This document summarizes and discusses issues related to diversity and women in sales leadership positions. It discusses research showing that while women make up about 45% of new hires, they only account for 37% of senior management positions and 17% of C-suite positions. In sales leadership specifically, only 22% are women. It suggests some reasons for this, including lack of confidence, lack of visibility, and reluctance to negotiate on the part of women. It then provides advice and strategies for women to help overcome these barriers, including taking control of their personal brand, self-promotion, public speaking, networking, and negotiating confidently. The document is aimed at providing insights and guidance for women seeking to advance their careers in sales leadership.

1. DIVERSITY AND SALES
Women who lead p6 / Claire Edmunds’ personal journey as a CEO p8 / Our View p9
What it takes to succeed as a woman sales leader p42 / European Women in Sales Awards – selected winner interviews p62
THE INTERNATIONAL
FEBRUARY2016/ISSUE2.1/ISSN2058-7341
Journal of Sales
TransformationNEW LARGER EDITION 15 PAGES OF RESEARCH-BASED INSIGHT, INCLUDING:
TRUST AND CONFLICT IN B2B RELATIONSHIPS… CAN THE CONCEPT OF MARGINAL GAINS BE APPLIED TO SALES?
+ SALES RESEARCH ROUND-UP
P16 INSIGHT P18 REFLECTION P22 MY JOURNEY P38 TALENT
NO SUCH THING
AS NATURAL
SALESPEOPLE
HIGH-PERFORMER
BUT LOW
ETHICS?
AWARD-WINNING
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
SARAH EDGE
ACCELERATING
NEW TALENT
Dr Beth Rogers
& Bryan McCraeProf Nick Lee Prof Mark Johnston Nick de Cent

2. International Journal of Sales Transformation 4342 Q1 2016
 Diversity
Embrace your
inner pitch: the art
of self-promotion
 Deirdre Coleman

Too many women believe that if they keep their
heads down, work hard and meet their targets,
they’ll be recognised as sales experts on the
merits of their work and rise through the ranks.
However, what really separates successful
sales leaders from the pack is their ability to
self-promote.
W
e’re all aware of the depressingly
disproportionate number of women at senior
levels. McKinsey & Co recently released Women
in the Workplace, a comprehensive study of the
state of women in corporate America today. The study, which
covers nearly 30,000 professionals from 118 companies,
concluded that women make up about 45% of those entering
the professional workforce. At the senior management level,
that percentage drops to 37% and, at the C-suite level,
to 17%. In sales, at the top level – sales and marketing
directors – the disparity between the sexes widens: 78% are
male and 22% are female.
This suggests women face greater barriers to
advancement at every level. Many believe that women take
themselves out of the game due to lack of confidence or not
wanting to subject themselves to the politics, game-playing
and 24/7 work culture that has historically been necessary
to ascend to leadership positions. In my experience, these
factors do indeed contribute to the lack of women at the
senior corporate table.
Lack of confidence
In their book Womenomics: Work Less, Achieve More, Live Better,
authors Claire Shipman and Katty Kay reference studies
showing that women believe they must have 100% of the
qualifications for a given position before they will apply;
men, conversely, believe they only need to meet 50% of the
requirements of a new position in order to apply.
According to Trang Chu, executive coach and founder of
Tallgrass Leaders, women suffer from ingrained beliefs that
include doubts about our abilities, which lead us to miss
opportunities that could propel us to the top.
To begin a real process of change, Chu suggests: “Women
also need to look at their own unconscious bias and move away
from these potentially damaging beliefs. We must unlearn our
current beliefs and relearn new ones. If there are no suitable
role models in our surrounding environment, we have to create
our own definition of what makes a great leader and become
advocates for ourselves.”
This lack of confidence affects an array of other activities
tied to becoming leaders. For example, according to KPMG’s
2015 Women’s Leadership Study – Moving women forward into leadership
roles, nine in ten women said they didn’t feel confident asking
for sponsors, seeking mentors (79%), asking for access to senior
leadership (73%), or requesting a promotion (65%) or a raise
(61%).
