Even though women make up over half of the college-educated workforce, they make up less than one-third of B2B jobs. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics Data, 2019, women are mostly not represented in B2B sales in many industries.
Research shows that women salespeople outperform men. According to a 2019, study, it shows that 86% of women achieved quota, compared to men. The B2B sales area has been shifting in favor of women in sales roles.
Changing sales environment favoring women
Research conducted by ZS, shows women succeed more than men in sales by excelling in different capabilities. The research studied the performance of over 500 salespeople across various industries, including financial services, health care, etc. The framework used to assess identified seven capabilities that differentiate high performing from average-performing salespeople.
Both high performing men and women used all seven capabilities to an extent. But women who are high performers are more likely to emphasize shaping solutions, collaborating, and connecting while high performing men focus more on improving and driving outcomes.
Technology makes customers rely less on financial advisors for various needs. ‘ Robo advisor’ computerized algorithms can analyze investments and make portfolio suggestions. Decisions about these issues are complex and emotional. Advisors provide value to customers by listening, empathizing, and sharing perspectives to facilitate among family members based on agreement.
The skills of women are becoming more in-demand in the field of high-tech sales. Now the trend is, growing the number of customer success managers(CSMs). They succeed by connecting, collaborating, and shaping solutions – which are the capabilities of women.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, salespeople travel less and depend more on digital communication channels. The less traveling situation aligns with the needs of both women and men who want to balance in their career and family needs.
More than that, if women take on business roles, female salespeople can build relationships stronger with changing the customer base.
In today’s world, it is all about increased performance. One main challenge is to address the perception that sales require comfort along with risks like rejection and uncertainty of income, which discourage some women from pursuing their careers in sales. As customer expectations of salespeople continue to increase, promoting, and retaining more women employees for sales will be a future sales force success.
