Women In Sales Awards Magazine 2021

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N I C O L E JA EG E R DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN

Congratulations from Zars Media, proud host of tonight's celebrations

AFI OFORI, Managing Director, Zars Media

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ver the last 8 years we have had the pleasure of working with some incredible saleswomen who have shown resilience, tenacity, and determination in the face of many challenges. We have brought together hundreds of strong women from various sectors across EMEA and celebrated their exemplary achievements.

In spite of the obvious setbacks we have all endured over the past year, this year we received more nominations than ever before. It was truly gratifying to see that, despite significant challenges, companies still made the effort to recognise the great women in their sales teams.

I would like to thank the judges who took time out of their busy schedules to support the awards and the companies that continue to encourage diversity and engage the women in their sales teams by taking part in the WIS Awards.

Thank you to all of you, our lovely guests who were able to celebrate with us this evening.

Congratulations to all this year’s nominees, finalists, and winners. You are advocates, leaders, and roles models and you should all be justifiably proud of your achievements.

From the zars Media team have a great Christmas see you in 2022.

Find latest news about WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS EUROPE and share your experience of the event at: women-in-sales-awards

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In this magazine

Being Different is Your Superpower

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Digital Communications for a post COVID world

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8 Rules For Life Inside & Outside Sales

25 The Judging Process

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WISA Europe 2021 Judges

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WISA by the Numbers

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WISA Europe 2021 Finalists

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And the 2021 WINNERS are...

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Why Psychological Safety in Sales is Important

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Questioning Your Sales Engagement

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Bridging Our Differences At Work

WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS EUROPE MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2021 is published by Zars Media

8 Heathfield Court Fleet, Hampshire GU51 5DX England Tel.: 01252612025 info@wisawards.com

Official Printer: Splash Printing www.splashprinting.co.uk

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Design by: Brandbees www.behance.net/brandbees Photography by: Paul Grace Photography www.pgrace.co.uk pgracephoto Ramis Karamatov Photography www.ramisphotography.com rms.mains Tom Schlieben Photography tomschlieben.co.uk

N I C O L E JA EG E R DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN

On the Cover: NICOLE JAEGER MOST DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN OF THE YEAR

Being Different is Your Superpower

By RINA GOLDENBERG LYNCH, Founder & CEO, Voice At The Table www.voiceatthetable.com

We've recently been exploring whether those of us who don’t fit the company mould can still succeed by being themselves, including those who lead differently (and authentically). Today, I want to make the case for embracing what makes us different and knowing that – far from being ‘misfits’ – we actually have a ‘superpower’.

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take inspiration from a recent New York Times article written by one of the many women who found herself to be the ‘only’ woman – in fact the only black woman – in her team at work. Dolly Chugh's article talks about the pro’s and con’s of being the only one, and gives us tips on how to make it less lonely.

It reminds us that each of us has something special to contribute and to regard our team/organisation as lucky to have that contribution.

But I want to take it one step further. I want to encourage you – if you feel different from the rest for whatever reason – gender, ethnicity, sexuality, height, cultural background, singledom, sense of humour… truly, whatever the reason – to own the characteristic that makes you feel that way and treat it like your superpower.

Think about it: some of the most well-known people – from Grace Jones to Ed Sheeran to Rebel Wilson to Mr. T – have cultivated their ‘difference’ as a strength.

OK, these people are outliers. In addition to their ‘difference’, they also have oodles of talent. But that doesn’t change anything.

Can you think of someone you know who stands out in some way and yet, you hardly notice it because they are comfortable in their skin? Instead of hiding whatever peculiarity they might have, they feed it with humour, ease and comfort. Their distinguishing characteristic becomes part and parcel of who they are and lifts them above the rest. I’ve seen it with people who are overweight, people who are much shorter than average, people who are not academic and heavily-accented

When we bow to society’s pressure to conform, anything that sets us apart from the ‘norm’ makes us feel excluded.

people. When you meet them, you might notice their distinguishing characteristic, but once you’ve had a conversation with them, you don’t see it any more. They simply become a person who is funny or witty or interesting or popular.

You see them as someone who, instead of wearing their difference as a burden, wears it as a mark of distinction. What many might consider an unfortunate feature has been turned into a badge of honour.

How does this work?

It’s simple, really. When we bow to society’s pressure to conform, anything that sets us apart from the ‘norm’ makes us feel excluded.

So we quietly hide it (by wearing heels if we’re short or stooping down if we’re tall), or downplay it (by mumbling through a complicated sentence or omitting references to unfamiliar yet well-known authors) or we exaggerate our behaviour (by boasting about a successful friend or buying excessive rounds of drinks).

Of course, people still notice what we’re trying to de-emphasise.

When, however, we bring our ‘oddity’ to the fore and treat it like it’s the most common feature

on earth, what people see is our confident personality and us – not the very thing that’s different about us. They perceive our peculiarity as our superpower – not because it is, but because we treat it like one.

Why is this important?

We live in a society that is rapidly evolving; one that needs the contribution of every individual – no matter how different. We can contribute greatly to this evolution if we are comfortable with what makes us different. Only then can we confidently talk about our authentic experiences and bring our whole selves to work.

Only then will our contribution form part of those creative solutions that every organisation desperately needs. This is where the true benefit of Diversity is.

When I was young, one of my teachers told us that we must learn to love ourselves before anyone else can love us. That continues to apply today: if you respect yourself – warts and all – others will respect you in the same way.

And when that happens, the world can be your oyster indeed

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Digital Communications for a post COVID world

By JAVAID IQBAL, CEO, Transformx

The dramatic shift to online everything (at least till the manageable end of the COVID-19 pandemic), has impacted (and tested) the expectation dynamics of every organization's relationship with customers, employees, and partners. As a result, the forward-thinking ones quickly (some haphazardly) learned to engage better, manage practices efficiently, eliminate silos, and up their focus on the ways to communicate early and often.

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hile the effort was valiant, it did become clear very soon that much more was needed to be done as the challenges raised during the pandemic (to keep the lights on and otherwise) required readiness through advancements in digitization and automation in every facet of the business including digital business communications (which, for most were dismal at best). After all, one unmissable after-effect of the pandemic has been the marked increase in digital engagement

across the board, and humanity at large has had a crash course in using text, voice, video, bots, etc. to go about their business of life. The ones that are now used to this new post covid forced digitization rhetoric see the real value of video appointments with bankers, symptom tracking through health-focused chatbots and WhatsApp enabled food ordering, etc., and don’t want to go back to the mundane, slow, and inefficient ways of the yesteryears. And while all this is great, the discipline of business communications still has a lot more to go in terms of its evolution and some of the factors (below) are going to be essential in shaping it for the future.

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Cloud – the nucleus of all communications The connective tissue of cloud communications is CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service), which, in essence are cloud-based platforms that integrate communication services like SMS (Secured Messaging Service), email, voice, RCS (alternate to SMS that enables iMessage/ WhatsApp, etc.), chatbots, or any microservice into existing back-end systems and applications and uses APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and intelligent interconnectivity to enable any relevant service or communications channel. CPaaS can serve multiple and fluctuating communication needs for organizations of all sizes.

Metropolitan Utilities District in Nebraska (USA) a provider of water and gas to one-third of the state can now reach their customers via live chats and review details of contracts and invoices through 10

In emerging markets like Pakistan, the government leveraged incoming phone ringtones to communicate daily status of COVID-19 and the ever-changing protocols around it.

secure mediums to resolve complaints at first contact. In emerging markets like Pakistan, the government leveraged incoming phone ringtones to communicate daily status of COVID-19 and the ever-changing protocols around it. Even telehealth startups like Marham in the country leveraged CPaaS to provide omnichannel access through SMS-based bookings and reminders of upcoming appointments that aided in a substantial reduction in complaints and no-shows and doubled its revenues in 2020. Further, the telehealth outfit (and many others) now use voice as a failover, making phone calls to patients in case of failed message deliveries or

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no reply, and is integrating the popular medium of WhatsApp as its primary mode for achieving customer trust. What makes CPaaS even more attractive is its practically-uninhibited scalability and multi-tenancy that allows organizations to build as many contact centers, send as many texts/ calls/videos as they need, expand to in as many markets as they want and as quickly as they wish to. All the while, they are charged only for the communications that they utilize, down to the second that they use or the message that they send – a far cry from physical phone lines and contact centers of old – to elevate micro-resource management to an all-new level.

The Great AI (Communications) Takeover

When COVID-19 struck, HBR found that nearly 6 out of 10 global organizations had accelerated their AI strategy to boost overall organizational AI and cognitive expenditure to $57.6 billion for 2021 (IDC), with general and industrycentric applications for chatbots and artificial personal assistants leading the way in consumer-facing communications. Chatbots from the likes of Babylon Health to Mayo Clinic showed their efficiency in automating contact centers by responding to customer queries on symptoms and recommending the next best actions. Over time, bots grew in sophistication to guide both during contact tracing initiatives as well as government vaccination efforts across the globe. In the case of organizations grappling with

digital transformation efforts, COVID provided an opportunity to digitize operations for many. Banca Transilvania, Romania’s largest bank, created a bot called ‘Raul’ to automate mundane operations such as balance queries and FAQs over WhatsApp. In industries like finance up to 90% of interactions could be automated by 2022, chat and voice bots can fast-track digitization efforts through just a few hours of coding using seamless API integration. Organizations are also utilizing household virtual assistants like Alexa, Cortana, and Google ‘Duplex’ too for use cases such as making phone calls, scheduling meetings, transcribing discussions, sending appointment alerts, and so on. Seems like robots are finally here to stay!

In industries like finance up to 90% of interactions could be automated by 2022, chat and voice bots can fast - track digitization efforts through just a few hours of coding using seamless API integration.

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Virtual is the new reality While consumers are finally getting physical access to malls, banks, hospitals, and clubs, the rise of virtual and augmented reality applications are only just starting – this year, at least 93.3 million Americans will use VR at least once a month, an increase of 11.2 million from 2020, per eMarketer.

For businesses, virtual reality stands to break the final hurdle that remote workers (and consumers) face: their physical absence itself.

It can enhance conference calls by giving an equal degree of views during product ideation and demos to anyone worldwide through 360 visuals. Similarly for professional training, it allows the best possible worker education from the best possible trainers worldwide. Technology allowing people to immerse themselves and react to a virtual environment is a fascinating concept, and when 12

perfected, can play a big role in business communication. London’s Heathrow Airport is a prime example of an entity embedding VR into its services; allowing passengers to explore the airport from their smartphones, it prevents them from getting lost in the monolithic structure when trying to find their terminal or a dutyfree store – a great example of how early forms of VR are being used within businesses. Hospitals and other organizations are investing in VR to train the next crop of staff and even religious organizations are using it to prepare pilgrims for their respective pilgrimages, from Mount Athos and the Vatican for Christians to the Hajj in Mecca.

By reducing their reliance on physical infrastructure thereby modern organizations greatly improve business continuity during any disasters occurring in the post-pandemic world.

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This year, at least 93.3 million Americans will use VR at least once a month, an increase of 11.2 million from 2020.

– eMARKETER

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Workplace Productivity for a Digital Inhabitant Post-COVID workplaces have hardly seen pre-pandemic levels of traffic in physical workplaces, with 74% of American workers expecting remote work to become the new norm instead, according to Forbes.

