Conversations with Women in Sales

Lori Richardson
Conversations with Women in Sales Podcast

Conversations with Women in Sales is a top podcast hosted by Lori Richardson. Every episode features a woman in sales who is doing incredible work, or an interview with a male ally, or conversation on a related topic. For the past 100+ episodes, guests share practical advice for advancing one's sales career. The podcast is dedicated to the memory of Barbara Giamanco, who founded CWWIS in 2018. Each episode features topics like: leadership, career management, dealing with imposter syndrome, overcoming adversity, sales and marketing alignment, B2B sales, strategic partnerships, building confidence, content creation and promotion, social media, building inclusive sales teams, and more.

  1. AUG 28

    180: Women in Sales Paid Less, Stay Longer, Produce Better Results, with Megan Ackerson, CHRO, Xactly

    Xactly is a tech platform for assisting companies with compensation and forecasting with the sales team, and has been around since 2005. They started sharing research about men in sales roles versus women in 2014 or so - quite some time ago, and just released their 2024 research results which includes the following: ● Representation disparities: The gender ratio in sales is alarming. Women are underrepresented in sales roles, constituting only 34% of the sales force and only 29% of sales managers. ● Female salespeople earn less: On average, men earn 3.5% more than women as salespeople, and 3.7%* more as sales managers when it comes to fixed pay. Without adjustment of outside factors, men earn 9% more than women as salespeople, and 13% more as sales managers. ● Pay gaps widen over time: At the start of salespeople’s careers, men earn 2.2% more on average than women. After 2 years, this gap widens by 30%. After 5 years, the gap increases even more significantly, with a 77% increase. ● The gaps differ from industry to industry: The pay gap varies significantly across sectors, with female sales professionals in the Life Sciences and Pharma space reporting a 9% gap in pay and Manufacturing space with an 8% gap. It might be more opportune for women in sales to enter the Financial Services industry, where no pay gap was reported. ● State-by-state disparities: The state sales people live in seems to correlate with the pay disparities. Colorado and New Jersey hold the largest pay gap between men and women at 7%, with Georgia and Washington claiming the lowest pay gap at 1%. ● Performance remains unaffected: Despite the overwhelming disparities in representation and pay, female sales professionals consistently outperformed their male counterparts. Female salespeople outperformed men by 1.5%, and female sales managers outperformed by 3%. ● Loyalty is not a factor: Women tend to show greater loyalty to their Sales teams, staying with the same organization on average four months longer than their male counterparts. ● Unfair impact on quota assignments: Many organizations do not seem to recognize women’s higher performance. On average, male salespeople are assigned 3% higher quotas, and male sales managers are assigned 5% higher quotas, suggesting that sales teams assign men to higher potential sales territories or opportunities.   Follow Women Sales Pros for more research, interviews, and recommendations to add more women into sales and sales leadership roles.  Sign up for our newsletter for 2x month insights, ideas, and stories - and submit your own! Sign up: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past News Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues

    21 min
  2. MAY 31

    175: Insights from a Sales Nerd, Sara Storm, Break the Box and Skills.

    What is it like when two data focused people get together and talk? It does get a bit nerdy, but that's what I like about Sara, who lives in Stockholm, Sweden.  Sara has been doing nearly all roles - from individual contributor - like SDR, BDR, AE and all the way up to VP and CRO. Now she is running two companies, "Break the Box" and "Skills." Like many of us who came from little money, Sara was amazed when she got her first paycheck in her sales career and said to herself, "I will never have to be hungry again."  That's why we talk about sales being a game-changer for those new into professional selling. If you are having a tough time at the moment - stick with it because sales can be such an amazing career if you are motivated, good at it, and have support from the company you're at.  Sara talks about her journey from selling consumer products where half of the sellers were women to being the only woman in the room and how she adjusted - and what many of us learn over time to "fit in" versus being ourselves - it is an interesting point in our conversation.  Also, Sara gives a great tip on what to say when someone sales something really inappropriate in front of you and others. Check it out.  Connect with Sara here on LI:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/saralstorm/ Learn more about Women Sales Pros here - we support all of the women in sales orgs and communities:  https://womensalespros.com/ Sign up for our e-newsletter: https://bit.ly/thewspnews

    23 min
4.9
out of 5
73 Ratings

About

Conversations with Women in Sales is a top podcast hosted by Lori Richardson. Every episode features a woman in sales who is doing incredible work, or an interview with a male ally, or conversation on a related topic. For the past 100+ episodes, guests share practical advice for advancing one's sales career. The podcast is dedicated to the memory of Barbara Giamanco, who founded CWWIS in 2018. Each episode features topics like: leadership, career management, dealing with imposter syndrome, overcoming adversity, sales and marketing alignment, B2B sales, strategic partnerships, building confidence, content creation and promotion, social media, building inclusive sales teams, and more.

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