Women in b2b sales

Straight out, It is a few years ago that I explored the unique gift in me. I recall a time almost a decade ago when a sales leader told me that I was not meant for sales because I was not following the so-called conventional or quintessential sales approaches. I won’t lie, I felt vulnerable because, on the contrary, I felt sales was my thing, and also because targets were getting accomplished.

Back then, sales used to be a mere game of “sell, push, & numbers,” and to increase their chances of making sales, reps would constantly reach out to potential clients to cover as much market as possible. But in the era of digital sales, revenue, and retention, this tactic lost more and more of its effectiveness and I gained to realize that my unique gift was the humanized way of doing sales, which had to do with connection building, collaboration, active listening, and solution selling.  Ironically, I discovered that my secret elements for not just monetization but also for my private life were transparency, genuineness, emotions, and empathy.

Help me understand what you do at Fuzia Talent. How do you empower women in this role?

I am the Head of Sales/ Business Head at Fuzia Talent, which works on connecting emerging businesses with On-Demand talent from our community of exceptionally skilled 5 million women coming from 30 different countries. Our mission is to promote and support women with economic independence, learning, and employment by offering them gigs that are relevant to their skills.

It is my responsibility to appropriately manage all of the sales department’s resources, and freelancers and support our team with their needs & aspirations. Overall, the goal is to assure “sustainable revenue growth by empowering businesses and women in our community” through performance analysis, learning and sorting challenges, etc. On top of that, for me, everything is centered on ensuring that we have the best resource for our clients, and this is only possible because we work towards constant learning, human-centric ideologies, and the psychological safety of our team and community members. Creating a culture of peer and reciprocal learning inside the “One Team-One Culture” framework’ is another aspect of my job apart from growing & supporting the community.

Women are amazing at sales because they build strong relationships, have intuition, listen to their gut feelings, and see the complexities in the deal. Please comment.

I believe men and women approach projects and business in different ways, and neither is incorrect; they are simply different. I also believe that not all men and women have the same flair.

Women, in my opinion, excel at sales because they cultivate strong relationships and comprehend the complexities of the problem. They also have a tendency to gain clarity by delving deeper into the problem’s surface while avoiding overly focusing on the traits that have become entrenched in our brains. I’ve also observed women with attentive ears, implying that dealing with objections comes naturally to many of us. Having said that, I believe the preceding points outweigh the concept of gut instinct.

I have been in sales all my life. I notice that women approach relationship-building differently than men. They share stories and delight in pulling out the details rather than getting straight to the point. Is this true?

I don’t think so. Sales have traditionally been a male-dominated environment (although the facts are changing now). As a result, a primitive, typical perception of a sales “man” appears to be a straightforward “guy,” whereas a typical perception of a stereotyped sales “woman” appears to be a “delightful charm”. 

Men and women approach conversations differently, and many conversations are dependent on the personality of the client we are meeting with. Sales is an intelligent game played by intelligent people. Nonetheless, who doesn’t enjoy a delightful story?

Help me understand what is your recommendation for sales leaders.

I feel every person associated with revenue generation talks about clients, solutions, fitment, etc, and these are most definitely incredibly important aspects. Although a lot of times people forget that sales are a high-pressure job and that it needs to be focused on the internal team’s psychological safety. Sales leaders assist their teams in learning client psychology but sometimes disregard their own teams’ sanity. 

If truth be told, I believe, if sales leaders start prioritizing their team’s mental health, this will be the most prominent growth factor.

Walk me through what are some of the intrinsic, skill sets and soft skills a woman needs to have to get into sales and what skills can be learned.

I believe that if you have the desire to learn something, you can learn it. My top 5 recommendations are:

1. Effective communication, which includes speaking clearly, actively listening, and using appropriate body language. To connect, the elements of effective communication are trust, respect, resolution, understanding, and empathy.

2. Solution mindset

3. Growth mindset 

4. Adaptability, resilience, and accountability 

5. Self-motivation, time management, promptness 

Talk to me about what women empowerment means to you.

Women are supported regardless of who they are, where they come from, or who else is present around them. It may not necessarily imply changing the entire world, but rather influencing one life at a time, whether it is raising awareness of another gender or supporting a woman.

“Women’s empowerment is the magic that happens when a woman recognizes her own identity, personality, and sense of belonging.” It occurs when a woman does not question her worth in a crowded place, office, board room, or even at home. It’s that lovely heaven of comfort where the power of their own decisions is in their own hands—the power that can never be taken away.