The growing sophistication and proliferation of social intranet software that combine collaborative and social networking features like Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, and Zoho has enabled this shift and smoothened out the edges. Improving collaboration, communication, and productivity, social intranet tools operate on easy-to-use interfaces to provide features like instant messaging, social tagging, document and story sharing, newsfeed, and others necessary for cross-functional teamwork. Even better than this, software like Loop Team can replicate the office-like virtually

Post-COVID workplaces have hardly seen pre -pandemic levels of traffic in physical workplaces, with 74% of American workers expecting remote work to become the new norm instead.

– FORBES

that is absent in remote settings, from looking and attending ongoing meetings to learning who is available for virtual discussions at a given time and more, giving work the ad-hoc tinge that is present in offices. Once the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, organizations behind these tools added features from the learnings during the tough period; Google made advanced Meet conferencing features divisible working hours, and additional screens accessible to everyone, Zoho expanded its free trial for more concurrent free users, while zoom added higher-grade security and encryption features.

In a post-pandemic workforce of next-generation workers, acquiring tools like this will be imperative for workers, nearly a third of which already claim to be hindered by poor technologies in workplaces today.

Video-over-Voice: Adding New Dimensions to Business Communications The acceptance of web standards like Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), has proved a boon for organizational communications, with businesses no longer requiring customers to download custom apps or respond to phone calls for communications. Supported on mobile and desktop browsers alike, these advancements allow them to embed existing APIs to contact customers and employees anywhere using voice or video communications, potentially revolutionizing many facets of the business. Physical contact centers, often a major hurdle to operational agility and a pain to manage, can be digitized to be operable remotely from any normal computer with a headphone and webcam 14

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and used to retain customer conversations in one place. The athletic training company 6 Points harnessed the power of advanced communications APIs to train the next generation of American football quarterbacks remotely as COVID struck, ensuring athlete fitness continuity. Similarly, reputed institutions such as Duke University and the University of Warwick used them to ensure the provision of quality education during the pandemic. The standard allows easy integration with existing services, from CRM like Salesforce, to a resource planning tool like Microsoft Dynamics 365, demonstrating that the technology finds its use both internally and externally in an enterprise.

Great risk with greater reward: the threat of cyber-trauma

FBI finding cyber-crime to have risen by 300% since the pandemic began.

Unsurprisingly, the post-pandemic world’s greater focus on virtual workplaces and lifestyle has caught some unsavory eyes, with the FBI finding cyber-crime to have risen by 300% since the pandemic began. Forced to shift to their home workstations, employees first incurred the raft of attacks on video conference services, from “Zoombombing” to breaches on a service like Zoom itself. As the pandemic worsened, the attacks became more sophisticated; social engineering rose by 270% while ransomware increased by an even greater degree, at 500% plus.

From the (allegedly) Russia-led SolarWinds attack to Microsoft, and Oracle BlueKai to Twitter, few parties, if any, were spared. To prevent such occurrences, greater investment in technology tools, such as AI-powered cyberthreats like SentinelOne, enterprise VPN like Cisco AnyConnect, and cloud endpoint security software such

as Armor Anywhere, are needed in today’s fast-changing virtual world. With IBM, Cisco, and others sharing information security training online, there is little excuse for employers to not train their workers on cyber-hygiene.

Communications solutions can provide stable two-factor authentication to virtually any market worldwide, allowing heavyweight startups like AUKA and Grab to not only offer security but seamless customer onboarding. Number masking can make doctor-patient or driverrider consumer conversations private while Analytics APIs with built-in virus databases highlight risky phone numbers and spam emails automatically.

With organizations investing in security solutions standing to gain a 450% ROI on average, according to solution provider Cipher, there is little reason for these investments to wait further.

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Onwards to 5G, the (communications) white knight The fifth-generation cellular network, 5G, will completely change the shape of daily human life, redefining how individuals and organizations connect, inform, shop, and entertain. At its best, 5G will enable a thriving information flow and change the way organizations communicate forever – already 5G customers (in markets that support the technology) are using over 2.7 times the data used by 4G customers to enjoy deeper, more enriching experiences. For business communications, it means a plethora of changes in both internal and external efficiencies.

For the former, meetings will play out more transparently, supplier relationships could be enhanced through connected devices, and employees could be engaged better through virtual reality training

At its best, 5G will enable a thriving information flow and change the way organizations communicate forever

and spaces. In an industry like transportation and logistics, this could mean more transparency, sanctity, and efficiency in global supply networks, flaws that were (often fatally) exposed as soon as COVID-19 struck, using advanced edge computing and blockchain.

For the latter, more consumer data could be analyzed and evaluated, with dashboards displaying a history of revenues, expenditures, and other vital metrics, all set to be updated in real-time and enhanced by artificial intelligence and big data. In sectors like healthcare, this could mean even better proactive care using wearables that can detect symptoms of cardiac, pulmonary, and nervous system ailments and automatically suggest treatments much before aggravation.

So, is this type of Digital Transformation an antidote to business Darwinism?

A well-crafted business communications strategy has the power to align all resources towards a new normality such as COVID-19. It can also re-establish and strengthen the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders, which is very important now as they seek to reconnect with highly conscientious customers of the post-pandemic ecosystem. In the modern-day, this means that customer experience must be reimagined using innovative and disruptive methods of communication, including those mentioned above. Be it through voice bots that imitate human workers, tools that intelligently 16

transcribe calls for sentiment analysis, or integration with a customer experience management tool, anything is fair game in the war of customer diplomacy. On the flip side, organizations still maintaining legacy communications infrastructures like traditional PBX and physical call centers risk being left out. With cloud-based contact centers reducing costs by 27% and suffering 35% less downtime, according to Talkdesk, over time the parity between physical and virtual models will grow. As a consequence, with many western markets facing a widespread talent shortage and the US facing tense employer-labor relations (that

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show no signs of abetting), cloudbased infrastructure ensures the greatest odds of retaining business continuity in a volatile market through Robotic Process Automation and new age Business Communication methods. And the ones that are still struggling to figure out their digital customer journeys at a time when the forces of business Darwinism have never been stronger, digitization and corresponding technological tools (like CPaaS) are among the most surefire ways of survival amidst rampant uncertainty and an increasingly complex environment of business and life

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8 Rules For Life Inside & Outside Sales

By JEFF RISELEY, Founder of the Sales Health Alliance and Mental Health Advocate www.saleshealthalliance.com

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SEEK DISCOMFORT Accelerated growth and the most meaningful life experiences happen outside our comfort zone. When we seek discomfort on a regular basis, we can rewire our anxiety from a “threat” detector to a “growth” detector.

This is an important skill to develop because both sales and life in general can feel uncomfortable at times.

Over time, learning to seek discomfort gets easier and leads to greater levels of personal growth and fulfillment. Having a helpful set of stress management tools and self-care strategies can help you push through the self-doubt, fear and anxiety you face on the edge of your comfort zone.

Kudos to Yes Theory for regular Seek Discomfort motivation.

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TRY TO “INSPIRE” INSTEAD OF “IMPRESS” Too many of us spend every waking hour trying to impress our friends, partners, colleagues, bosses and buyers. This traps us into thinking who we “should be” versus who we actually are.

Instead, focus on inspiring others through your quirks, journey, authenticity, generosity, empathy, compassion, discipline and hard work. These qualities and actions are firmly in your hands to control every single day.

Get off the beaten path and inspire others to think differently by discovering your own and being your true self.

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THE 8 HOUR WORK DAY IS UTTER NONSENSE Any company or leader that is operating under the expectation that a human being can focus and complete high quality work for 7-8 hours (or more) per day is living in a fantasy.

On the best days, we’ll have 4 maybe 5 hours of deep focus time.

Every company and leader needs to stop focusing and rewarding those on their team who are working the longest. Instead their focus should be on removing distractions and maximizing recovery periods to generate the highest performance possible during these 4-5 hours each day.

TEACH SOMETHING NEW YOU LEARN EVERY DAY We live in a world where we’re bombarded with new information daily through books, podcasts, videos, blogs and social media. Our brain deletes most of this information because we’re overloaded.

Teaching forces you to pause, reflect and put what you just learned into context for yourself and others. This exercise allows your brain to integrate new information into your own experiences, memories and beliefs, which maximizes learning and retention for use again in the future.

Start that blog, social media account, podcast or website as they are great ways to teach others on a regular basis.

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MOOD FOLLOWS BEHAVIOUR Our emotions and feelings create an internal momentum which can be hard to change.

The momentum of a “Good Mood” can make us resilient to setbacks, feel confident and remain optimistic. The momentum of a “Bad Mood” can make us feel like we’re drowning, trapped and unable to escape.

We can control this momentum with our actions.

When we’re at our lowest, mustering up the courage and willpower to take that one action that changes momentum will feel impossible. If you’re in a bad mood and reading this right now…

Step 1 – What’s one small action in your control that you can take right now to feel 1% better?

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Go for a walk…

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Grab a glass of water…

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Take a shower…

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Put your running shoes on…

Step 2 – Count yourself down from 10 seconds… Then take action.

Step 3 – Then repeat.

We can rarely think ourselves into a new mood and we can’t change negative momentum or moods by sitting still. It’s only when we manage to take that one tiny, yet monumental action when we’ll start change our mood and feel better.

Kudos to Rich Roll for “Mood follows behavior”.

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LEADING WITH EXPECTATIONS IS DANGEROUS Expecting a partner or friend to act a certain way during a fight.

Expecting a vacation or wedding to be perfect.

Or expecting that deal to close or to get that promotion.

The higher our expectations, the less flexible and adaptable we become to the unpredictability of day to day life. This makes us vulnerable to crippling emotions like anger, fear and sadness that drive bad decisions.

High expectations are important, but knowing when to lower them are equally as important.

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“NERD OUT” WHENEVER YOU CAN What’s that one hobby you absolutely love doing – that others may think is extremely “uncool”?

Whether it’s playing board games, reading comic books, building models, toy train collections or doing puzzles; we can all benefit from more “play” as an adult. Usually revisiting activities we enjoyed as a kid is the best place to start.

Embracing our inner Nerd on a regular basis can help us become more authentic, genuine and self-loving. Studies also show “play” is one of the most effective ways to recover from burnout and stress.

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“WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?” We ask this question all the time to our kids, but never as adults.

In our twenties we start to replace personal growth with career growth. As a result we end up the same person we were at 24 when we turn 30; except now we just have a different job title.

Whether you’re 25 or 65 and reading this post…

Who do you want to be when you grow up? An author… A marathon runner…

A parent…An entrepreneur…

Asking yourself this question keeps your mind focused on growth. It forces you to dream big and work towards becoming someone who scares the crap out of who you are today.

Now go back to rule #1 and seek discomfort.

Kudos to James Clear for the question.

Beyond These Rules For Life Many of these rules for life that I’ve learned over the last 3 years have helped guide my approach towards improving Mental Health in sales. If my perspective in this post resonated with you, then you’ll like enjoy the training services I deliver to sales teams through Sales Health Alliance •

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JUDGING PROCESS & THE JUDGES

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THE JUDGING DAY

The Judging Process

The judges were organised into 22 groups; each group was made up of 3 judges and interviewed a number of finalists within their assigned categories. Nomination forms and any supporting documents were reviewed by the judges prior to a nominee being selected as a finalist. Each nomination was evaluated and scored out of a total of 5 points. The next stage of the process was the in-person interview with the judges.

