female colleagues can
make use of my experiences as a learning platform to fast forward
their growth in the professional world.
It has been a very enriching experience taking part in the awards.
The best part was the feedback that I received not only in writing
from my customers but the very fact that they were as excited as I
was about the awards.
I would most certainly advise my company to take part again next
year……YES!!! It’s a truly rewarding experience to be a part of an
international selection and awards process.
I think companies must nominate and socialize the importance and
criticality of these awards. It really means a lot to be a part of this
forum and winning it!!!

BEST WOMAN
IN FINANCIAL
SALES
I was really overjoyed on being selected as a
finalist and first thanked my leaders as it was
an achievement in itself to be nominated across
American Express’s large spectrum of talented
women employees in the first place. A big reason
for my success thus far, is the extensive support and
encouragement from my family, who have been
with me every step of the way, especially when it
involved a lot of travelling and time away from
home. So, I celebrated this honour with them and
in a way, it reinforced to us that all the sacrifices
and hard work was really worth it.
Winning this award is a remarkable personal
accomplishment and will surely help advance
my career, while providing immense industry
recognition at the same time. But, more
importantly winning means that today, women
don’t necessarily face the “either or” choice but can
effectively balance work and family life even in a
sales role! I love my job and equally love being a
mother and wife and don’t think I’ve compromised
on either of them at any step of this journey. This
win is going to instil in me more confidence and
drive to take on the next big challenge head on.
I would really like to use this win as an opportunity
to break barriers in women’s minds that sales is not a
function that we can excel in. Leading by example,
I hope to help demystify this domain for women
and especially show them through my journey, that
it’s as easy or as difficult as any other role. Being a
part of the women’s leadership initiative and West
India leadership team in American Express, this
will help increase women is sales & sales leader
roles which in turn will make our company stronger
through a more diverse salesforce.
Right from being nominated to preparation to the
final interaction with the judges, it has been an
extremely exciting and enriching experience. On
the one hand, it’s made me reflect on my leadership
style, accomplishments and career journey while
on the other hand, it challenged me on making
my achievements stand out across industries and
organisations. I think it’s a great initiative and I
feel honoured to have been a part of it, especially
during the inaugural year, and winning for me is
the icing on the cake.
I would certainly advice the company and senior
leaders across businesses to nominate women in
sales every year. This will add to the prestigious
reward and recognition programmes and sales
excellence awards that American Express invests
in every year. It’s also a great opportunity for both
the individual to be appreciated across the industry
as well as a platform for the company to showcase
talent.
I would suggest that companies inform and
educate business leaders at least 3 months prior to
submitting nominations so that talent pool can be
judiciously assessed and final nominations selected
after rigorous evaluation. Moreover, all women
employees, especially in sales roles must be aware
of these awards and the company’s participation,
which will give them further incentive to excel in
their roles.

BANI
SALUJA Director Consumer Cards
American Express

SANGEETA
ROYNational Business manager
MNC, Intel Technology India

BEST WOMAN
IN TECHNOLOGY
SALES
The first thing I did after hearing the news that I had been selected
as a finalist? It was more of a feeling than a reaction. A wow feeling
to celebrate another award(if won) as a sales professional and be part
of the great initiative of encouraging diversity in workplace.
The feeling of achievement of recognition from an external
organization is exemplary and I am very grateful that I have won.
Representing a technology organization/award category means a
rendition of the fact of transforming lives of consumers by creating
an impact through computing technology.
Having won I plan to encourage more women to take up sales roles
which is exciting enough to be in the realm of action as front leaders.
I will also try to mentor other women around creating a unique
differentiation for themselves in the sales function which should
stand out for themselves in such initiatives of being chosen amongst
other women. Finally this win will hopefully support the focus of my
organisation (Intel) in developing an inclusive and diverse workforce
to prevent from being myopic.
It’s been a very pleasurable experience taking part in the awards.
I will advise my company to take part again to ensure they gets
more opportunities to showcase diversity at work and encourage the
women force to be role models in male dominated sales world.
For companies considering nominating next year my advise is use
an assessment by calling out a unique differentiation /USP of the
nominee which stands tall amongst all.