Lack of visibility
Leaders need to be visible in order to succeed and this is
particularly relevant in sales where women work remotely
and networking opportunities can clash with out-of-hours
responsibilities. Nine in ten working women believe their
own perseverance will accelerate their journey to leadership,
but they also overwhelmingly agree that female colleagues,
role models, and professional networks play a critical role in
advancing women’s leadership.
Reluctance to negotiate
Women can be reluctant to ask for what they want. Indeed,
in Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Sheryl Sandberg
cites a study showing that 57% of men negotiate their salary
when accepting a new position, while only 7% of women try to
negotiate.
This gender difference is further supported by Linda
Babock and Sasha Dunbrooke, the authors of Women Don’t Ask:
Negotiation and the Gender Divide, who argued that women lagged
behind their male colleagues in salaries, bonuses, promotions,
and perks simply because they simply hadn’t “asked for it.” They
were right. The impact of failing to negotiate when starting a
new job is so substantial and difficult to overcome, according to
the authors, that some researchers who study the persistence
of the wage gap between men and women speculate that much
of the disparity can be traced to differences in initial salaries
rather than differences in raises.
What to do?
If lack of confidence, lack of visibility, and a reluctance to
negotiate are holding women back, what can women do to help
themselves?
Take control of your brand
Annmarie Neal, author of Leading From the Edge is well
positioned to comment on leadership, having previously held
the Chief Talent Officer role at both Cisco Systems and First
Data Corporation. Neal is founder of the Centre of Leadership
Innovation, a worldwide consulting firm that specialises in
business innovation, transformation thought-leadership, and
organisational excellence.
According to Neal, you’ll never get what you’re worth if
you don’t understand what makes you uniquely valuable to
your company. She explains how having a strong sense of self
– knowing who you are and the value that you desire to create
in the world – is probably one of the most essential traits of
leadership. An unusually astute sense of self translates into an
ability to understand the world and the people around you on
many levels and in many different contexts.
Dorie Clark, in Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your
Future, advises leaders to use techniques such as “360 analysis”
to gain insight into how you’re currently perceived by others.
Actively gather feedback from those you trust and acting upon
what you learn should help to hone your leadership platform
and narrative so that you can succinctly explain how your
Table 1: Women in sales: the UK stats
• 65% (381,000) are salesmen and 35% (201,000)
are saleswomen; (total 582,000).
• In B2B sales, the figures are more polarised: 68%
(93,000) are male and 32% (43,000) female; (total
136,000).
• At the top level – sales and marketing directors –
the disparity between the sexes widens further: 74%
(148,000) are male and 26% (51,000) are female.
Source: ONS (2015), EMP04: Labour Force Survey Employment status by occupation, April-June 2015.
Date of publication 12 August 2015.
1
Editor’s note: These figures have actually worsened since the 2011 survey when the comparable
percentages were 54% salesmen and 46% saleswomen. Source: ONS (2011) Labour Force Survey:
EMP16: All in employment by status, occupation and sex, Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun) 2011.

3. International Journal of Sales Transformation 4544 Q1 2016

strengths contribute to the bottom line.
What do you wish for people to associate with you when
they think of your name? Is there a certain subject matter
in which you want to be perceived as an expert, or are there
general qualities you want linked to your brand?
Once you understand how you wish your brand to be
perceived, you can start to be much more strategic about
your personal brand. Putting a strong personal brand on
the frontline of your sales process can dramatically improve
conversion rates and accelerate your career path.
“The best way to get what you’re worth is to have
employers and clients seek you out specifically because of a
strong reputation,” asserts Neal. “You can draw them to you
by creating insightful content online that demonstrates your
expertise and by having a “wingman” (a like-minded colleague)
to talk you up and sing your praises to others. You can do the
same for him or her. You’ll get far fewer price objections when
someone simply has to do business with you because they’ve
heard so many good things about you.”