FINALISTS TIME WITH THE JUDGES

THE JUDGES A group of 66 senior executives from various industries were carefully selected as an evaluation panel of independent judges. Their objective was to review the nominations and interview each of the finalists.

This was an opportunity for the finalists to engage the judges by telling them the story of their success. Each judge awarded points across the same criteria. After the interview, all finalists answered one final question: “why should you win the award in your category and how would you use it to make an impact on improving equality and diversity in sales?" Each finalist’s overall score was the sum of the scores from the interview with the 3 judges. The finalist with the highest score in each category was selected as the winner in that category.

WHY AN INTERVIEW WITH THE JUDGES? An in-person interview allows the judges to further assess each finalist’s sales skills, strategies, and process etc. The interview also complements their review of the submitted nomination forms.

THE DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD This award is for the finalist who impressed the judges the most and scored the highest among all the finalists.

FAQ’s WHO ARE THE JUDGES? WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?

Zars Media invites judges from countries all over Europe. Judges may be executives with social innovation expertise, businesspeople, educators and university administrators and leading practitioners in the field.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE JUDGES? We usually look for executives with sales backgrounds and with more than 20 years sales experience. We actively recruit and take suggestions from partners, mentors, and past judges.

WHAT DO THE JUDGES EVALUATE? Judges review all the entries within their assigned categories and give their scores as per the guidelines.

This will include reviewing the nomination forms and any confidential supplemental documents and project information that is included in the application.

IS THE JUDGING BY INVITATION ONLY, OR CAN I APPLY TO BE A JUDGE? We recruit judges after screening their profiles using LinkedIn and other news sources. We are happy to consider suggestions.

If you would like to be considered, or suggest future judges, please email judges@wisawards.com

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The 2021 Judges

ADVERTISING SALES

Brigitte McKenna Talent Acquisition Director, Talent Crew

Laura Bradley 🅗 Director Inside Sales, Apogee (An HP Company)

Adam Clarke Senior Director of Enterprise Sales, Indeed

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Anna Holness VP of Sales (field) UK & Europe, Worldpay

Lee Cottle 🅗 General Manager Europe, Playvox

🅗 — Head Judge 26

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Lou Lamb Hybrid Cloud Practice Lead, UKIMESA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

CLIENT EXECUTIVE

Gary Pickering

Marlen von Roth

Chief Commercial Officer, Safestyle UK

Sales Director Cloud EMEA, SUSE

Nousheh Paris 🅗 Vice President FX International Payments, American Express

CUSTOMER SERVICE DIRECTOR

Neil Steven

Nicole Rombach

Director Retail Hair UK&I, Wella Company

Director Customer Service EMEA, Bausch Health

Cassi Roper 🅗 VP Sales, Redgate Software

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXECUTIVE

Elaine Allen Regional Sales Director Service Cloud, Salesforce

Stewart Monk 🅗 VP and General Manager EMEA, FinancialForce

Jo Laking Senior Director B2B Sales, EMEA, Adobe

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CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

Ruth Kennedy

Lianne McGrory

Group Firbr Development Director, Talk Talk

UK & Ireland Country Manager, NonProfit Sales, Salesforce

John Allison 🅗 Managing Director.

Enable Sales Academy

D I G I TA L S A L E S

Claire Thomas

Jaap Zuiderveld

Vice President, Head of EMEA Digital Solutions Sales, Hitachi Vantara

VP EMEA, NVIDIA

Toni Redman 🅗 Director, Sales Development EMEA, Similarweb

FIELD SALES

Claire Harris Director of Field Sales, BT

Kate Derrick 🅗 Head Of Direct Sales at npower Business Solutions

🅗 — Head Judge 28

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Matthew Goddard Sales Director, Organix Brands

FINANCIAL SALES

Christine Aymard

Jacques Sciammas

General Manager, Consulting, Microsoft France

President, Selling to Executives and Executive Resources Group

Sara Savidge 🅗 Managing Director Wholesale Payments, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

INSIDE SALES

Juan Jose Amor Cazorla EMEA Services Sales Director, Microsoft

Nicola Amiss 🅗 Client and Growth Director, Capita

Rina Madlani Associate Partner Cloud First, Accenture

KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER

Shruti Dutta Managing Director, Accenture UK

Stuart Allen 🅗 Managing Director, The Sales Performance Company

Tamara McMillen Portfolio CRO, Hg Capital

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SALES MENTOR

Jacqueline Heron 🅗 Founder, Jacqueline Heron Coaching

Karin Mueller Founder & Managing Director, Liebfrog

Rina Goldenberg Lynch Founder and CEO, Voice At The Table Ltd

SALES NEWCOMER

Danny Cohen 🅗 Managing Director, Impellam Group

Rupinder Bahra

Liz Timoney

Distribution Academy Consultant, Global L&D, Metlife

Director of Business Development, Sales Activator

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SALES

Ian Mills CEO, Transform Performance International

Sophie Steel 🅗 Consultant Trainer and Performance Coach, The Sales Activator

🅗 — Head Judge 30

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Susan Perry Whitehead Consultant, SPW Consultancy Services

SA L ES CA PA B I L I T Y M A N AG ER

Clare Murphy

Garry Mansfield

Chief Commercial Officer

Managing Director, Outside In Sales & Marketing

Hilary London 🅗 CEO, London Martin

SALES DIRECTOR

Daryn Edgar Chief Executive Officer, LYTT

Lorna Leck 🅗 EMEA Sales Enablement, World Wide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services

Scott Snell Vice President Sales UK & I, pladis Global

SALES ENGINEER

Nicola Wilton 🅗 Sales Leadership Growth & Strategy, Capita

Pete Gilbert

Yasemin Pereira

Vice President Sales, Roamler Tech

Director - EMEA Channel Sales, Adobe

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SALES MANAGER

Gavin Dimmock 🅗 GM, EMEA, Terminus

Jo Harwood

Severine Melis-Cooper

Sales Director, Burton's Biscuit Company

MD Sales France, and Spain, Broadridge

S A L E S O P E R AT I O N S M A N A G E R

Ana Perez Senior Director Consulting, Oracle

Ian Moyse 🅗 Chief Revenue Officer, OneUp Sales

Sophie Ellis GSI Sales Leader, Spirent Communications

SALES SUPPORT

Carol Kelly 🅗 Managing Director, KSA Sales Solutions

Phil Holvey

Cristina Gabardi

Acquisitions and Growth Director, Technodocs Ltd

Executive Account Manager, GE Healthcare

🅗 — Head Judge 32

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SOF T WARE SALES

Fraser Neil Vice President - Sales, Trax Retail

Jacqueline Hilton 🅗 Managing Director, Fidelis Partners

Sylvaine Smith EMEA Head of Chrome Commercial Channels, Google

TECHNOLOGY SALES

Javaid Iqbal 🅗 CEO, TransformX

Jessica Bethune

Roisin Corrigan

Director, Enterprise Solutions, Equinix EMEA

Head Of Sales, Zellis

If you would like to be considered, or suggest future judges, please email judges@wisawards.com

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WISA

By The Numbers

80+

COMPANIES

66

22

JUDGES

CATEGORIES OVER

400

N O M I N AT I O N S

28

163

COUNTRIES

FINALISTS

22

WINNERS

1

D I ST I N G U I S H E D WINNER

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M EE T

TH E

20 2 1

FINALISTS Congratulations from Zars Media proud organizer of the Women in Sales Awards Europe

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S A L ES D I R ECTO R finalists

Emma Braithwaite “What’s your best discovery?” asked the mole. “That I’m enough as I am.” said the boy.”

— Charlie Mackery

Laura Webster “Every woman is wonderfully unique. We get to show the world just how great we are, so let’s lift each other up and shine brightly.”

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Emma Tod

Lana Khalaf

“My passion is inspiring people to believe that failure or perceived limitations CAN be the building blocks of their greatest successes.”

— Oscar Wilde

“Don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you, Create your own opportunities, challenge yourself to create new definitions of success.”

Nicole Jaeger

Soumita Maulik

“Don’t let anyone determine your limits. Use every single opportunity to challenge yourself as this will make you grow and inspire and encourage others to do the same.”

“Sales can be a tumultuous journey.

So don’t forget to take a moment every now and then and enjoy the triumphs.”

Maria Jose Aramburu “Aiming to inspire talented women to pursue and achieve their highest-goals. Never stop dreaming, because dreaming is the first step of a dream come true.”

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Jane Murray “Be yourself; everyone else is taken”

SALES MANAGER finalists

Izaskun Ramos Aurélie Lepley “The biggest obstacles in our life are the barriers our mind creates. Stop to create them, be resilient and optimistic and great things will happen!”

Kassandra Xavier Estevez “Amazing things happen outside your comfort zone!

Never give up, but be true yourself, make mistakes, but learn from them and be better the next time!”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Remember how you felt when someone last inspired and impacted you. I try to focus my energy in generating that feeling in others. As easy and as complex as that. Create impact.”

Liana Stransky

Nicole Schneider

Regina Neumeyer

“One day or day one. You decide.”

“Sales are the heart of an organisation. They perfectly match female creativity and passion and I’d love to see more women to make a difference.”

“The perfect is the enemy of the good”

Elizabeth Trigg “What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”

— Paulo Coelho

Julia Breitling “The key to success lies in you. Be confident and passionate and always remember: You're in the driver's seat!”

— Volatire

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B U S I N ES S D E V E LO P M E N T finalists

Deborah Gunner

Amanda Kiely

Anna Stafeeva

“If you believe in it, make it happen. It’s much easier to seek forgiveness than permission.”

“Surround yourself with people, who make you want to become a better version of yourself”

Maria Pina Carai

Mirjam Joester-Heinrich

“I am a mother, a wife and an ambitious woman. I want it all. I’ll have it all.

I proudly back women’s ambition in all forms”

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“Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction” — Francis Picabia

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“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.”

Ines Wussow “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”

— Serena Williams

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Paula Vidal

Sabine Huber

“I hope to be a source of inspiration for other women in SAP.”

“You are the captain of your journey: Chose your north star, use and refine your skills to navigate rough waters and ensure wellbeing for your crew and yourself to reach your destinations on time and in good health.”

FIELD SALES finalists

Helen Biggins

Anna Richardson “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

— Maya Anglou

Irina Houben “Don’t ever make decisions based on fear.

Make decisions based on hope and possibility.

Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”

Dagmar Elmer “The key to success is making sure to be the first-person customers and partners call!”

Mariella Hohnemann “If I can help, I am always happy to do so.”

“For me sales is more than a job, it is a way of life and to be recognised among such amazing women for doing something I love, will stay with me for the rest of my career.”

Irene Di Mico “Be determined and shape your life, following your dreams.”

Sarah Oliver

Sneshana Janke

“Whatever the challenge or situation, put on your big girl pants, strike your best superhero pose, take a deep breath and face it head on.”

“Nur wer selbst brennt, kann Feuer in anderen entfachen.”

— Michelle Obama

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KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER finalists

Alison Hourigan “Every woman's success should be an inspiration to another.

We're strongest when we cheer each other on.”

— Serena Williams

Martina Haussmann “Go the extra mile. It's never crowded there.”

— Dr Wayne Dyer

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Brenda Henderson

Caroline McCrystal

“She is fierce, strong, passionate and full of fire, she became the author of her own story, and rewrote her script”

“Dear Future Self, I know you’re looking back at this. Remember how far you’ve come since this moment. Keep going.”