BEST WOMAN
IN INSURANCE
SALES
I was very pleased to hear that I had been selected as one of the
finalists. I expressed my gratitude to the senior management team for
nominating me. While participation is important, being shortlisted
as one of finalist is very rewarding.
Insurance Sales has always been considered an unusual career choice
for women and winning in this category has been a privilege. This
award is a great recognition for my dedicated work, over the past
decade and will motivate me to perform better.
Winning this awards will hopefully help me showcase, that it is
possible to break conventional perceptions about Sales and motivate
more of my fellow women colleagues to take up Sales responsibilities.
Participating in the awards has been an enriching experience.
Especially the interaction with esteemed jury has been a great
learning experience. I have discovered new facets to my personality
during the process, which has enhanced my confidence.
Nomination to national level awards will definitely encourage
more women to take up Sales as their career as compared to other
traditional options. This is a great recognition to their efforts and
helps create role models to build future women leaders. I would love
to see more of my fellow colleagues being nominated and winning
this award.
Companies need to create more visibility around nominations for
women in sales awards to attract more attention across all sections of
the corporate world.

NALINI
VENKATAssistant Vice President Sales,
Marsh India Insurance
Brokers Pvt. Ltd.

BENITA
LAISHRAMSales Associate, Abbott India Limited

BEST WOMAN
IN PHARMACEUTICAL
SALES
The first thing that came to mind after being told I was a finalist was the
day when I started this career coming out from the college. I remembered
my long journey in sales career spanning 9+ years. I felt a great sense of
achievement when I heard that I have been nominated for this award. I
called up my mother, sister, my colleagues and friends to inform them.
It’s a great honour for me winning this award and in this category
which recognizes the sales as a career for women, when majority of the
people assume that a sales career is not suitable for women. It is really
encouraging for me and other women who want to choose sales as career.
Having won this award I would like to share my experience in terms of
the challenges I faced and how one can overcome to become successful
in their career. I would encourage my company to allow me to share this
with my colleagues during the annual meetings / review meetings.
Taking part in the awards has been a totally a different experience. A
very unique experience which values contributions from women in sales.
It was exciting and nerve racking at the same time; thinking about the
significance and magnitude of this award for one’s career.
I would advise my company to nominate more women for this award next
year as it will motivate the individuals to strive to achieve more success.
It’s a win-win situation for both the individual and for the organization.
I would like companies to consider the following points when they
nominate in 2016.
• What contributions that the individual has made to the healthcare
community beyond their normal work.
• How they were able to extend the scope of pharma sales to the
other healthcare channel partners like patients, communities, NGOs
in addition to physicians and pharmacies to better the healthcare
delivery to the needy.
• What were the challenges that they faced in terms of family, society
in choosing the sales as career? Finally enjoy the whole process.

BEST
WOMAN IN
ADVERTISING
SALES
Being nominated by my company in itself was very encouraging &
satisfying & it surely proves that hard work always pays off!! I called
my boss immediately & told him that his trust in my abilities has been
acknowledged by Women in Sales awards organiser’s too. He reciprocated
the same feelings and replied that if you get this award it is going to be
the victory of my belief in the exponential virtues you possess.
Winning this award reflects does not only highlight the recognition of
my hard work, but also victory of every single woman who is trying to
balance life as a professional and a mother. I have worked throughout
in this category in my career, winning the award in this category has
corroborated my credence that I am walking on the right path. I am
feeling very thrilled and contented.
I trust that winning this award is going to be a source of inspiration to
all other women in my company and I hope to help them in believing
in themselves to succeed, both at a professional and personal level. I am
certainly going to share the entire journey of my experience with all my
fellow colleagues and would ensure that they definitely participate next
year. Also I would share my experience with the HR Dept. and would
ensure that the communication gets circulated across female employees
in the organisation.
I have experienced a lot of excitement and enjoyed the entire process it was
Amazing and satisfying, thanks to professional way it was coordinate. In
fact, the pointers given to us really helped me in structuring my thoughts
and presentation for the esteemed jury. It was a flashback to the journey
of my success.
I will definitely encourage my company to nominate other women
next year. Definitely Yes! I would certainly share a presentation of my
experience with all the HOD’s of my company and would convince them
to nominate more female employees for this award.
Believe in Women Power and Believe in your women employees.
Empower them, and encourage them in large numbers to participate in
such awards!