Step 1: Determine your area of expertise
Before you can establish or develop your expertise, you have to
decide what you want to be known for. With a niche focus, you’ll
have more opportunities to prove you know what you’re talking
about, and while your potential audience might be slightly
smaller, it will also be that much more relevant.
Step 2: Start writing and publishing
Once you know your area of focus, it’s time to start building
your reputation, and the best way to do that is to show off your
expertise. Content marketing is the best way to build a brand
and reputation online; if you can become a trusted source of
information through your content, over time you’ll become
collectively known as the expert in your specific field.
Start your own blog and update it on a regular basis. It’s
also a good idea to start guest blogging on other reputable
blogs. Just as a graphic designer has a portfolio they can display
of their best logos and brochures, you should be creating
intellectual property through blog posts, podcasts, videos and
smart tweets that demonstrates your expertise.
Step 3: Develop your social media profiles
Social media will give you visibility. Take the time to flesh out
the details of your social media profiles, including Facebook,
Twitter and LinkedIn, and make sure they’re consistently in line
with your personal brand standards. Post updates regularly to
build an audience.
Step 4: Speak at events
This will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise
while connecting with new audiences. Events such as the
Women in Sales Awards (www.wisawards.com) are an excellent
way to demonstrate performance and build your online brand
to boot.
Step 5: Network, network, network
On social media and in the real world, the key to sparking
growth in your personal brand is networking. Engage with other
individuals in your field, social influencers who have many
connections and anybody else who could be valuable in helping
you spread the word about your expertise.
Attend professional networking events to meet influencers
in your area, and in the online world, engage in community
discussions whenever you can. If you’re going to get involved
with a professional organisation, make a point of taking a
leadership role; the social proof of being seen as a leader will
have exponential benefits. Sometimes the best leadership
development (and subsequent exposure) comes from extra-
curricular assignments that are beyond the scope of your day-
Diversity

to-day role.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
So, why are women leaving money on the table? In most
published studies, the social cost of negotiating for pay isn’t
significant for men, while it is significant for women.
Is this something that can be overcome? Yes, but you need
to explain to your negotiating counterpart why – in their eyes –
it’s legitimate for you to be negotiating. Sandberg says that in
her negotiations with Facebook, she told them: “Of course you
realize that you’re hiring me to run your deal team so you want
me to be a good negotiator.” Sandberg wanted Facebook to see
her negotiating as legitimate because, if she didn’t negotiate,
they should be worried about whether they’d made the right
hire.
In the context of a negotiation, a handshake’s message
can go far according to Francesco Gino, Harvard Business
School Professor. “Across many cultures, shaking hands at
the beginning and end of a negotiating session conveys a
willingness to cooperate and reach a deal that considers the
interests of the parties at the table. By paying attention to
this behaviour, negotiators can communicate their motives
and intentions, and better understand how the other side is
approaching discussions.”
Bolster your confidence
Confidence is a crucial building block in a successful sales
career, and embracing it fully will take you places you never
thought possible. Here are six bullet-proof strategies to get you
there.
1. Assess yourself honestly
Self-awareness is key, so make plans to tackle your weaknesses.
If public speaking is not your forte, pursue stretch assignments
that will hone your skills and don’t be afraid to invest in
professional help. John Bates of www.executivespeakingsuccess.
com, who has worked with senior leaders at NASA, Johnson
& Johnson and TEDX organisers, runs a “Speak Like a Leader”
Bootcamp online at www://speaking.executivespeakingsuccess.
com.
2. Find a mentor
Don’t go it alone. Neal advises building yourself a network
of supporting advisors from various aspects of your life, both
within and outside your company, who will hold you true to
your values and goals. She suggests 4-5 in number – and across
a range of experiences; some who can guide you from your past
... some from your present ... and some that can pull you into
your future.
3. Dress for success
Great leaders respect and invest in themselves. That includes
making the time to exercise, investing in a polished wardrobe
and engaging the help of a stylist to choose clothes that are
tailored, making you look professional and feel confident.