Megi Lekveishvili

Rebecca Spring-Mills

“If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.”

— Augustus

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“I start by asking how can I help the customer be successful. One of my passions for doing sales is because I enjoy helping customers.”

Emmanuelle Fournier-Kelly “You are the author of your own story, don’t let others write it for you”

Yael Duval “Shoot for the moon.

Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars” — Oscar Wilde

SALES SUPPORT finalists

Alexandra Lemacon

Emily Kate Cope

“Be authentic. Double down on your strengths, acknowledge your weaknesses, aim high and have fun along the journey.”

Amanda Ritchie

Francesca Chivers

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish”

“Success isn’t about how much money you make. It’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.”

— Michelle Obama

— Michelle Obama

“Over the years, I’ve noticed it is imperative to be able to adapt and support new accounts at any time.”

Helene Bourdon

Kate Morton

Rebecca Garland

Sarah Hoehl

“Try everything that can be done. Be deliberate, be spontaneous.

Be thoughtful and painstaking. Be abandoned and impulsive. Learn your own possibilities.”

“You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.”

“If life is taking you down a different path to the one you imagined, there’s a reason, let it take you there.”

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

— Pubilius Syrus

— Eleanor Roosevelt

— George Bellows

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SALES NEWCOMER finalists

Evie Colman Amelia Crayston

Holly Muzzamil

— Marie Curie

“Never give up on things that matter for you. With the right determination, network and learning mindset you can achieve everything. Be a Learn It All. Not a Know it All.”

Lea Mierke

Nadia Gooch

Sally Kingston

Sam Yi Xian

“Women in sales should rely on their natural superpowers. We are made for professions that involve empathy – thus we are made for sales.”

“Listen to the rhythm of your own calling and follow that.”

“For me, having a winning mindset is always the first step. With grit and a focus on building great relationships, success will follow.”

“I believe we need a balance between being competitive and supportive of others and ourselves”

“The magical thing about authenticity is that it shows others you don’t have to change your fundamental make up to be successful.”

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“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.

We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained”

— Oprah Winfrey

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Katherine Painter “Take away the selfdoubt and you will be unstoppable!”

T EC H N O LO GY S A L ES finalists

Dominique Scheuer

— Ginni Rometty

“A truly successful sale is when the customer comes back for more. Building trusting relationships with my customers and being authentic is the most important aspect of my job. This is what I work for everyday.”

Andrea Mayifuila “Aim to be the best version of yourself every day. YOU have control over your destiny, not the people or things surrounding you”

Carolyn Pearson “Be bold, be brave, go for it!”

Charlotte Eager “Growth and comfort do not coexist.”

Julia Manley

Martina Rodway

Sally Evans

Sally Minikin

“It is wonderful that WISA recognises the importance and celebrates the success of women.

I am extremely proud to be in this stellar line up of women in sales.”

“Following a long career break I doubted if I could still make it in sales, four years later here I am! If I can do it anyone can.”

“I am proud to be a female role model; you can absolutely succeed if you work hard, keep a growth mindset, and ask for help.”

“No one can expect to succeed alone.”

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S O F T WA R E SA LES finalists

Cennet Eren

— Jody Williams

“In my view, to be successful you need to first believe in yourself, be tenacious about achieving your goals, and always remain authentic.”

Olga Omeliukh “Aim to create change and make the world a better place. You might succeed and make a difference!”

“Go do something good with your time. One hour a month. If everybody did that, imagine the world.”

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Jane Pickering Kim Deconynck

Magdalena Ruhhammer

— Walt Disney

“Trust and credibility come from actions.

Show up and act as your true self, always.”

Sarah Callery

Sarah Newberry

Zara Un

“The most successful salespeople I know have learned that authenticity is the secret to success.

Do not be afraid to show who you are!”

“What I came to learn is that to be successful you must be genuine and that means being yourself”

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

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“If you can dream it, you can do it.”

— Neale Donald Walsh

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SALES finalists

Emma-Jane Higgins

Armagan Aydin

Birgitte Hoj

Chevonne Hobbs

“Establishing trust is better than any sales technique.”

— Mike Puglia

“Always remember it is not about your sales process – it is about the customers buying process.”

“Professional Service Design is my ikigai, it’s my passion and why I get out of bed every morning.”

Katherine Simches

Lina Magalhães

Merethe Olafsen

Satnam Bhogal

“Sales, by nature, is about listening to people's problems and helping them find solutions, which is a strength of many women.”

“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”

“Treat people with respect, be honest and find a good balance between self-confidence and humbleness. Be positive, trust your own instincts and always stay curious.”

“Let’s motivate, empower women and girls globally by using global platforms to leverage and strengthen; bridge the gender digital divide.”

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you are working for God” — Colossians 3:23a

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CLIENT EXECUTIVE finalists

Karen Harman

Holly Clark “On my own, I will just create and if it works, it works and if it doesn't, I will create something else. I don't have any limitations on what I think I could do or be”

Janina Bock “You could certainly say that I’ve never underestimated myself.

There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.”

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”

— Oprah Winfrey

— Angela Merkel

— Oprah Winfrey

Kelly Gibson

Kelly Monday

Natalia Landolt

Shaira Yvel

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

“The modern client director is a trusted advisor who leads with societal purpose and business outcomes in mind. This approach enables true strategic partnerships that are sustainable and deliver positive impact to both organisations.”

“Every morning I smile, and I say to myself: “This is the day I will live my best, inspiring others and bringing energy any joy”

“Seems like the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.”

Angela Halawi “Be patient about the goal and impatient about the first step.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

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— Steven Tyler

SALES ENGINEER finalists

Afrida Mahbub “If you’re worried that you don’t fit in that coveted box, then be assured that you don’t need that box because YOU are what is really coveted.”

Sally Wilson “Once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible.”

— Emmeline Pankhurst

Katie Sutton

Nicola Ganley

“I tell my children and myself that nothing is unachievable and to strive to your goals. If you need extra strength, then think yourself a superhero and feel the confidence grow.”

“It doesn’t always come naturally to reflect on your own qualities and achievements, being nominated made me smile and realise that I’m really good at what I do.”

Rebekka Arbara

Tatjana Kruckenhauser

Valeria Morucci

Veronica Amestoy

“I don’t think of myself as female engineer or saleswoman. I just think of myself as PROFESSIONAL with great passion and determination 'to achieve more'.”

“Becoming a Sales Engineer has been a great career move”

“Anything you want is possible, the only thing you need to do is to not force it.”

“Nothing was achieved in your comfort zone.”

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S A L E S O P E R AT I O N S M A N A G E R finalists

Laura Dandelot

Federica Galli

“Ask forgiveness, not permission”

“Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

— Admiral Grace Hopper

— Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“As a soon-to-be-mom, I’d love to encourage every young women to chose sales & operations as an exciting career path, no matter what their origins or background are. Sky is the limit!”

Louise Pook

Luisa Marin

Poppy Dodge

Sabrina Storck

“Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its life believing it is stupid.”

“By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility.”

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

— Albert Einstein

— Alan Watts

“Once we know where we want to go, I am convinced our path unfolds in front of us. Being authentic & empathetic allows others to bring out their best, too, and together we become unstoppable.”

“I am passionate to turn complex situations into business opportunity motivating each team member to drive customer digital transformation with passion and energy.”

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Jasmin Jones Helen Batting

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— Mahatma Ghandi

FINANCIAL SALES finalists

Claudia Martello Bridie Arumugam

“No one will push you as much as you push yourself. Remember to enjoy the journey as much as the destination!”

“Our female skillset has proven to be the key success factor in financial sales to achieve sustainable results particularly during challenging like the covid pandemic.”

Kerry Morrice

Mai-Britt Wiegand

Molly Orpen

Rachael Woods

“Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You”

“Never give up on the things that make you happy”

“I believe my greatest strength is my customer centric focus”

“Great leadership starts with an open heart, a positive attitude and a desire to make a difference.”

“Long lasting relationships, building trust and connecting people to technology to address societies challenges”

Chloë Carton

Ji-Hi Fritsch “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow.”

— Marissa Mayer

— Mac Anderson

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INSIDE SALES finalists

Floriane Chevallier Bally Ubhi

Eileen Bucke

“Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.”

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

— Janice Trachtman

— Teddy Roosevelt

Melina Persson

Naomi Wood

“Customers may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.

So to build a long term successful career in sales, you don’t close deals you build relationships.”

“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another.

We raise each other up. Make sure you are courageous: be strong, be extremely kind and above all be humble”

Paloma Hernandez Esteve

Amy-Rose Hulme “No one is you and that is your power .”

— Serena Williams

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“People will throw stones at you. Don’t throw them back, collect them all and build an empire.”

“I recently realised that if people were proud of me in my job as well as in my personnal life there must be a very good reason for this...”

Wendy Bendix “Remember that when a problem seems insurmountable it gives you a unique opportunity to unlock your limitless potential.”

C U STO M E R S E RV I C E M A N AG E R finalists

Ester Ausin Caroline Kennedy

“I always knew I wanted to have a career where I could help others and tell stories.”

“There is no future without Women leaders.

Let’s break stereotypes.

Lead yourself, Lead the Team and Lead the Business! The future is ours!”

Lynne McKay

Mira Ghandforoush

Samantha Emery

Shirly Schwartz

“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world”

“Dare to dream, dare to act, dare to make mistakes, dare to celebrate and give publicity to your own and other women´s achievements”

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”

“Be your true self, be authentic. If you are vulnerable and being your true self, you will be successful in life.”

— Hillary Clinton

Charlotte Plastow

Isabelle Monheim “A great opportunity to take stock of life and career, to step back and reflect”

— Melinda Gates

— Judy Garland

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C U STO M E R S E RV I C E D I R ECTO R finalists

Christina Simms “A reminder my sister gave me as I’ve taken on new challenges ... lean into your strengths.

“No one is you and that is your power.”

— Dave Grohl

Elena Cebanu Claire Seydoux “Another day in which to excel.”

“Success is that fine line of striking the balance between never giving up and choosing your battles!”

Emilie Rochedy

Natalie Fried

Rossanna Allenza

“Attitude drives outcome.

To me the key of success is caring - about things and people.”

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, working together is success.”

“Success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency.

Consistent hard work leads to success.

Greatness will come.”

— Henry Ford

— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

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C U STO M E R S E RV I C E E X EC U T I V E finalists

Charlotte Bradford Anela Huskovic “Great things never came from comfort zones” — Ben Francia

Maria Miguel Malhão “Do what you love and success will follow.

Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.”

— Meg Whitman

“Working in Service Management for over 20 years and being a Mother I don’t often have time to reflect, being nominated is an honour.”

Claire Grinyer “Always thinking…”

Sofie Haslauer “Good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient and the best things come to those who do not give up.”

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S A L E S C A PA B I L I T Y M A N AG E R finalists

Clare Collins Berry Shad “Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.”

— Roald Dahl

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“Continually strive for growth. Be authentic.

Embrace challenges.

Work hard (but be kind to yourself and others).

And ensure you have fun along the way!”

Fiona Cormack

Olivia Dufour

“Having this big network and attending so many inspirational sessions really did make such a massive difference.”

“Be yourself, be authentic.”

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Emily Drew “I firmly believe you get the best results not by lighting a fire beneath individuals but by instead building a fire within them through coaching.”

