Why You Need Women On Your B2B Sales Team

 Why do you need women on your B2B sales team?  There are two big reasons:

One- Women bring natural advantages to the table when it comes to the B2B sales process. We'll talk about those in just a minute.

Two -More and more women are on the B2B buying team.   You're going to see more and more female purchase officers, compliance officers ,office managers, and in risk-assessment.  If you're selling to business owners, you're definitely going to be selling to more women.

Let's break it down.

Women bring natural advantages to the B2B sales process

1 - Women are experts at reading a room.  Research has shown that women are better at reading facial expressions and emotion, and at reading body language.

When you're presenting to a team, women can pick up clues as to who is with you and who isn't. 

In a real-life example from Code Switching- How to Talk so Men Will Listen, Tom and Jean are in a meeting pitching their company.  Tom is doing the presentation.   Jean is surveying their prospective clients during the presentation.  At the end of the meeting Tom asked Jean how it went.  He thought it was very well received.  Jean, however, picked up clues that said otherwise.

"I think we've got a problem," Jean said.

Tom was totally surprised:  "What do you mean?"

"Well, I saw some negative reactions," she explained.  "I don't think they're completely on board.  I think we should set a follow-up meeting with the two members showing the most push-back."

Sure enough, Jean was right on.  Those members did indeed have concerns.  Left un-addressed, it could have torpedoed the proposal.

2 - Women are natural relationship builders.   We've seen how important building trust is in the B2B sales process.  The first step to building that trust is building relationships, listening to clients, and empathizing with them.   Women excel at all three of these skills.

In Code Switching, the authors cite a study that finds women have an integrative process when negotiating. The process includes:

Questioning, making an effort to hear the other's views, and obtaining end results that are agreeable to both parties.

3 - Women suffer less from over-confidence.   I actually think this is an area where men and women can really learn from each other.  Men can suffer from over-confidence, while women can suffer from under-confidence.  As a result, men can under-prepare for meetings, while women can over-prepare. In more complex sales situations with multiple decision makers, coming in armed with more information, rather than less information, can be advantageous.  Women pay attention To the details.   

More and more of your B2B customers are going to be women

1 - More women are going to be on the B2B buying team that gives the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down to your proposal.  They are HR managers and office managers, they're working in compliance or risk-assessment.   Chances are there's going to be a woman decision maker involved.  You better understand how to sell to her or risk her vetoing your proposal.

2 - Women are starting businesses in record numbers, and are successful with those businesses.  Women owned businesses are having a tremendous impact.  If you're selling to women, having a woman on your sales team can be a real asset.

Folks, there is a HUGE opportunity here.   Include women on your team and get an instant competitive advantage.

Comments

[e-commerce solutions]

Hi!It was quite interesting to read this post.I completely agree with a lot of things that you have mentioned over here as i have faced it in my personal experience.You have stated some very interesting facts here worth taking note of.Look forward to more such posts from you.

[dean graziosi]

These are effective advantages which you have given.I like the way you have described all points and I do agree with this whole post.Your reasons are also appreciable.

[medieval dresses]

This is the reason why in B2B sales, they prefer to hire women..

[Melbourne Office Space]

B2B is a modern method to reach potential customers and despite the technological advancements. I give higher priority to women, as they are the ones with better patience them men.

[Dipl.Kfm. Udo Granops]

You are right about, professional women in B2B sales and buying being even more successful than their male colleagues, solely based on their attitude.
Women are naturals in building relations, tht's why I like to have some more on my team and surely would love to find some as co-operation partners and scouts in the US and other countries.
But I also have to say, that not very much women are intersted in working for a technology company in sales, what is a pity. I recognized on a startup summit last week, that only women in service function where around, no team had woman on it, what a pity.
If you and your readers are eager to conquer Germany, Europe and CIS, feel free to contact us.
We will share our hints about B2B business on our hubpage, we just started:
http://b2b-sales-europe.hubpages.com
We would be very thankful if you stoped by some time.
More information about our sales activities you find on
http://www.b2b-sales-performance.de
and at our profiles by LinkedIn and XING.

Keep on writing, because we know, that we really need more women with a drive and feeling for business!

[pharmacy]

Women are so important in the environment of an office, I got a new job last month , there is not working any women the office is too bored many time

[Daniel]

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