Another tip is to dress for the job you want to have, not the one
you already have.
4. Be authentic
Trust your voice and your own values and bring your “authentic
self” to the role. Being honest, open and trustworthy is key to a
successful career in sales. Also, don’t be afraid to say “no”, even
to your boss. No one admires a “yes person”.
5. Embrace opportunities to get exposure
Whether it’s a development programme, foreign assignment,
or a speaking opportunity, be open to new opportunities
and embrace as many of them as you can. It will bolster your
confidence knowing you moved outside your comfort zone and
excelled. It will also make it easier to say yes to that Ted Talk in
the future.
6. Fake it until you make it
Even Sandberg suffers from the dreaded “Imposter Syndrome”,
where you feel like a fraud and attribute your accomplishments
to external factors such as luck. Anyone can suffer from this
syndrome at some stage of their career; even Dr Chan, Chief of
the World Health Organization declared: “There are an awful
lot of people out there who think I’m an expert. How do these
people believe all this about me? I’m so much aware of all the
things I don’t know.”
The important thing is not to let Imposter Syndrome hold
you back; you got where you are today due to internal factors as
well, such as your drive, passion or work ethic.
Taking ownership
While women believe that corporations must take action to
help drive change and bridge the persisting gender gap, they
are also acutely aware of the need to take ownership of their
career development.
When women take their success into their own hands, and
when they take ownership of their achievements, development
and ambition, there is no limit to what they can accomplish.
Own it. In the words of the French writer, Simone De Beauvoir, “I
have only myself.”
About the author
Deirdre Coleman is editor of www.eyeforpharma.com, a global
provider of pharmaceutical business insights. As a respected
hub for senior-level pharma executives to exchange ideas
and stay up-to-date with shifting trends and practices within
the industry, eyeforpharma’s mission is to help leaders define
future strategy and direction, develop growth opportunities,
and address commercial challenges through collaboration,
networking and market intelligence. Deirdre is a marketing
and content specialist who has successfully performed in
the medical device and biotechnology sectors with leading
multinational organisations.

4. International Journal of Sales Transformation 4746 Q1 2016
 Diversity
Taste of success
Nicola Robinson is UK & International Sales Director, Kettle Foods and was previously Field Sales
Director, Coca-Cola Enterprises. Winner of Best Sales Director, Women in Sales Awards 2014,
she shares her advice for women starting a career in sales and why she’d like to see more open
dialogue on the supports needed to retain female talent. She talks to Deirdre Coleman.
W
omen can be “naturals at selling” because generally
speaking, we are good listeners and consequently
can identify the right product or service and
subsequently apply the appropriate sales
techniques, which secure the sale.
Women can harness our innate strengths by spending
more time in the preparation and planning phase, thinking
about the questions to ask which are going to deliver the most
valuable information. It’s crucial that the interest and the
commitment to delivering for the buyer must be genuine.
Flexibility and open dialogue are fundamentally key
to opening up advancement for women in sales and in senior
leadership roles generally. If companies would broaden out
their leadership styles and attitudes towards organisational
structure, it would allow for more flexibility in working
patterns at the most senior levels. Of course, this can come
with a cost, but I firmly believe it would be more than offset
by the experience and talent which would be retained and
therefore create incremental value for the company.
Women need to initiate an open dialogue on what they
want to achieve and what support they need in order to get
there. Too many times, the art of the possible is overlooked
thanks to unchallenged myths or assumptions that, too late for
some, turn out to be untrue. People don’t know what they don’t
know and that’s especially the case with leaders at the top of
organisations!
It’s time that we took accountability to be clear on what
we want, why it’s beneficial to the company and help find the
solutions in order to make it happen.
What to me are the five key traits of a successful
salesperson?
I don’t think you can automatically identify a “type” of
salesperson who will be successful; I’ve loved the fact it’s just
not that straightforward! However, I believe there are common
skills, which are typical of the most successful salespeople: the
ability to listen, be innovative, take risks, add after-sales value
and communicate effectively.