PUNEETA
VADEHRA
NEGIAVP & National Head
Government, ABP News

SMIRITI
RAJUCorporate Sales Manager,
Abbott India Limited

BEST WOMAN
SALES
NEWCOMER
I was surprised when I heard I had been selected as a finalist and
called up my managers to thank them for the nomination that they
had sent as it came as a big surprise; afterwards I called my family to
share the good news with them.
This is the first awards event I have taken part in as a sales personnel
and having won especially in a cross industry competition has
given me a huge boost and enhanced my motivation level. An
acknowledgement at this point in my career only motivates me to
achieve more. It has certainly boosted my morale as it is external
unbiased recognition for my efforts. This confirms it for me that
hard work pays.
I always believe in the saying, “Never Eat Alone,” as helping others
succeed is the best way to ensure your own success and network.
Thanks to reciprocity, your investment in others will likely pay off
down the road with a network of people who want to support and
develop your career.
The experience taking part in this event has been excellent.
I would recommend to my company to nominate all deserving
candidates next year. However I am sure Abbott being a very
employee friendly company will do the needful by its own.
For companies considering submitting nominations in 2015……..
the evaluation and nomination process is quiet clear.

Congratulations to everybody
involved with this year’s
Women In Sales Awards
WE’LL BE SEEING YOU NEXT MONTH IN OUR INAUGURAL ISSUE…
THE INTERNATIONAL
Journal of Sales
Transformation
is the new publication exclusively
focused on the promotion of sales
excellence among global corporates.
Our content is a mix of quality
journalism, insightful opinion
and research by current sales
leaders and academics.
Our mission is to help enhance
the professionalism of sales
organisations by bridging the gap
between businesses and academic
research to offer the best of both
worlds.
Find out more at: www.journalofsalestransformation.com
To receive a free trial copy, please email editor@journalofsalestransformation.com
ASSOCIATION OF
PROFESSIONAL SALES

A
ccording to the Harvard Business Review,
women now drive the world economy.
Globally, women were responsible for $20
trillion in spending in 2009, and this figure
is expected to rise to $28 trillion this year. Meanwhile,
their total annual earnings could reach $18 trillion by
2025, by which time women are forecast to own 65%
of wealth; they currently influence over 70% of buying
decisions.
Of course, women are not simply consumers; they make
a formidable contribution to business. But all is not as
it should be. Women comprise half the talent pool in
the population and they perform well in education, yet,
the gender balance across various industries and roles
remains distinctly lopsided. For instance, US women
obtain 57% of bachelors degrees overall but receive less
than 18% of computer science degrees; they hold only
25% of IT positions and fill a mere 11% of Fortune 500
executive roles.
Similarly, when McKinsey & Company presented a 2011
study at The Wall Street Journal conference on Women in the
Economy, it showed that women’s share of corporate jobs
is 53% at the entry level, but falls to 14% at the executive-
committee level.
GENDER DIVIDE IN SALES
In sales, the gender divide is particularly obvious,
especially as we look further up the organisation. In the
UK, a 2011 Labour Force Survey highlighted the sales
gender divide, particularly at senior levels.
While women dominate the retail sector, overall the
figures reveal that 54 per cent were salesmen and 46%
were saleswomen. The statistics for B2B sales were
even more polarised: 70 per cent were male and 32 per
cent female. The divide amongst account managers and
BDMs was similar: 68% male and 32% female.
At the top level – sales and marketing directors – the gulf
between the sexes widened further: 78% were male and
22% female. Overall, the survey confirmed that “37 per
cent of all male sales staff are in managerial or associate
professional roles; however, only 15 per cent of female
sales staff falls into these groups”.
These figures underline the imbalance that we all know
exists: that women are under-represented both in certain
sectors and across senior business roles more generally.
And this is despite their achievements, their ability to
perform and their demographic representation in society
– which is why the Women in Sales Awards are so
important.
TACKLING THE SALES TALENT SHORTAGE
With business perennially complaining of a talent
shortage, how can it make sense that organisations fail
to recruit the best women into sales, sales management
and sales leadership roles? Thought-leaders suggest that
engaging women more fully in the global workforce
would spark leaps in innovation and productivity, while
research also indicates that women bring new insight to
sales management and coaching roles.
Here at the International Journal of Sales Transformation we are
seeking to help drive professionalism amongst the global
sales community by focusing on the best of selling,
sales and sales leadership internationally, an ambition
we share with Afi and her colleagues at the Awards
programme. We will be celebrating the achievements of
female sales leaders, canvassing your views and featuring
your thought-leadership on a regular basis. In embarking
on this mission, we are thankful for the support of
prominent business academics – from Harvard Business
School and beyond – alongside numerous senior sales
leaders from among the world’s biggest businesses.
We look forward to featuring some of the Award-Winners
from India and regularly highlighting the achievements
of the many outstanding women in the international sales
community in future editions of the Journal. If you’d like
a free copy of this first edition of the Journal, just email me
via editor@journalofsalestransformation.com and we’ll
be pleased to make one available.
INNOVATION,
PRODUCTIVITY
AND INSIGHT
Will women be
the new driving
force behind
professional selling,
asks Nick de Cent?
BLOG
Nick de Cent is
editor-in-chief of the
International Journal of Sales
Transformation and also
edits the Raconteur “Sales
Performance” supplement
in The Times. He has been
writing about sales and
other business issues for over
30 years and contributes
to numerous publications
online and in print.