D I G I TA L S A L E S finalists

Chyna Vincent

Katie Huggon

“Communication is key in ensuring we are evaluating and celebrating success together.”

“Do Something Today that your future self will thank you for!”

— S.P Flannery

Matilde Malaspina

Olga Suverova

“Only when you have the courage to take risks, embrace changes and allow failure, you will then recognize the full extent of your potential.”

“Digital tactics have become the new sales Bible in post-pandemic world. The acceptance of its commandments is the way to consumer acquisition and retention.”

Marleen Verbeek “Dare to be yourself and make your difference your strength.”

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ADVERTISING SALES finalists

Amie Deamer

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Andrea Spencer

“I hope to motivate and encourage other working mums to strive forward, as we need more successful influential woman within sales.”

“An honour to be a finalist! It really is amazing what can be achieved when women support each other.

Trust yourself & back yourself always.”

Brian Green

Caroline Mastoras

Chiara Santilli

Helen Simpson

“Be proud of your individuality and let your authentic self shine through—this is a salesperson’s secret weapon. Nobody else does you better than you!”

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”

— Winston S. Churchill

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“Leadership is not about titles or positions.

Leadership is about action and how it influences others.”

S A L ES M E N TO R finalists

Helen Philpot

Clare Brown Daniel Evans

“We are all superheroes pretending to be ordinary people.”

“For me, the best thing about getting older is not the getting wiser, I'm still waiting for that, it’s finding younger people to mentor, helping them discover their unique superpowers and watching them thrive.”

“Trust in yourself, pursue an ambition, push to the edge of chaos and reflect regularly on your unique journey.”

“Confidence is the best outfit. Once it’s on, people listen, trust and share with you. My purpose as a mentor and human is to help others put that outfit on to unlock their full potential.”

Jason Finbow

Joanna Watts

Joshua Ellis

Simon Mitchell

“To all the female leaders of tomorrow, including my (not so) little Annie, never doubt you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams, purpose and happiness”

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen and a push in the right direction.”

“We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it.”

“Change is made by those who turn up- be in the room, be heard and choose to make the change.”

Charlotte Stone

— Barak Obama

— John C Crosby

— Hillary Clinton

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#WISAwards

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#WISA

T H A N K YO U TO A L L O F T H I S Y E A R ’ S S H O R T L I ST E D C O M PA N I E S

ACCENTURE ADOBE ALUMIERMD AMA ZO N W EB S ERVI C ES AMERICAN EXPRESS C ELO N I S S E EDF EXPERIAN FEXCO H I TA C H I VA N TA R A I.C.I.S. MICROSOFT MTI N P O S I ST EM I ( A R I C O H C O M PA N Y ) PL AD I S G LO BAL P O LY POWERFORCE GB R E V C E L E R AT E LT D RI C O H G LO BAL S ERVI C ES SALESFORCE SAP SIMILARWEB SMARTRECRUITERS.COM SWISSCARD AECS TERMINUS TOTA L J O B S G R O U P V ERIZO N VIRGIN MEDIA O2 BUSINESS

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This year we received a record number of nominations from 28 countries, (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Dubai, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Turkey) representing some of the leading and most innovative companies in the world today. After many hours of reviewing nomination applications and a full day of interviews, we are pleased to introduce you to the 2021 winners.

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2021 SALES DIRECTOR WINNER & MOST DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN OF THE YEAR

NICOLE JAEGER Director Telesales & CCLM Europe, Global Merchant & Network Services | American Express

I still can’t believe how incredibly amazing this whole experience has been. I remember that the day the finalists were being announced I was having one of those days fully booked with meetings. Whilst delivering a training I started getting many messages, which I could not open as I was sharing my screen… when I could finally open them, I could not believe they were all messages congratulating me for having been nominated to be a finalist for the Woman in Sales Award in the category Best Director! I was over the moon, as already being nominated and recognized by my company American Express was a true honor, especially for doing something that is my passion!

And then, when the winners were announced, and I heard I was the Best Sales Director I was in shock and could not believe it as the other candidates within my category were all amazing women with incredible achievements and realizing I had won took some time to sink in.

Participating in the “Woman in Sales Awards” has been an extraordinary experience, nerve wracking but also empowering and inspiring. There are so many incredible women in each category who are not afraid of being ambitious, wanting to strive and make an impact and be an example for other women. Being part of the WISA process was personally very enrichening.

It made me think and reflect a lot about my career and help me realize how much I have grown both personally as well as professionally since joining American Express as a Customer Service phone agent to leading one of the most profitable sales teams in Europe. I thought about the key moments in my life that have made me become the person and professional I am today and being conscious about how many challenges I have faced and learned from to grow has made me feel very proud. The process really helped me to connect all the aspects in my life and understand how I define myself and what I stand for: I am a mother to 2 wonderful children, who has both personal as well as professional ambitions always thriving to give the best and passionate about supporting others to succeed. Throughout my career I have been sharing my own experience of how to juggle a full-time demanding career with being a mum and winning this award is a statement to all women out there facing similar challenges. We can achieve anything we set out to do!

There are many sales awards, but very few that recognize individuals not only for their great results but also for their passion, creativity, impact, and commitment. I really encourage my company and others to continue nominating saleswomen for the WISA awards in recognition of their amazing work and contribution.

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2021 SALES MANAGER WINNER

REGINA NEUMEYER Solution Engineering Manager | Celonis SE

I was on vacation in Greece when I saw that I made it to the WISA Best Sales Manager final. I was extremely excited, humbled, and proud. Being off work for a few days while receiving this honor allowed me to reflect.

I realized that I hadn't actually realized my team’s and my achievements over the last years at all yet! best inner map for success. Doubt points you to run the right mile rather than the extra mile. It makes you ask the right questions that get you to the next right questions. Especially in sales when working with large strategic customers, having a fixed, perfect plan set in your mind is only as good as your ability to adjust it. I want doubt and the ability to act upon it to be seen as something powerful - that especially women all have within themselves.

During all those busy weeks, I mostly saw what is not perfect, where we need to improve and the pile of work that needs to get done.

Working in a hypergrowth environment is unbelievably demanding and requires excellence each day. Now, with time, space and this outstanding recognition in my hand, I was overwhelmed with happiness.

What a ride, what important customers did we win and how much did the team flourish! And now - how incredibly cool to be named among such talented ladies!

Finally, being able to see my accomplishments meant a lot to me. So, winning this award really ‘only’ was the icing on the cake, which I understood I had baken myself for the last four years. I believe not being able to see one’s own work is a common problem among female professionals. This is what I want to change by talking about the difficulties and trouble I face at work, how they make me doubt but why this doubt is not the killer but rather the

I am privileged to work in an organization that embraces a culture of distinction and then takes the time to celebrate. My experience taking part in the awards is an experience of growth which I am extremely thankful for. The WISA process pushed me to think about my achievements. As it gives us all the platform to connect, exchange and grow our support community, I am looking forward to Celonis nominating fellow colleagues next year. My advice to them? The perfect is the enemy of the good so start seeing the good!

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2021 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WINNER

A M A N D A K I E LY Account Manager | Amazon Web Services

Hearing my name announced as the WISA Business Development Award winner felt awesome. I know I should think of something more professional or business like to describe the feeling but truthfully, it was simply awesome.

I felt proud, grateful that my efforts had been recognised, I felt excited and most of all, I felt motivated. Motivated to keep working hard, going above and beyond to support my customers.

be on hand for the ‘he has a temperature, you need to come and get him’ calls and still hold down a demanding job. It was either or, I could not have both and I made some self sabotaging career decisions at this time.

As part of the awards process all finalists took part in a judging day where we had to deliver a 10-minute presentation to a panel of judges.

With content guidelines to use the time to ‘stand out from the rest’, leave a lasting positive impression on the judges, I found myself questioning what on earth I should talk about, what did I have to say about myself that was remotely interesting, memorable or award worthy? It was this process, the reflection on my career to prepare for the presentation that made me realise what I want to do to make a difference now that I have won.

Thanks to my supportive husband and some great bosses who pushed me and believed in me, I overcame these self-inflicted misconceptions and progressed into sales, enjoying successful and fulfilling roles at both Dell and now AWS. I have done this whilst raising 2 healthy, happy, well-adjusted sons now aged 4 and 7 and AWS are currently supporting me on a path to sales management.

I started my career in marketing and progressed through different agency and in-house roles, working long hours, gaining a wealth of experience, taking on projects that I was often totally underqualified for, adopting a ‘fake it til you make it’ attitude.

However, 10 years ago, after I met my husband and we decided to start a family I began to hold back, questioning how much time I had to invest in my career. I truly believed you could not start a family, take maternity leave,

This awards process has made me question myself, what I am all about, what I have achieved, my future career aspirations and I have realised how close I came to giving in, accepting I couldn’t have both, going part time to ‘be there for my family’. I want to use this award to work with young career women to eliminate their doubts, boost their confidence and show them that it doesn’t have to be either or, they do not need to hold back, prioritise raising a family over their career and make career limiting decisions.

I want to show young women that it really is possible to do both, to have it all.

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2021 FIELD SALES WINNER

IRINA HOUBEN Senior Solution Sales Executive | SAP

I was speechless when I found out that I was nominated for the WISA in the Category "Best Women in Field Sales" by our President. The past two years have been the most exciting, challenging, hardest and yet rewarding years in my whole life.

Being recognized for my achievements made me feel honoured and grateful at the same time. I am very privileged to work in an organization which takes time to reward our success.

To win this award means the world to me!

It marks a huge milestone in my career, it represents the value of my hard work. I’m a successful sales rep, but most importantly I’m now a mum. At SAP I can proudly be both and I absolutely love that. Even in the height of our careers putting our kids first is for me the most important thing.

I always had a dream of a strong professional women. I knew that to do it all will be a hard and very demanding task. It requires a supportive environment and ability to achieve a balance and not to lose yourself in either role. I feel empowered and very lucky that our SAP culture encourages and supports us to be their very best and authentic self, to push their limits and to pursue their careers and their dreams.

Being the only women in a room in a traditionally male industry has taught me so much, especially the importance of strong mentors, both male and female. I always looked ahead of me. I fully believe that these role models were essential to give me the confidence to believe that

everything is possible. This award will give me the chance to give back and be a role model myself to show that everything is possible - no matter where you are in life!

The judging process was challenging, exciting and a time of growth. It was a new experience; one I have never faced before.

How do you tell your story in 5 minutes, to people you have never met before? I definitely consider this exercise as a growth mindset experience. We laughed, cried, learned, and talked life, motivations and of course, sales! I am grateful for the feedback I received during the judging day and for the experience I have been given when preparing for it. It has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and rewarded me with confidence.

The Women in Sales Awards has been created to bring a greater awareness of the need for gender diversity in sales and in executive leadership teams, as well as help grow the pipeline of sales talent. I am a strong believer that a non-diverse environment doesn’t foster innovation. It’s not flexible. It just produces more of the same ideas … and that it may even lead to death of a company because of lack of innovation and creativity. I would advise any organization to nominate their most exemplary women in sales roles to celebrate their outstanding achievements.

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2021 KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER WINNER

BRENDA HENDERSON Channel Account Manager | Fexco

Winning this award and being recognised is amazing. The excitement I feel right now is hard to describe. Wow! Nomination is one thing but winning really is just another level. on to reach new heights. Let us become the authors of our own story, we can edit, change or we can simply rewrite the Script.

