Putting More Women In Sales Management
“We have enough boy’s clubs. It’s time to have a girl’s club.” Despite being 51% of the population, women only make up 39% of the sales industry. Lauren Bailey, interviewed by John Golden, explores why there aren’t more women in sales management roles, and how to change things.
In this expert sales interview, Lauren Bailey discusses:
- The importance of having women as part of the sales force
- How risk plays a part
- Ways to integrate more women into managerial positions
Girls Club
“I was sick to death of people talking about how things needed to change, about how women need to be more involved, and then not doing anything about it,” said Bailey. “Growing up, I didn’t see any other women leading sales groups. I didn’t have any role models. Once I started realized this, I thought, ‘wow, there’s something wrong with that.’” She made it her mission to solve this problem with her own girl’s club.
Women Risk Takers
Part of creating a solution to the gender imbalance involves understanding the problem. As Bailey set out to explore this trend of fewer women in sales management jobs, she discovered that risk and risk-taking plays a significant part. A study by HP found that if there is a job that’s posted with a 10-item list of criteria, a man will apply when he can do six things. Women, however, will only apply when she can do all of the things on the list. “Little boys are raised as adventures and risk takers. And little girls are raised as perfectionists. And, if that’s the case, the HP study really does demonstrate that. We don’t raise our hand until we know it’s a sure thing,” said Bailey.
How to Help Women to Break Through
Bailey’s program has several parts to help establish more women in sales management. When the girl’s club first started, the plan was to focus only on training. It’s still an essential part of what Bailey provides, but with some new add-ons. However, it has since expanded. A mentor is provided for everyone in the group. Because there are limited options for role models, each group member is connected with a more experienced woman in sales management that can serve as a mentor. These women share their stories of failures, continued growth, how they’ve taken risks, and how they have conquered the sales management role. In addition to being role models for their assigned girl’s club members, Each of these mentors filmed short clip for a series called Rise Up on Record. These videos create an authentic description of what it’s like to be a woman in the sales workforce.
About our Host:
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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