still a selling
country
UNITED
KINGDOM
New data from a British
study looks into the
UK’s sales community,
comparing its skills to
those of other nations.
By Sales Initiative
www.sales-initiative.com

The results found the UK to be lacking in a number of key skills,
when compared with sales professionals in other countries. That said,
there are still core areas of ability in which the UK continues to be
highly competitive – in places,well above international averages.
The study was prompted by the UK Commission’s Employer
Skills Survey back in 2011, which deemed sales to be the
worst-performing profession amongst UK
employees.
With the view of keeping Britain competitive,
both in terms of employment and the economy,
the Universal Sales Skills Audit (USSA) was
conducted in 2014,and identified the key areas
where development will be crucial to growth.
In particular, 54% of UK salespeople were
below the global average for communication.
Indeed, many of the development areas for
the UK lie in communication and customer
focus. Other countries outperform the UK
when it comes to engaging the customer and
understanding customer needs.
On the other hand, the USSA shows that
British determination is as strong as ever,
with 52% of sales professionals scoring above
average for resilience and follow-through, and 13% as excellent.
Similarly, problem solving continues to be a strength among
most British sales teams, with 74% scoring above average.
Now,HR managers and team leaders can also use the audit internally
as a benchmark of their sales teams – but more importantly, as a
proven methodology for identifying key areas for improvement.
The two firms who have teamed up to establish USSA as the UK’s
‘sales benchmark’ are Sales Initiative and SalesAssessment.com.
Mark Blezard, Managing Director of Sales Initiative said, “One
of the key things to consider when assessing sales personnel is
‘can I make a difference with the results that I will get back?’ In
other words, what is the point of measuring performance if you
don’t have the tools to fix the gaps. What I really love about the
USSA is that it measures only skills – skills are something you can
fix the same day, unlike behaviour or habits which are far more
difficult to change. When we sell assessments we make it clear
that, if used correctly, you can have better performing staff the
same week which means a boost in sales and happier customers.
That’s something we all aspire to!”
If a team or individual is not performing,
specific modules from the audit can be
purchased online to hone in on the problem.
Each module takes about eight minutes for
the respondent to complete, and the results are
then sent back to the manager.
When assessing a larger group, a built-in
‘team dashboard’ allows managers to compare
individual members of their team, an insight
which affords the opportunity to develop
targeted, bespoke training or re-training.
Similarly, when recruiting, the USSA is likely
the only platform which gives employers a fast
and precise way of comparing an individual’s
skills to those of their peers.
At the same time, because the audit maps to
relevant NVQs (equivalent to a high school
diploma) and is endorsed by the UK’s Institute of Sales &
Marketing Management (ISMM), it offers the potential to
provide recognised accreditation for members of the UK sales
community in the form of a “sales skills passport”, certifying that
holders have the full set of up-to-date core sales skills. This is fully
transportable across different industry sectors.
Sales Initiative is an online platform for sales professionals to
share and transfer content which is highly specific to the field.
It serves anyone in sales looking to grow their skill set, and
features insightful commentary from some of the key players in
the industry. SalesAssessment.com is a specialist in online talent
scoring, specifically in the sales sector.
Skills are
something you
can fix the same
day, unlike
behaviour or
habits which are
far more difficult
to change.
While determination and follow-through are strong
attributes amongst UK salespeople, the statistics show
that customer focus skills leave room for improvement.