In relation to the pay gap, women need to not
shy away from negotiating harder.
It’s hard to say whether the reported salary imbalance for women
is linked to a confidence issue but where there is a disparity for
delivering the same results with equally good capability, then
it’s likely to be down to a lack of effective negotiation and this
could well apply to many people regardless of their gender! I was
given some good advice by a boss early on in my career, which is:
“If you’re prepared to negotiate effectively on behalf of yourself
then it makes me feel good about how you’ll do it on behalf of
the company.” So, rather than feeling awkward about negotiating
your salary, see it as absolutely appropriate in representing
yourself, the results you’re driving for the business and the value
you see in your own potential.
The single element I would list as being critical to my
sales success to date is passion for what I sell. Everywhere I’ve
worked, I’ve loved the brands and believed in the company’s
culture and strategy.
I have four tips for women starting their career
in sales.
Firstly, identify your values and work for a company that shares
them; you’ll be more successful if the company relates to you
and supports you as much as you commit to them.
Build a network which is based on effective give and take
– you will be more respected and will hold the relationships
for longer if you return the opportunities that people give you.
Thirdly, identify a suitable mentor who will be an objective
aide who provides you with additional feedback, which adds
to your development. Lastly, be able to quickly and effectively
articulate your unique skills – you want to make a memorable
impression whenever you get the chance. 
Rebranding sales
Dr Beth Rogers PFHEA is a sales educationalist and researcher at the University of Portsmouth
Business School. Her advice to employers is to improve their sales pitch when it comes to
attracting female talent and focus on rewarding those who deliver results, not “face time” in
the office.
Focusing on and rewarding results, not
“clock-punching”, will be key to talent
retention – male and female alike.
T
he distribution of women in sales across various
industries and different levels of seniority remains
unbalanced. There are plenty of women out there selling,
but they tend to be clustered in pockets: in retail and
certain industry sectors or geographies. Data on UK sales
employment confirm the sales gender divide: in 2011, 54% were
salesmen and 46% were saleswomen.2
In B2B sales, the figures
were more polarised: 70% male; 30% female. At the top level –
sales and marketing directors – the disparity between the sexes
widened: 78% were male and 22% female.
Why are organisations failing to recruit the
best women into sales leadership roles?
There are lower numbers entering into the profession, so
there is a restricted talent pool. Women are guided more
towards marketing and there is a general lack of awareness
of sales as a valid career choice. The lack of formal
qualifications in sales management has hindered progress.
This is changing, thankfully, and we’re seeing more young
women taking up our undergraduate sales options.
Sales is a profession that is poorly understood.
Often people fall into sales by accident. We definitely
need to do a better job of promoting careers in sales;
companies have a role to play, such as undertaking outreach
programmes in schools.
Crucially, we need to affirm sales as a profession where
you are an intrapreneur for your organisation and which
offers enormous scope for you to make what you want of it.
The potential for earning is directly tied to the effort you put
in; there is autonomy and flexibility as you’re not necessarily
office-bound. You can demonstrate intrapreneurship and
creativity when you are running your own territory or key
account as a business within the business.
Employers need to get smarter at focusing on
output and measuring results.
Flexible working needs a rebrand. Valuing presenteeism over
productivity is eroding family life, for men and women. We
need to focus on measures of productivity such as sales and
profitability alongside customer advocacy.
Buying has changed and the truth is, customers want to
see salespeople less. Using technology like Skype and email
to maintain relationships alongside periodic face-to-face
meetings for strategic conversations is a working pattern
that reflects what customers want and value.
The intrinsic component is building the relationship
and developing trust over a period of time. Your value
emanates from the skill of how keenly you can interpret their
needs and how you can bring value to them.
Business leaders need to actively encourage staff to
step back from the traditional working patterns that have
dominated our lives for so long. They need not only to
lead by example, but also reward those who have delivered
results through different ways of working. Flexible working
conditions should not be deemed the domain of the
unambitious but viewed as a smart tool to retain valuable
talent that could otherwise be lost.
