COMMENTS
When hiring a sales person, the prejudices and expectations of the buying decision makers should be given strong consideration. Also, what does the profile of the most successful competitive sales people look like? Being purely objective, what's the ideal success profile look like?
Thanks for the detailed info. Good to know when prospecting for new clients who have to sell there services.
On behalf of FLIC
www.femaleleaders.org), we would like to thank you for sharing this information! I've enjoyed Tom Peter's and remember engaging in his "walk about management" practices in the 1980's which really changed the way in which we managed. We're always looking for insightful studies and viewpoints. It's important to remember that as we all move forward as a business community, that we do not necessarily look for the differences between men and women, but we seek to determine the strengths of each individual and encourage people to use those strengths to move us forward. Thanks for sharing.
It is heartbreaking to read this clear and analytical insight. I try to remind myself that very often life is much simpler that what it looks like when we try to explain the way it works. So, in my opinion women are better sales people because:
- most decision makers in the selling process are men (merely sex appeal may be working here);
- men seem to be more concerned about authority (keeping face even) rather than of getting things done;
- women get more concerned about what happens now and may be more concentrated at the moment of sale, rather than getting busy wit strategic visions and plans.
- women are better at running errands, following daily schedule, organizing;
My intention is far from building a feminist defense. If women are not statistically better in sales, at least it is worth for a manager to reconsider possible opportunities.
Good article. I concur that women are better at most things. My wife is amazing. She "sells" children on making decisions they would rather not; she sells me on ideas AND ideals that make me uncomfortable; she upholds me to a higher standard than one I have held for myself; She gets more things done in a day than I do in a week - errands, activities, shipping, phone calls, working out, etc. Bottom line - women are better sales people because they are relational, and know how to juggle EVERYTHING.
I agree that women (in general) are much better salespeople. In my sales career, that has held true where I have worked.
It's important to understand your industry and what works well, since the numbers don't always tell the whole story. It may also be true that men sell better in certain situations.
I really don't think sales profession is gender based.
If you do the right sales pitch you will be successfull (Provided if Customer is seriously looking to buy something)
We have to deliniate the type of sales to which sex is seems to be better. Our prejudices may also be related to our ages. I am 60, so when women first started selling, they definitely got in the door quicker and gained more attention from the predominately men buyers. If there was no substance or technical skills, that advantage was soon lost. I am not sure that is the same today. Cold calling hunter related sales, men seem to be better. They take rejection more as a challenge then a rejection, especially if you make it into a game. Service type sales, which require listening, and follow up, women seem to have the advantage. In general women are more apt to ask question and listen better. I am not sure if women are better able to ask the tougher questions, which may be perceived as conflict. As a sales manager I found that men would not ask for help in handling a sales where there was confrontation, and a woman will immediately ask for help. That is not a weakness for women, just an observation. In the end, it all depends upon the individual, their values, and their general behavior.
@Allan - I appreciate your comments Allan. Yours come from observations and common sense - a good thing. The distinctions made in the original article are based on data.
For instance, you mentioned that as a sales manager men would not ask you for help. The key there is not necessarily men, it may be you. They didn't ask you for help but they may have asked someone else for help. So until we get an appropriate sample size of men and women and learn whether they'll ask sales managers for help and under what conditions they'll do it, we can't do anything more than guess.
Good points Dave, and I agree, we first have to look at ourselves as Sales Managers, and how approachable we are. I will be anxious to hear more when more data is available.
What am I missing from Dave's final statement?
“The important thing to remember is this: if you interview 100 candidates, a quarter of the top 26% will be women which translates into about 6 superior female candidates to go along with 18 top male candidates.”
"So like I said in my previous post, a larger percentage of the females are stronger than the percentage of males that are stronger. There you have it."
Looks like 18 is over 50% greater than 6? How does that final statistic prove women are stronger sales candidates than men? Seems like it proves the reverse?! I agree that women are more likely to get the audience they need when presenting and closing. Also I feel it is a social paradigm of Motherhood –nurturing and really being genuine and caring- that helps set strong women apart from strong men candidates in sales.