SALES DIRECTOR
WINNER
Nicola Robinson
Director, Field Sales Home Channel, Coca Cola
SALES MANAGER
WINNER
Philippa White
Commercial Sales Manager, Hewlett Packard
IT SALES
WINNER
Diana Morales
Strategic Business Manager, Avention Inc.
SALES NEWCOMER
WINNER
Katie Glover
Regional Development Manager, Axa Insurance
2014 WINNERS -
AWARDS

WOMEN IN SALES
EUROPE
FIELD SALES
WINNER
Kate Derrick
Gas Sales Development Manager, Npower
FINANCIAL SALES WINNER
&the MostDistinguished SaleswomanOf The Year
Serra Erelcin
Account Manager, Thomson Reuters (Istanbul)
CONSUMER SALES
WINNER
Vicky Hughes
Customer Business Manager, PepsiCo
TELEPHONE SALES
WINNER
Emma Marriott
Account Executive, Lincoln West

I
am responsible for managing and inspiring a field sales team of over 320 people
who all locally drive the performance of our soft drinks portfolio across the national
supermarkets of Great Britain. Retail sales value for this channel is £1.4 billion.
I initially started out in research and marketing but quickly learned that, when I
understood what customers would like, I wanted to be the person who directly
acted on delivering against it. I also love the responsibility of feeding back and
inputting into all the functions based on customer feedback and market developments. I
think there are fewer women in sales leadership partly because of perception and partly
because of reality. The assumption still persists of a prerequisite to be aggressive and have
the capacity to thrive in a cutthroat, long-hours working environment. This is far from
the truth and I think businesses don’t necessarily recruit with this in mind, and yet some
women do not put themselves forward. However, as a business function, we are often not
good at supporting flexible working requests. A lot of senior sales positions are still full
time and require considerable travel when there could be flexing for job shares and part-
time roles. For the right circumstances, I firmly believe that the cost of doing this would
be more than offset by the benefit of retaining more women’s perspective, capability,
passion and experience.
BEST WOMAN SALES DIRECTOR 2014 (EUROPE)
NICOLA
ROBINSON
Director – Field Sales at Coca Cola Enterprises

I
began my career in business development at a venture capital firm in the US after
my MBA. Upon my return to Turkey, I became marketing manager in one of
the leading casinos. Transitioning from one trading floor to another, I landed on
a trading desk in the banking sector. However, I quickly got recognised for my
strong interpersonal and selling skills. I was usually chosen to be a harmoniser and
problem solver for various situations internally or externally. Based on these traits,
I was transferred to the bank’s sales desk. All this experience has slowly but surely paved
the way to join Thomson Reuters. I have been in Thomson Reuters Financial Sales for
18 years, responsible for a portfolio consisting of market-leader banks, asset management
companies, investments banks and some big corporations. The portfolio is around 25%
of the total revenue in Turkey. The day-to-day role involves keeping in close contact with
the customer for retention of existing services while spotting opportunities for growth.
Since 2010, I have also been acting as the Country Representative for Turkey where I
manage all the operational details involved in running a legal entity and office in Turkey.
Being an emerging country, Turkey is inherently volatile and relentlessly changing, so I
am proud to say that I have been outperforming in both roles concurrently.
MOST DISTINGUISHED
SALES WOMAN OF THE YEAR
AND BEST WOMAN IN
FINANCIAL SALES 2014 (EUROPE)
SERRA
ERELCIN
Account Manager, Istanbul, Thomson Reuters

PERFORMANCE
POTENTIAL
IN THE GLOBAL
TALENT POOL
A sophisticated self-administered online
assessment of hundreds of individuals around
the world provides us with a snapshot of the
global sales profession.
Although salespeople tend to be lumped
together in one group, sales is not a generic,
one-size-fits-all activity; selling can actually
be divided into various distinct roles, so it is
important to hire and develop the right person
for the right role. Here, we focus on the roles
of account manager, application salesperson
and solution salesperson, with individual
performances analysed over the period
between mid-2012 and mid-2013.
ACCOUNT MANAGER
ROLE DEFINITION
“The role of an account manager is to engage at C-suite level
to proactively retain and develop existing client relationships
and income from a portfolio of significant clients, and also to
develop and grow new client relationships. An account manager
is expected to manage a client portfolio in order to maximise
the long-term mutual value of the relationship for both parties.”
• 4% were among the top performers, demonstrating both
high behavioural competencies and high skill.
• 55% demonstrated above-average behaviour and skill. In
contrast, 45% were assessed for below-average behaviour
and skill.
• 38% were assessed below average for behavioural
competencies that indicate whether they are comfortable
performing in this role.
• 24% were assessed to have below-average levels of skill
(not even trained to average levels).
• 54% of account managers have critical reasoning below
the level required to respond effectively to complex
customer expectations.
Data supplied by SalesAssessment.com. Individual
salespeople participated in SalesAssessment.com’s
online self-assessment process. The approach combines
psychometrics with relevant skills and competency
assessments to provide a read-out against behavioural
fit for the specific role, critical reasoning ability, skills and
motivators (what motivates the individual to perform). The
results were compared with a global benchmark profile of a
high-performer in each role.
By Nick de Cent editor-in-chief of
the International Journal of Sales Transformation
www.journalofsalestransformation.com
Asia 7%
Australia
& New Zealand 19%
Europe 33%
Middle East 0%
North America
South Africa 2%
South America 14%
By geography:
By industry:
Business
Services (including
recruitment) 1%
Construction 35%
Engineering 9%
Hospitality 4%
IT 44%
Manufacturing 2%
Mining/Oil 5%