Unconscious bias enters into this as, if the boss works
24/7, it dictates the broader culture. I see this changing
in the future as millennials want more work-life balance.
Focusing on and rewarding results, not “clock-punching”,
will be key to talent retention – male and female alike.
2
Source: ONS (2011) Labour Force Survey: EMP16: all in employment by status, occupation and sex,
Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun) 2011.

5. International Journal of Sales Transformation 4948 Q1 2016
 Diversity
T
here are several reasons why women are poorly
represented in senior level positions. First, most
organisations are poor at architecting systems that
effectively identify, develop and promote pipelines
of talent. Women lead differently to men – often in ways that
are inclusive, collaborative and sharing of responsibility and
credit – but this difference can be undervalued by senior
men who seek to clone themselves in the C-suite or board
room.
Second, we continue to carry the primary burden of
caring for children particularly during those critical “on the
rise” years of one’s career. Women often opt out: they see what
it takes and often step away from corporate roles to pursue
entrepreneurial adventures that give them more flexibility.
And third, some industries and corporate functions are frankly
unfriendly to women.
Build your own brand.
You’ll never get what you’re worth if you don’t understand
what makes you uniquely valuable to your company. I
authored a book called Leading from the Edge that explains how
having a strong sense of self (knowing who you are and the
value that you desire to create in the world) is probably one of
the most important essential traits of leadership.
Help define your brand using techniques like 360
analysis either conducted by yourself or an outside executive
coach, to get clear on how you’re currently perceived by
others. Then, hone your leadership platform and narrative so
that you can succinctly explain how your strengths contribute
to corporate, social and personal value creation.
Choose where to engage.
Do you accept the consulting job or the management position?
Join a male-dominated industry or seek out a field that’s more
gender-balanced? Where you decide to invest your time and
professional energy can have a huge impact on your future.
Sometimes, the best leadership development (and subsequent
exposure) comes from extra-curricular assignments that are
beyond the scope of one’s day-to-day role.
Don’t be afraid to ask.
Sheryl Sandberg urges women to negotiate when they’re
offered a job – period. Many women simply accept the first
salary offer for fear that the offer will be rescinded entirely
if they’re perceived as difficult or demanding. But asking for
more is actually a powerful way to cement your brand as high-
quality.
Indeed, when Katie Couric joined The Today Show, she
made a point of asking for a 50-50 split with then-host
Bryant Gumbel because she believed asking for less meant
she wouldn’t be taken seriously and would be doomed to
covering puppies and recipes. (She ultimately received
48% to his 52%, far better than she likely would have been
offered otherwise).
Ensure your brand speaks for you.
The best way to get what you’re worth is to have employers
and clients seek you out specifically because of a strong
reputation. You can draw them to you by creating insightful
content online, which demonstrates your expertise, and by
having a “wingman (a like-minded colleague) to talk you up
and sing your praises to others. You can do the same for him
or her. You’ll get far fewer price objections when someone
simply has to do business with you because they’ve heard so
many good things about you.
I’m often quoted for saying agility is the new smart.
For an organisation to out-create and out-innovate its
competitors, it must cultivate talent that thinks in new and
different ways. And for organisations to be globally adept,
leaders must embrace empathy as a business imperative.
To do both, an organisation must be diverse: in thought and
mindset, but also in experiences. I believe the leader of the
future – and therefore, the organisation of the future – must
be polymathic. By definition, this requires one to be diverse in
thought.
Build your leadership platform
Annmarie Neal is Chief Talent Officer, Hellman & Friedman LLC, and has held the same role
in both Cisco Systems and First Data Corporation. She is also the founder of the Centre for
Leadership Innovation. She explains how having a strong sense of self is probably one of the
most essential traits of leadership.
C
ompanies that embrace diversity tend to be more
creative, more dynamic and, ultimately, more
successful. Research3
shows such companies are 41%
ahead of the sector’s average in terms of return on
equity and 56% ahead in terms of EBIT. Yet women continue
to be underrepresented at senior levels. One of the reasons for
this is unconscious bias.