I am bursting with excitement. I just want to scream; ‘this girl is on fire’. This has me so excited that I want to go out right now and become an amazing Ambassador for all Women in Sales. Above all I want to do everything I can over the coming years to make the future working landscape a better, fairer, and equal place, for all women and especially for the next generation.

This award recognition will help me on my journey to achieve this ambitious goal.

I have been championing diversity and inclusion for many years, mentoring and sharing experiences with women from different backgrounds, and different challenges. However, as a mother of two, I think it is essential to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion, discuss the intricacies of cultural and gender diversity and promote healthy attitudes, and behaviours from the outset to all our children.

This has been a long journey and winning this award means so much to me and to my 8-year-old self. If wining this award could grant me wishes...

I would also encourage employers to nominate women for future awards, to really invest fully in recognising and show-casing female talent within their organisations. Any organisation which celebrates women can only be successful.

one wish would be to allow me to go back in time to the playground many years ago and give my 8-year-old self a big hug and tell her everything will be OK. I would tell her that in time she would be confident, bright, and colourful, still complex, always looking to the future with optimism.

It has not been an easy journey, and diversity and inclusion have played a significant part of the obstacles and barriers to overcome, I will continue to do this along with many other women. Winning this award is for every little girl and all women, to realise we have a voice, we have a place, and we can ignite the fire within. Our doubts and fears should not stop us from realising our ambitions, hopes and dreams but spur us

I would like to thank Afi Ofori, her judges and the wider WISA team for their recognition.

Also I would like to thank FEXCO for nominating me and for their ongoing support for Women in Sales. I have the privilege of working with some remarkable women, who have encouraged, inspired, and motivated me. A huge thank you to my clients, it is a privilege working with you.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for all their support over the years without whom this would not have been possible.

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2021 SALES SUPPORT WINNER

HELENE BOURDON Bid Manager | Verizon

October 2021 - After 19 months of COVID crisis in homeworking, which fortunately coincided with my most exciting 2 years as an EMEA Bid Manager at Verizon, I am far from thinking that the end of the year would bring me any nicer surprises on a professional level.

Being nominated by Verizon a month earlier felt like an early (or slightly late) birthday present. And then comes that day in October when, in the middle of a conference call on one of my deals, my smartphone starts vibrating non-stop. I recognize the familiar LinkedIn notification icon. WISA Finalist, me? Picking up my daughter after school that night, I feel like I'm reversing roles: instead of her telling me she passed her math test, I proudly tell her I passed my first WISA test!

November 2021 – As I prepare my presentation for Jury Day, I take stock of 24 years of professional life. With a diploma far from the ICT world in my back pocket, coming from a small village in the French-speaking part of Belgium, I got into sales a bit by accident and I often thought that I would need a lot of luck to succeed and stand out from the crowd. Almost a quarter of a century later, I look back on my career at HP and Verizon and think that if I was sometimes in the right place at the right time, my passion did the rest. That's the message I convey on Jury Day: no matter where you come from, passion opens almost all doors. A big thank you to the Jurors for our exchanges, for their kind listening and the generosity in their advice.

December 2021 - This is it, the big night has arrived. I am surrounded by brilliant and inspiring women. It is a real pleasure to participate in this live event after so many months with little human contact. I feel so honoured to be part of this journey.

Winner in my category, me? My first feeling is pride, I am proud to work for a company whose values I share and which gives me every opportunity to grow and build who I am. I often say around me that I am blessed to work with such great people, some are even part of my close friendship circle today.

During the last 2 years, and thanks to the wonderful people I collaborate with, I have received more Verizon awards than during my whole career. But today, it is about external recognition from WISA which is seen as one of the leading external Sales recognitions in the ICT. I am delighted to have had the chance to be part of this experience, a personal challenge but a true confidence booster.

To all company leaders: value your female employees as full team members, promote their visibility internally and externally, and express your gratitude by nominating them for the WISA. They are worth it and they will give back even more.

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2021 SALES NEWCOMER WINNER

S A L LY K I N G STO N Account Executive | Salesforce

From a young age, my dad used to take me cycling around our local area. I remember one summer's evening while talking about my dreams and aspirations (I wanted to be an actress at the time), he told me; “To be a winner, you’ve got to think like a winner” which made me pause for thought. somewhat since then (I can’t say I’ve stopped buying new shoes), the determination to get there has remained unchanged.

Once adequately processed and delighted with my new nugget of wisdom, I began shouting the phrase repeatedly from the top of my lungs, both of us laughing out loud. It’s a special memory and the mantra resounds in my head whenever I take on a new challenge or define a new goal. For me, having a winning mindset is always the first step. With grit and a focus on building great relationships, success will follow.

What I love about working at Salesforce is that I get to run my own little business within a large organisation. I build relationships with my customers and have the support from Salesforce to do what is needed to deepen those relationships and ultimately expand the Salesforce footprint across the UK Retail sector. I love getting to work with household British brands, the majority of whom are transforming their businesses to be digitalfirst - a process that has accelerated for most in a post-pandemic world. I truly believe our technology is cutting-edge and it’s a privilege to bring it to more businesses.

My parents are very proud of my accomplishments to date, including me winning this award, although they’re not surprised at the profession, I’ve ended up in. From the age of 4, they would encourage me to build a case and position things effectively when I needed their permission to do something. While at times frustrating, it taught me to be perceptive and discerning which helped me when pitching my idea at the dinner table.

The ideas consisted of dog walking businesses, jumbo sales, raffles (which I would sell tickets for door to door), babysitting, and eventually, part-time jobs waitressing and working in retail. I always had a goal in mind which drove me to work part-time throughout school and college. These ranged from a new pair of shoes to attending summer school at RADA and while the goals have progressed

I was delighted to hear I had been shortlisted for my category last month and I’m very honoured to be selected as the winner in this category. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some fantastic mentors and champions on my journey to date who have encouraged me to take strides I didn’t think possible and ultimately achieve my potential. It is important for me to use this platform to help other up-and-coming women in my industry.

A huge thank you to WISA for this incredible opportunity and congrats to all of the other winners

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2021 TECHNOLOGY SALES WINNER

MARTINA R O D W AY Account Manager | Amazon Web Services

My immediate response when approached by Simone Hume, AWS Sales Leader for the 2021 Women In Sales Awards Europe was ‘oh no, not me’ - surely there are better candidates for such a prestigious award.

But Simone told me that when she read the technology sales award criteria I kept coming to mind, and that I was exactly the type of person who should be winning awards like this.

So I sat back and thought to myself, how did I go from being a bar worker growing up in the melting pot of Northern Ireland in the 1980’s to becoming a nominee in the Women in Sales awards? After some self-reflection I realised that everything I am I have learnt from my family, my school and behind that bar in the 1980’s. Life for me back then was all about authenticity, kindness and understanding, making sure everyone felt heard and for me, the same rings true today of any high- powered sales environment. I have enjoyed a tremendously successful sales career and doubled down on the Healthcare market segment because I’m passionate about technology and the opportunities for improving and transforming people’s lives.

In 2017 following a four-year career break to raise my two youngest children, I was full of self-doubt - could I possibly step back into the cut and trust of sales again?

I thought about how much has changed and how everything is now moving to the cloud which I knew nothing about.

After speaking to old colleagues and reading about how the fourth industrial revolution

was fundamentally impacting every facet of how we live, work and even relate to each other I gave my head a wobble and reminded myself that you know what never changes; people, people never change. The tech industry needs great salespeople to join the dots and connect the brilliant technologists with what the customer and health sector actually needs. For me to return to the workplace, it had to have meaning and I knew in my heart that I could make a difference.

The awards process has been a journey of discovery which has given me the confidence to share my passion for technology sales with others. I spend time working with school children, particularly females on STEM programs like AWS GetIT and I also work with other returners to instil their confidence to bring their authentic selves to the workplace.

In winning this award, I now intend to reach outside of AWS and write a blog to help encourage and inspire others to return to the industry following a career break.

I’m already a winner by doing the job that I do, but to have actually WON this award means the absolute world to me so thank you Simone for the nomination. I would encourage all companies to consider submitting nominations for 2022 to shine a light on female talent and create a diverse environment where authenticity is celebrated.

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2021 SOF T WARE SALES WINNER

ZARA UN Senior Digital Trading Manager - Creative Cloud EMEA | Adobe

There’s a quote by Neale Donald Walsh that goes “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” and I firmly believe that the Women in Sales Awards has been one of those special growth opportunities that I will experience in my lifetime.

From my surprise nomination to the mentoring and guidance that Adobe has provided to me, it has been such an enriching experience and an important reminder to take a moment, sit back and take note of my journey and achievements – something that most of us forget to do in the busy world of sales!

The first thing I did when I heard that I had been selected as a Women in Sales finalist was pick up the phone to tell both my closest family and my closest Adobe family, including those who had nominated me. Personally, one of the most valuable experiences of my involvement with the Women in Sales awards was preparing and taking part in the judging day. It was an honour to be part of a cohort of impressive female finalists and I received a huge amount of support from Adobe to refine my presentation and practice, practice, practice! Although I was full of nervous excitement on the judging day, it flew by, and I felt that the judges were highly engaged, full of energy and had a genuine interest in my story.

It feels amazing to win my category of Best Woman in Software Sales. As someone who arrived in the UK as a timid Asian girl who could barely string a sentence together, I am so excited and grateful to have conquered

my fears and accomplished this. I would advise Adobe to keep nominating women for the Women in Sales Awards. Celebrating the achievements of their female employees and publicly highlighting their success shows their commitment to inclusion in the workplace and is an inspiration to both current and future employees.

I plan to use this accolade to unlock a new level of visibility for me to inspire and influence others inside and outside of my network and my company. Whether it be a new mentoring relationship or setting up a panel to discuss how we can increase diversity & equality in the workplace, the award has given fire to my fight that women and particularly ethnic minority women can buck those cultural trends, take a seat at every table, and succeed in whatever they want to do.

My advice for other companies considering submitting 2022 nominations is – Just do it! The funny thing about opportunity is that it only really exists if you create the space for it. The Women in Sales Awards are such a powerful vehicle for celebrating diversity & female success and I would strongly encourage companies to continue nominating their leading saleswomen to show just how much they believe in them.

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2021 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SALES WINNER

S AT N A M BHOGAL Managing Principal Consultant | Verizon

When I arrived in this country, we didn’t have lots of money and my first sale was when I presented my application to a panel for a sponsorship to become a computer trainer. Whenever I interviewed for a new position, I had to sell; in my view we are all into sales.

I remember sitting with my mother and asking her permission to travel abroad as she was very protective of her daughter travelling solo; that too I had to sell. In my view whether writing a letter, email, presenting or even sharing an idea with a family member it’s all about selling the message whatever it may be.

I had a passion in investigating and concluding how an event had occurred hence this drive pushed me into professional services. Identifying new opportunities with my client and successfully delivering them was a satisfying reward. When delivering and managing my projects; one of my main roles was to work and support internal sales personnel. For my current role, I have an annual target to meet, and this leads to a healthy competition which I thoroughly enjoy year after year.

I am honoured and really excited once again to hear that I had been selected as a finalist for the fourth year running.

Since the start of my WISA journey, I have reported to three different leaders within Verizon and being nominated once again by my management and supported

by senior leadership was a success in itself and a great motivation for me.