Data breakdown, n= 377
By geography:
By geography:
By industry:
By industry:
Asia 11%
Australia & New
Zealand 0.5%
Europe 33.5%
Middle East 0%
North America
(USA and Canada) 1%
South Africa 48%
South America 6%
Business services
(including recruitment)
9%
Construction 11%
Healthcare 39%
Insurance 4%
IT 10%
Manufacturing 15%
Pharmaceutical 5%
Utilities 5%
Europe 60%
Middle East 0.5%
North America
South Africa 5%
Banking 19%
Business services
(including recruitment) 9%
Construction 28%
Electronics 0.2%
Engineering 6%
Hospitality 0.1%
IT 8%
Manufacturing 23%
Publishing 0.1%
Utilities 3%
APPLICATION SELLING
ROLE DEFINITION
“Occurring at many levels within the customer, application
selling is the ability to identify opportunities within which to
position an existing, fixed-scope, yet configurable, offering that
delivers a ‘defined outcome’ for the customer to meet a ‘defined
need’. This can be sold directly to the customer as a stand-alone
application (eg an accounting system) or through others as part
of a more complex solution (eg a just-in-time manufacturing
solution).”
and skill.
• 77% of application salespeople have critical reasoning
below the level required to respond effectively to complex
SOLUTION SELLING
ROLE DEFINITION
“Solution selling is the most complex form of reactive or
customer needs-based selling. Operating at C-suite level,
it encompasses the ability to craft for customers a complete,
high-level and complex solution to meet a customer business
need where the way forward for the business has already been
determined by the customer.”
and skill.
• 52% of solution salespeople have critical reasoning
below the level required to respond effectively to complex

DATE LOCATION WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
10 APR 2015 DELHI
Sales Workout –
Fight the Funnel Flab
1 day intense workout
to fight your funnel flab!
09 APR - 10 APR
2015
DELHI
Funnel ScoreCard®
by Miller Heiman
Opportunity Evaluation
and Loss Review Process
23 APR - 24 APR
2015
MUMBAI Think On Your Feet®
(TOYF)
Verbal skills workshop that trains
you to organize your thoughts
and ideas quickly for clear,
concise, persuasive messages.
07 MAY - 08 MAY
2015
DELHI
Conceptual Selling®
(CS)
by Miller Heiman
Optimizing Every Interaction
with Customers
21 MAY - 22 MAY
2015
BANGALORE
Large Account Management
Process SM (LAMP®
)
by Miller Heiman
Strategic Planning
for Protecting and Growing
Key Accounts
11 JUN - 12 JUN
2015
MUMBAI
Channel Success
Essentials (CSE)
by Channel Enablers
Improve Channel Sales
Productivity and Drive
Channel Revenue Growth
25 JUN - 26 JUN
2015
MUMBAI
Strategic Selling®
(SS)
by Miller Heiman
Comprehensive Strategy
for Complex Sales
UPCOMING EVENTS
IN INDIA 2015
Contact Chandni Mehta, chandni.mehta@business-salt.com
or Deepti Keshari, deepti.keshari@business-salt.com
for more information 91-9810694359

12th March
Nominations
Open
11th September
Nominations
Close
12th October
Finalists
Announced
5th of November
Judging
Day
3rd December
2015 Awards
Ceremony
WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS (EUROPE) PRELIMINARY 2015 TIMELINE
Coming Soon ...
Women In Sales
Awards
and
AUSTRALIA
AFRICA

Women In Sales Awards India 2015 Magazine

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a Women In Sales Awards India 2015 Magazine

Similar a Women In Sales Awards India 2015 Magazine (20)

Más de Alibaba.com

Más de Alibaba.com (20)

Último

Último (20)

Women In Sales Awards India 2015 Magazine