We are all biased to a certain extent. We naturally
gravitate towards those who look like us, think like us and
come from a similar background to us, so it is unsurprising
that women find it hard to break into the upper echelons
of management if the current board is made up of
predominantly white middle-aged men.
To that extent, the boys club or network does still exist
in lots of guises and is difficult to break down. It’s not only
men who need to be aware of their unconscious biases –
women too should reflect on their ingrained beliefs to see
whether they are actually holding themselves back from
reaching the top. With relatively few women in key roles,
you may unconsciously doubt that you have the required
abilities and strengths to succeed.
Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves
as ready for promotions and they generally underestimate
their abilities, frequently leading them to not put
themselves forward for opportunities. Success, it turns out,
correlates just as closely with confidence as it does with
competence.
Networking is critical to career progression.
In general, women struggle to maintain both their internal
and external networks and do not network in the way that
men do to raise their profile. This is partly due to the
fact that the majority of networking occurs after office-
hours when many women are rushing home to take care
of their families. Also, men tend to see the bigger picture
and understand the benefits of doing “face time” whereas
women see it as an inefficient use of their time.
There are five key areas women can focus on
to overcome barriers and become successful
leaders.
Firstly, believe in yourself. It is important to be direct and
confident. Know what you want and make a plan to go out
there and get it. Working with a coach can help you decide
on and achieve your career goals.
Secondly, find yourself some good senior sponsors
as well as at least two mentors (one within the company
and one external) and make it known to them that you are
ambitious and looking to rise up the career ladder. Thirdly,
excel at what you do and ensure to promote your successes.
Next, for those women with families, try and seek roles that
give you flexibility in your schedule to enable you to spend
some quality time with your children. Finally, don’t forget
about your physical and emotional health. Find time to
replenish your energy: work out, take a holiday or a mini-
break or just soak in a hot bubble bath with a good book
and a glass of wine.
With all the demands of family and work, many women
do not make their own health a priority. Women often feel
overwhelmed, and taking care of their health seems like
one more chore on the never-ending to-do-list. When we
prioritize our health, we become much more productive,
and truly “present” in our roles. When you feel good
physically, mentally and emotionally, you are able to bring
more to all that you do.
3
McKinsey & Co, Women as a Valuable Asset.
The confidence gap
Trang Chu is an executive leadership coach and founder of Tallgrass Way where she works with
high-profile executives in investment banking, private equity and law firms. Previously, she was a
managing director at Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. She explains how success correlates as
closely to confidence as competence. She can be contacted on www.trangtchu.com.


6. International Journal of Sales Transformation 5150 Q1 2016

S
elling has changed vastly in the past 20 years with
the emphasis now on value. If I compare today to
when I was a medical representative in Nottingham,
UK, in 2000, there are some major differences. The
main driver has been that access to our customers, including
doctors, has become more and more difficult and limited. A
medical representative in the pharmaceutical industry used
to be focused on “delivering” three key messages almost like
an advert.
Our environment has changed; in order to gain access
to our customers we need to bring more value during that
interaction to justify spending time with us. Our selling needs to
be focused on identifying our customers’ needs and then tailoring
communication of the benefits of our medicines to meet this need.
We also have a need to be more transparent in discussing
key contra-indications and side effects that must be considered.
Overall, at GSK the sales process has become more patient-
focused so it can bring more value to the day-to day work of our
doctors and is more transparent.
Anyone who has a real interest in people, in
advancing healthcare and can, most importantly,
listen should be a great medical salesperson.
Are women better at these things? I don’t know, but I have
certainly seen many women in my industry who I would describe
as natural salespeople because they exhibit these traits.
I am a big fan and supporter of the lean in
movement and think many women over-
question their right, capability and capacity to
do some jobs.
It is shown that women have a tendency to over-think and question
themselves when going for a new job, a promotion or discussions
about salary. In my experience, we lose nothing by asking and
challenging. If we are able as women in sales to ask our customers
to change their behaviours then we can ask our managers.