I humbly bow my head down and owe my success to my mother; whom I’m a career for now. Have always been taught “to let my passion drive me”, “never to give up” and it's fine to lose as it's part of a success.

In my youth years, whenever I came home with a problem, my mother always turned it into a positive learning lesson.

There are less than 20% of Tech and Sales jobs held by women globally; change is needed to achieve gender equality. Companies should sponsor programs to achieve gender equality by mentoring and empowering all women and girls in developing countries too. I was privileged to be a speaker on one of these Global platforms.

Proud to share that Verizon senior management share the same belief as my; if one is a finalist, they are already a winner, and this success should be celebrated. Verizon finalists were all invited to a lovely dinner gathering in London which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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2021 CLIENT EXECUTIVE WINNER

N ATA L I A L A N D O LT Manager International Business / International Account Manager | Ricoh Switzerland

Gosh! I was not able to breath. That normal Thursday my phone buzzed, and LinkedIn messages popped up. My hands started to shake so hard that I struggled to click the right button. I was selected as WISA finalist. I felt like in a movie.

For this reason, WISA is a brilliant chance for women to evaluate who they were and where they can go. To me happened exactly the same. During my time at Ricoh, I was impressed when the visionary thoughts of my current supervisor had reached me. Because of my accomplishments and the potential, he saw in me, he encouraged me to become the first woman within the sales department of Ricoh Switzerland. Today I can confirm that it has been one of the best decisions.

The belief I have in my dad’s words, my authenticity, and my determination brought me to live my dream. Like it happened to me I wholeheartedly encourage companies in any industry to support talented women to participate in this competition.

Immediately I was eager to share this exciting news and called my mentor – the one, who has been challenging me for the last decade to live the best version of myself.

- “I can’t believe it – I am in the final round!”, – I shouted out.

- “Of course, you are”, - he said very calmly.

I felt a little bit surprised by his reaction.

- “Natalia, relax. We haven’t won it… yet, but we will”, - he added with 100% confidence.

And it happened. We did it. That little girl did it. The little girl, originally from a Russian province chasing her dream to become a successful businesswoman, did it.

I remember what my dad always told me: “Work hard. Be kind and believe in yourself. You will reach all your goals”.

With my strong determination, putting my heart first, and staying true to my life values, the dream came true.

This award is my springboard to empower the mission I’ve chosen for myself years ago: to inspire others to trust and follow their inner voice.

Since my early childhood sales was in my DNA. I recall how I spent my summer holidays while picking apples in our garden and selling them on the local market. Encouraging adults to buy my special fruits was the highest joy. Today, that little girl is standing tall being awarded as Best Woman Client Executive in WISA 2021.

In general, people tend to underestimate their achievements and ladies sometimes even more.

I strongly believe success starts from early age and I am convinced that the support of women in any industry especially in technological and IT Sales environment, should begin even earlier. For this reason, one of my next ambitions is to lay the base for a Foundation to motivate ladies starting from their youth ages providing them access to proper education.

Thanks to everyone who believed in me. I’ll do my best in continuing the transfer of my belief to other potential talented women.

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2021 SALES ENGINEER WINNER

S A L LY WILSON Specialist Sales Engineer | Virgin Media O2 Business

As soon as I heard the news that I had been selected as a WISA EU finalist (for the 2nd year running) I called the most inspirational woman I know, my mum!

I couldn't wait to share the news with her as I know how proud she is of the successful woman I am today.

She really has been my inspiration my entire life so to share the news with her was really special. We then celebrated in style and booked a champagne afternoon tea to toast the finalist down selection and start to plan how I might approach the interviews.

it to the finals next year. I think ultimately the reason I won the award for my category is down to how passionate I am for inspiring other women. I’m so privileged now to have a platform for which I can use to go on and further my passion for inspiring other women.

I was so thrilled to have been shortlisted from so many successful women Sales Engineers in the industry but then to go on and actually win my category, honestly, I was speechless (which is an absolute rarity for me). To win the WISA for Best Woman Sales Engineer is one of my proudest achievements, I can’t wait to tell the world the good news! As my daughter grows up and begins to understand more about the world I hope she is inspired that her Mummy isn’t just a successful business woman.. but an award winning one at that!

My experience taking part in the WISA process in both 2020 & 2021 has always been positive, there's so much support and although there is pressure, you feel at ease as everyone is so friendly. It really feels like the ultimate test, and after going through the process in 2020 I almost couldn’t wait to have another go at winning in my category.

I can't wait to share the news with allies across the business and within my industry - my goal would be to share my story and my experience to inspire another woman in sales to make

The WISA is such a positive celebration of the contribution that women make to the industry, I feel extremely lucky that my company wants to be involved in celebrating omen in sales. I think all organizations should get involved in the awards. The more candidates to celebrate brings more diversity, more talent and ultimately more women in sales!

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2021 FINANCIAL SALES WINNER

JI-HI FRITSCH Account Manager | (RDE Finance) Ricoh Deutschland GmbH

"IT Sales? Really? It’s very male-dominated, it won’t be easy for you as a woman to assert yourself there.” That is what I was told when I applied to Ricoh as a sales trainee after graduating from university. Today, 14 years later, I am still working for this company and indeed it has been challenging at times, but I prevailed. Fortunately, I am not one of those women who always listen to what they are told (my husband can confirm it best).

I was honestly surprised and simultaneously delighted when I heard about my nomination for the WISA award. After the initial excitement had settled, I made myself a big cup of coffee and started to reflect on my achievements. In sales, you are constantly busy with client meetings or closing deals, so that there is no time to think about such things. Taking the time to do so was a luxury I was happy to allow myself.

When I look back on my professional journey so far, two things make me particularly proud: Firstly, I was instrumental in building up and establishing a successful industry sales force for the financial sector at Ricoh.

Through this task, I was able to acquire in-depth industry know-how and develop into a specialist in this environment. And secondly, after my parental leave in 2017 and 2019, I managed to build on my previous achievements each time, even though I worked part-time. I think that the reason I have made it this far is because the demands I make on myself are always higher than those others make on me. Also, I always try

to stay positive even in the worst situations.

Winning this award makes me incredibly proud. Not only because it is a recognition of my sales achievements, but also because it distinguishes me as a personality. But even more valuable than the award itself was the chance to meet a variety of women who have inspired me through their personal stories. I hope we all stay in touch for a long time to come, because I want to know how their journey continues and what else they can make happen. What thrilled me the most, however, was how the co-nominated women in my company motivated and supported each other throughout the whole WISA process.

I ardently urge more sales organizations to get involved with the WISA award to allow their saleswomen to gain this experience as well. I promise once they have been to the WISA event they will come back even more motivated and confident. And if someone asks me again today "IT Sales? Really?" I answer with full conviction "Yes, absolutely.“

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2021 CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER WINNER

SAMANTHA EMERY Service Relationship Manager | Virgin Media Business

It’s an honour to have won in a category which, had so many amazing finalists. When I first heard I’d been selected as a finalist it felt very surreal and took a little while to sink in, as the finalists announcement was on the same day as an interview for a promotion at work, but once it did, I was seen to be grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. The year’s judging day took place virtually and comprised of an interview and presentation to a panel of 3 judges. It was hugely positive to have the freedom to create the presentation in a way that worked best for each of us individually, giving each finalist the opportunity to showcase their successes.

Taking part in WISA 2021 has been a hugely positive experience and my advice to future finalists would be enjoy the opportunity, don’t undersell your achievements remember you’ve been nominated as the Company you work for think you’re amazing, give yourself plenty of time to complete everything you need to do ahead of the finalists judging day and as far as possible don’t be nervous on the day, everyone wants you to succeed.

who’ve seen several of their nominees go onto enjoy great success in the competition.

The addition of the best Customer Service Manager category in recent years is a fantastic inclusion, it gives the opportunity to recognise the phenomenal work carried out in Service Management too.

For anyone thinking of submitting nominees for WISA 2022, I would absolutely recommend it. It’s a hugely positive experience for everyone involved, generating lots of conversations and interest and further recognises the fantastic work of exceptional performers within your Company.

I’m proud to work for a Company who have a strong history of nominating their exceptional performers for Women in Sales Awards and

Going forward, I’m looking forward to continuing to Mentor other women in the Business and supporting our Graduate Programme, adding everything that I’ve learnt from my WISA journey.

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2021 CUSTOMER SERVICE DIRECTOR WINNER

ROSSANNA ALLENZA Director Account Management | Similarweb

I was delighted to be nominated for this award by my manager in recognition of my personal and team achievements over the past few years. I am extremely proud of my account management team and want to thank them for their continued support and loyalty.

When I found out I was shortlisted alongside other colleagues it was a very uplifting experience and was widely celebrated within our business.

Having worked in sales and account management for over 20 years I have recognised driving change is never easy.

In the world of SAAS and evolving client needs, being able to pivot and adapt is a necessity, especially when navigating the new post COVID world. The way we engage with customers has had to evolve significantly over the past 2 years to ensure we have a robust outreach and lifecycle management approach. Proactive account management processes are key to maintaining customer relationships and not losing the human connection.

I have found being part of this process a chance to reflect on my career to date. It has also given me the time to pause and realise how much both myself and my team has achieved. I thought the interview would be extremely daunting however the judges were very welcoming and the questions thought-provoking. Talking to like-minded peers has reinvigorated my passion for account management and the

importance to evolve. The interview process was a great forum to discuss ideas and gain insights into future development areas.

Winning the Best Women Customer Service Director award has been a very humbling experience. Being recognised for the values and standards I uphold has been one of the highlights of my career. It proves that authenticity, determination, and hard work really does win the day.

My advice for future nominees - be brave, use your strengths in the sales environment and make sure your voice is heard. Women have a huge part to play in the evolution in the way we do business and offer a unique dynamic to the process.

I will carry this forward within my organisation/network and encourage others to be part of the WISA process in the future. It's a unique opportunity to meet with other like-minded individuals and share experiences. We all have a different perspective, lessons learned, and stories to tell, which provides an immensely inspiring environment for all involved. I welcome being part of this amazing community and look forward to sharing ideas in the future.

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2021 CUSTOMER SERVICE EXECUTIVE WINNER

CLAIRE GRINYER New Business Strategy Implementation Manager | American Express

When it was announced that I had won best Customer Service Executive I had a glass of bubbles, of course, and let my fiancé know the good news. He was closely followed by my fellow American Express WISA nominees who I have had the honour to be on this journey with.

American Express believe that colleague engagement and investing in staff results in greater customer satisfaction. They had 18 finalists in this competition and one of my Leaders was a judge. That is a great statistic on its own but means so much more when you know the time, effort and care that has been put in to helping all of us prepare for our big day by our teams and mentors. I am so proud of us all and the way we have supported each other.

There are so many facets to Sales. My job in Customer Service involves providing first contact client support, often liaising with internal teams including investigations, compliance and sales managers. I build on client relationships by following through on every commitment, including processing manual payments, transaction queries and booking foreign currency trades.

I have trained new starters, shared best practice, and coached existing colleagues to ensure we all delivered outstanding customer service. I contributed to multiple projects and process improvements and adapted with the business as systems changed, adding input when appropriate.

Ultimately this role enables the sales teams to focus on their main goal, selling!

Alongside my work I enjoy taking part in extracurricular activities which also

helps build my network. Never has kindness and emotional wellbeing been more important than the past 2 years.

