October is Women in Sales Month. Bandwidth wants to take this opportunity to celebrate our female Bandmates who rock their sales missions everyday! WISE (Women in Sales Everywhere) at Bandwidth hosted a live Q&A, put together this blog, and has done some other internal branding & collaboration initiatives to celebrate.
WISE kicked off the month by hosting an AMA with Judy Covington (VP, Account Management). It was an insightful discussion covering a range of topics with Judy.
We have continued the “Q&A” with four women who have been successful in various Sales roles at Bandwidth. Take a look below for insight and advice from a few of our Rockstar Bandmates on their experiences as a woman in the Sales Industry!
Brooks Owens–Sales Lead Qualification Manager
Q: What is one characteristic you think females in sales must possess?
A: “Persistence. Polite persistence paired with consistency goes a long way. Having a stick-to-it mentality to win builds your discipline muscle and builds confidence in relationships you build with your prospects. According to research, the vast majority of salespeople give up too soon for meaningful results. The women who stay diligent and have humble aggression are the ones that go far and win big!”
Danielle Wong–Revenue Enablement Program Manager
Q: What benefits have you seen from having female leaders in your sales career?
A: “In an industry that is traditionally male dominated, it has always been encouraging to be surrounded by female leaders. They understand the obstacles that women have to overcome in sales, but they also know it’s possible due to having accomplished it themselves.”
Petra Dietrich–Associate Account Executive
Q: What advice would you give to a female debating if she should transition to a sales career?
A: “My advice would be to go for it if you can find the right fit! Sales can be extremely empowering to take ownership over your successes. But what will make you more successful than anything is a supportive team and manager. Company culture will be the biggest tell on if you’ll have a great support system. I’d encourage anyone to be picky about the products you sell and the company you sell for.”
Hannah Fairchilds–Sr. Director, Strategic Sales
Q: Would you say there are any particular challenges females in sales face in our industry? (software communications/telecom)
A: “One of the biggest challenges is just keeping women in the tech industry once they start to go through the various life stages and the challenges that come with that. Like it or not, women bear the brunt of child care and planning, most home responsibilities related to food, laundry, and housekeeping, as well as child transportation to/from sports and doctors appointments. If it continues to be easier for women to drop out than stay in, we will continue to see fewer and fewer female sales executives and leaders. Companies who support their female sales executives and sales leaders and who provide flexibility to better manage work and family are the companies who will attract the best female talent. Women need to support other women, hire and promote qualified female candidates, and lean in to what makes women so spectacular.”