I really enjoy and get a buzz out of selling.
I love the feeling when you leave a customer and you know you
have changed their behaviour, particularly in pharma when you
know this means that a patient will benefit from one of our
innovative medicines. This great feeling and buzz has meant I love
what I do and hopefully can transmit that energy to my team.
I’d advise women starting off in sales not to be
afraid to challenge.
Also, enjoy it: sell something you feel passionate about. Be as
transparent as possible in your selling; this develops trust and
long-lasting relationships.
To be successful in sales you need passion for
what you are selling.
You need to be interested in others, a good listener, have the
ability to deliver succinct communications and be able to transmit
your energy.
Diversity
Tailor-made selling
Victoria Williams is Vice President and Sales Director at GSK. She describes the transformation
that has occurred in pharmaceutical sales and urges women to put themselves forward and avoid
over-questioning their capabilities.
Our environment has changed; in order to
gain access to our customers we need to
bring more value during that interaction to
justify spending time with us. Our selling
needs to be focused on identifying our
customers’ needs...
Attracting the female millennial
Leadership and millennial expert, Dr Mary Collins is Senior Executive Development Expert at the
Royal College of Surgeons Institute of Leadership. She offers some expert advice on how to attract
the female millennial into sales.
G
iven the unique motivations of the female millennial,
how can companies best engage them to ensure they
attract and retain key talent and elicit the best from this
rising cohort?
Millennials will make up almost 75% of the global talent
market by 2025. I carried out my doctoral research on the
millennial employee and how to engage them; with insight
into the key traits, behaviours and values of millennial women,
companies need to actively cultivate the right culture to attract
key talent and allow them to thrive. Millennials are independent,
entrepreneurial thinkers, who relish responsibility, thrive on
challenge, love freedom and hate micromanagement.
In order to entice them into sales, it’s important to
consider the following:
1. Opportunity and challenge
Female millennials are hungry for challenge and embrace
opportunities to travel as well as take on stretching
assignments. Mentoring is a key strategy to afford opportunity
and challenge to ambitious female millennials.
2. Interest in personal career path
Development programmes leave a strong impact on millennials, as
they play into the notion of meaning and significance: “someone
is looking out for me”. Millennials are likely to take development-
oriented assessment programmes seriously, since they view such
programmes as opportunities for growth and future considerations.
3. Timely, honest communication
Female millennials are feedback junkies: they are looking
to expand and grow and want continuous feedback on their
progression. Despite being the tech generation, they value face-
to-face feedback and interaction.
4. Values and vision
A company’s employer brand is very important to attracting
millennials and the values of the company need to be closely
aligned to the employee’s own personal values.
5. Attentive management
This generation is used to high levels of involvement and
engagement from their parents, which feeds into their expectations
at work. They want to be listened to, they want to be heard, and
having input is increasingly important to this cohort. They really
appreciate the “personal touch” – a manager taking a genuine
interest in them, in terms of their ambitions, values and, in
essence, tapping into their value systems and understanding what
is most important to them in life generally and in the workplace.
6. Terms and conditions
Money matters to millennials but is not the huge motivator it
is to their “boomer” counterparts. They understand there are
tradeoffs and they will forego financial gain for meaningful work
where they can make a difference or flexibility.
The research shows that, even though compensation is
important, to retain top talent employers need to pay more
attention to issues such as job quality, flexibility, and individual
differences (Lockwood 2007). Money does remain a universal
motivator but learning opportunities, personal growth, work
variation, autonomy at work and intellectual stimulation must
feature highly in the strategy to retain this workforce.
7. Energy management
Millennials want to work with the ebb and flow of their energy
levels: in HR circles it’s called “blending”; so at work they want
access to social networks and at home they will check work
emails at the same time as personal emails. If they want to log
on at midnight and work until three in the morning, they see
this as perfectly OK and they value flexibility in terms of time off.
Concessions such as remote working are highly valued by them.