I sat down with popular sales author and referral sales expert Joanne Black at Dreamforce 15 as we were waiting for one of the “Women in Leadership” sessions. We also talked after the big week in San Francisco.
At Dreamforce, Joanne and I both led sessions about women in sales. It was a first – at ANY business conference I’ve been to where there was more than one session geared toward discussing how to get more women into sales, why we should, and what some of the differences there are between men and women sellers.
Here is a bit of what Joanne and I discussed. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the differences in how men and women sell.
LR: You recently spoke at Dreamforce with a talk called, “Big Deals and High Heels™: Why Women Are Naturals at Selling”. Tell us about that.
JB: Men say the best salespeople they know are women. Top salespeople build and nurture relationships, and women rock! But men and women are wired differently, and our brain differences matter. Men and women must team up to do what's best for the customer and adjust their communication to get results.
LR: What sort of reaction did you get from any of the women in sales in the audience or outside of the session? (2-3 sentences)
JB: Women loved the meaty insights, stories, and examples, as well as tips on how to better communicate with male audiences. The practical to-dos for their sales teams in terms of building relationships were a bit hit. The best take-away of all–When a man pre-empts a woman's suggestion, she says: “I'm so glad you liked my idea.”
LR: Where will you be taking the Big Deals and High Heels™ message next?
JB: Women say men don't listen. Men say they don't understand women. Let's close that gap at company sales meetings with an interactive, working session of Big Deals and High Heels™ for women in sales. (Men can attend, of course.)
Women excel at relationships and referrals. We will immerse women in referral selling and benchmark them against other sales teams within their company. Why? We will prove that referral selling is the #1 prospecting strategy, and that women top the leader board.
Customers are the best source of new business, and both marketing and sales are challenged with staying in touch and consistently delivering value. We will write eBooks for clients about their customers who are women in sales. The payoff? The company showcases its clients and promotes women in sales at the same time.
Joanne has written a number of posts about women in sales. Here are 3 recent posts:
5 Tips For Women in Sales: Get Ready to Change the Game
The Best Salespeople I Know Are Women
https://www.salesforce.com/form/conf/women-in-tech.jsp
Let us know about your experience as a woman in B2B sales. Post a comment or tweet us at WomenSalesPros on Twitter.
