A recent report by Catalyst titled “Damned If You Do, Doomed If You Don’t,” surveyed 1,231 senior executives from U.S. and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes (defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspective”) are considered less competent. The research also found that women who act in ways seen as more “male,” (defined as “act assertively, focusing on work task, displaying ambition,”) are seen as “too tough” and unfeminine.
The conclusion was that women can’t win. Data also shows women don’t advance as much as men and their pay is lower on average. Also, the November 4 New York Times front page headline referring to politics reads “Different Rules When a Rival Is a Woman?”
Based on your experience, what do you think — what impact does being a woman have on a career in sales?
Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson (http://www.richardson.com), a leading global sales training and consulting firm. Linda is a recognized leader in the sales training industry and is credited with the movement to consultative selling. Ms. Richardson has written 9 books on sales including her most recent, The Sales Success Handbook. She has been published extensively in industry and training journals and has been featured in numerous publications.
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9 comments:
Well... Not a real surprise in my humble opinion. The more a person (male or female) behaves according to the stereotype associated with her/his gender, the less credibility she/he will build in the buyer's mind. Again, based on my experience, sales proficiency builds on a series of skills (prospecting, solution development, negotiation, etc.) which relate poorly to gender. Thoughts?
I look for men and women who will get the job done in my business - stereotypes either gender direction don't interest me. Maybe in some work places what the study indicates is true.
Would these stereotypes hinder your success, Linda, and would you explain your yes or no answer?
I personally think that many women salespeople and sales trainers overplay the gender card.
What do sales techniques have to do with Gender?
As a women what are your thoughts on this Linda?
Some of the responses surprised me. It is clear that this topic is on our minds. I think a decade or so ago, being a woman in sales made the job harder. I saw first hand at a large bank where I worked in the late 1970’s (I realize this was a very long time ago to most of the salespeople reading this) that it was a big obstacle, not only from the bank that was most reluctant to assign women to important relationships, but from many customers who did not want the account managed by a female banker, particularly in certain industries. Today, while there are a few pockets where being a women in sales can be at a disadvantage, (not accepted by sales team members and so on) this is very rare and the situation is different - thank heavens! I am actually hearing from sales managers how effective the women on their teams are, and in some fields women make up more than 50% of the salesforce. Research shows that sometimes women can be the preferred choice based on their ability to listen and empathize.
The goal of all enlightened business people putting together a sales force should be to make factors like gender not a consideration in recruiting or career development. Of course, nothing is perfect, but tremendous headway has been made in sales for women (although they are still very underrepresented in sales management ranks).
As for women using their femininity as a sales asset, while I am sure it happens, I personally don’t see or hear about this in the many sales seminars we run. Business attire has changed so much, with the return of the short skirt and the relaxing of dress codes, that I do think it is important for women in sales to always maintain a professional appearance, which can require more judgment since women have more flexibility in what they can wear. Another consideration is that many buyers and decision makers today are women. As with anything, attractive looks can be an advantage but that does not preclude a person with an attractive appearance from being hard working, smart, and talented, or conversely being especially attractive will not guarantee success in sales, particularly with the demands of customers today.
At Richardson we have always hired the best people based on their ability and experience. As a team we fully support each and I believe that has been the key to our success.
Warm regards, Linda Richardson
Linda - From a male's perspective I can say that sexual tension in a business relationship is a funny thing, which I assume happens to men more often than women. However, professionals can and should over come this when it rarely happens.
And I can see how it would have been tough to get certain jobs in the past. However, sales skills are no different for race, gender, religious affiliations or any other factor.
If you (I mean a Woman in general) have the job in sales that you want, then the issue is can you do as well financially as the opposite sex. And you don't have to look far for evidence on that. Locally there are several real estate sales women who are always at the top in sales and therefore earnings.
And I agree, woman are better networkers. They do empathize better.
There is absolutely no reason why a woman cannot produce the same as a man in sales or better. And I would not hesitate to hire woman sales people on my team.
I couldn't help but wonder if this might be a good issue for training, like diversity or bullying, or it is too deeply rooted in the culture to be "trained away" I posted your link on our blog and asked my readers (mostly HR people and trainers) what they think. Should be interesting to see the results
As a woman in insurance sales, I would agree with the results of the survey. While it might be easier to be successful in the sales (or corporate) world for a woman today than 10 yrs ago, I believe there is still gender bias from prospective clients as well as employers. I also believe the pay is not equal. As a society, we have made progress towards treating men and women equally in the workforce but we still have a long way to go. That's not to say that woman cannot be great sales people, it just means we have to be more tenacious.
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