I am a member of the Employee Engagement Team and during COVID arranged virtual quizzes, musical bingo, wellbeing sessions, Count Down with Claire and a fitness challenge with the International Payments departments in Brighton, London, India and USA. Many colleagues got involved and I believe that these ‘fun’ events helped a lot of us get through some difficult times, especially at the beginning of lockdown, when ‘working from home’ was very alien to the majority of teams.

I love my job and I think the obvious passion I have for it has contributed to my success. This award will empower me to be a credible role model to my female colleagues, letting them know that sales is somewhere they can fit in too.

Lastly, I would like to add a heartfelt thank you to WISA, for organising such an inspiring and rewarding event, and to the Judges, who all gave up their time and generously shared their expertise.

Never have I felt so uplifted, supported and recognised as I do right now, and I know its cheesy, but it fits so well with how I feel……Girl Power!

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E M I LY D R E W Sales Leader Excellence Coach | Salesforce

Winning this award has both elated me and pushed me way out of my comfort zone. In my role as Sales Leader Excellence coach, coupled with being a mother of two young boys, my focus is rarely on myself and more commonly I am thinking about others and their development, challenges and sleeping habits (just my boys!).

Winning this award is hugely validating, in affirming the positive impact coaching can have on the performance of individuals and particularly women. I am humbled to have been nominated for this award by some of the inspiring women I coach. Seeing them grow and go from strength to strength in their careers is the most rewarding aspect of my job.

One of my favourite quotes is one from Pablo Picasso “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” I feel privileged to be working in a job which allows me to harness my own gift, the ability to help others to unlock and realise their full potential. My coaching role allows me to work with many of the most inspiring women (and men) I’ve ever met to help them to feel even more empowered and overcome obstacles faced. I’ve been coaching in the very loosest sense of the word since I was eight years old, when I realised my dictator-like approach to telling others what they needed to do, was much less effective than my listening to them and asking them questions to determine what it was they themselves wished to do.

Having the honour of winning this award will help me to propel other women in Sales (and

beyond) to take risks, believe in themselves and to aim high. I look forward to coaching more women both inside and outside my organisation and allowing them to unlock and realise their full potential. From a scale perspective, I’d love to support more sales leaders in honing their own coaching skills. Conceptually adopting a coaching approach to leadership is a no-brainer, in reality it's really difficult, particularly for incredibly busy sales leaders, to put into practice. My goal now is to better enable Sales leaders to get the coaching approach ‘into the muscle’ and reap the benefits.

I would strongly advise all companies to consider nominating women for the WISA awards in 2022. My experience in taking part in this process has been superb. My favourite aspect has been the opportunity to learn from and network with other female peers who inspire me. The key for me in preparing was transferring some of the faith and belief I have in my coachees to myself. As I often say to my coachees, it's imperative you ‘put on your own life jacket first’ and I feel that being part of this process has encouraged me to take a dose of my own medicine and do just that by reflecting upon and celebrating my successes to date.

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O LGA S U V E R OVA Retail Partner Service Exec | Microsoft

Nomination for a Woman in Sales Award?! The news came like a bolt from the blue during my vacation under the hot Turkish sun with a glass of chilled white wine in the hand. I was absolutely thrilled to be chosen by Microsoft as a top achiever in Digital Sales category that has been my passion for a long time. The recognition made me look back at my career start and development. trials of the value-based sales – two of them having become the WISA nomination basis.

I was never meant to be a successful sales and marketing professional: born and raised in the USSR – a country with the centrally planned economy where both sales and marketing were filthy words - I absorbed the society values that considered the talented salespeople ‘hucksters’.

However, sales have been my passion since teenagerhood when I earned my pocket money via collecting fruits and selling them in the local market. Back then, standing with the basket at the market counter, I had my first sales lesson – people are ready to pay more if they are told a convincing story why your product is worth it and get a personalized treatment. Hence, my passion for selling through value came to life and was further enhanced by the evolving digital tools.

It was not an easy path to make my dream of being in sales come true: Russia is still a very male dominated society where women struggle to get the same level of benefits and recognition as men with certain roles like sales viewed primarily as male ones.

Microsoft made it real for me as a woman, and I am also particularly lucky to be a part of the superb team over there that has always supported my ideas and greenlighted the

Preparation for the Judging Day was a valuable exercise to structure my achievements over the past years and present them in a helicopter view to the highly experienced judicial council. And it felt like getting an Oscar when my name was announced as a WINNER! This is one of the greatest recognitions I’ve ever received, and I am sure it will further boost my career. I will utilize this award to elevate the self-belief of my Russian female colleagues and show to them that the sky is the success limit, not the gender, even in the traditionally male dominated areas like sales.

I would advise all companies to have their women nominated for WISA – being recognized on such a high level is more rewarding for the self-esteem than a sales bonus. Since March 2020 pandemic, that made us work remotely from home, has also delivered the feeling that individual hard work is not visible anymore. Therefore, a WISA nomination is the perfect tool to give your employees a clear message that the appreciation is still there.

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2021 ADVERTISING SALES WINNER

CAROLINE M A STO R A S Marketing Cloud Account Executive | Salesforce

Omigoodness! I could not believe it! I was absolutely over the moon to hear the news that I was a FINALIST for the Women In Sales Awards. It really is a dream come true to be chosen with such highly esteemed group of women who have achieved SO MUCH over the past year.

I am immensely proud to be a finalist (and winner! OMG!) for the category of Best in Advertising Sales because throughout my 17 years in advertising, it has become so much more than a vocation. I am super passionate about the communication and adtech industry—together we are changing the world—and so to be recognised for my contribution in something I feel so passionate about is an honour.

I am grateful to work in a business such as Salesforce that puts EQUALITY as one of the top company values, in fact, this is what first attracted me to this business ten months ago as I knew I would be empowered to continue my work with Bloom (a network for women in the advertising and communications industries). Together with Bloom we pay it forward through our mentoring programmes, change the world with initiatives such as The Booth of Truth, The Exchange and pay it forward to up-and-coming industry stars. All this and we raise a significant amount for Women’s Aid. To play a part in this and to be given the encouragement and space in my role to effect change in the industry, I really couldn’t ask for more.

The experience throughout being a finalist with the Women In Sales Awards has brought me closer to the inspiring work that my female colleagues at Salesforce have achieved over the last year. I truly work with some amazing super stars! The judging process was so fun—even though I was nervous I was made to feel immediately at ease which meant I could represent my best self. I cannot wait to pay it forward next year and inspire more managers and colleagues to nominate other women in 2021/2022. We have SO much to celebrate and shout about and WISA is a fantastic platform to raise awareness about women’s achievements in advertising sales.

Thank you, WISA for an incredible experience.

Thank you to Salesforce and especially my amazing manager, Gary who is my biggest cheerleader. Thank you to my wonderful clients who have been so patient while I learn the ropes of SaaS—so lucky to collaborate with you! And, mostly, thank you to the incredible sisterhood of Bloom that I feel ever grateful for every single day: I have learned more through you all that you could possibly imagine.

I am SO EXCITED!!!!

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2021 SALES MENTOR WINNER

CLARE BROWN Senior Regional Vice President | Salesforce

Being part of the Women in Sales Awards (WISA) this year has been an absolute honour. Not only has it given me the opportunity to reflect upon my successes, it has also allowed me to feel proud at all I have achieved.

As women, it is rare that we get chances to credit ourselves, to really take the time to acknowledge our greatest moments and I am grateful to WISA for empowering me and all the other brilliant nominations across all the categories to do this and feel that pride.

coaching sales talent to give my mentees the confidence to blossom and be the best they can be. I feel particularly proud that several women I mentor were nominated and have made it through to the final of the WISA awards in their separate categories.

Winning the Mentor award only amplifies this emotion and I feel so privileged to have been recognised in this way. It has been a truly humbling experience and one that will stay with me for many years to come. I was a reluctant starter in sales exactly 25 years ago as the industry is often seen as being fierce, dogged and heavily male dominated.

Thankfully, I have had great success in utilising the more feminine attributes such as collaboration, empathy and honesty and have found these softer skills to have been critical to my success in sales and leadership.

WISA celebrate these traits and recognises their importance in the industry and how that by us all utilising these, we can make a significant difference to both our colleague and client relationships every single day.

Now as I progress my career and look to the future, my view of the world, and specifically the workplace, has developed into a passion and inner drive to ensure everyone can succeed. I truly believe that anyone, no matter their gender, background or race can achieve anything, and there are more possibilities for us than ever before.

However, that doesn’t always mean that it is as easy as it should be. My purpose is to make the workplace a much fairer and easier place for women to progress. A place where women feel able and encouraged to succeed.

A place where my two teenage daughters are embraced for their neurodiversity, selfbelief and confidence. Winning the Mentor award will serve to give me a platform to achieve this and make positive change.

As I have risen through the ranks from starting as an account manager through to my current position as Senior Regional Vice President, my passion and love for sales and people has only grown. It has always been important to me to act and be seen as a role model for everyone. This has involved several aspects such as encouraging and promoting flexible working for new parents, particularly working mothers returning from maternity leave. It has seen me advocate the importance of a diverse and blended workforce who feel empowered to challenge and offer new and often different views to enable us all to deliver a personalised service to each other and our clients. And finally, most importantly, as a champion for coaching and mentoring. There’s no better feeling to me than mentoring, nurturing and

For any organisations thinking about nominating their female top performers please do, not only will it help build their confidence and self-belief, it will also inspire and motivate other female sales people.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention my team, this award is only possible because of the amazing people that I work with. Sales can often be a numbers, resultsoriented business and we often fixate on the numbers only. The success I’ve had is only possible because I’m surrounded by exceptional talent who are also always striving to be the best and who always go above and beyond for the benefit of the team, whether that be with customers or internal colleagues. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart you’re amazing.

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2021 INSIDE SALES WINNER

MELINA PERSSON Inside Sales Executive (Adobe Sign) | Adobe Systems Inc

“Customers may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel. So to build a long term successful career in sales, you don’t close deals you build relationships.”

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Congratulations to the next generation of Women Sales Leaders

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Why Psychological Safety in Sales is Important

By JEFF RISELEY, Founder of the Sales Health Alliance and Mental Health Advocate www.saleshealthalliance.com

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This is a PSA to Companies and Sales Leaders on the importance of providing psychological safety. It’s impossible for salespeople to perform their best if they don’t “feel safe”. In this post we’re going to explore what you need to know about psychological safety and it’s impact on Mental Health and sales performance.

Why Is Psychological Safety Is Important In Sales?

Before diving into psychological safety within sales, it’s important for us to have a general understanding of how our mind and body respond to danger.

According to Porges Theory and outlined by Bessel van der Kolk in his amazing book The Body Keeps The Score, he talks about how humans respond to threats and stressors in three different phases.

This is relevant because salespeople face constant daily stressors that impact their Mental Health.

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Phase 1 They Call Out For Help.

Humans are wired to be social beings because cooperation and collaboration with others has been critical to our safety and survival as a species for thousands of years.

This means when we first encounter a threat or stressful situation, our facial expressions will naturally show distress which signals to others that we need help. More importantly however, is our first instinct will be to call out for help from others.

Phase 2 Fight or Flight If no one responds to our expressions of distress or our calls for help, we’ll start to feel unsafe and alone. Our body will then move into phase two and engage our fight or flight system.

When this system activates, we start to experience things like faster breathing, increased heart rates and our body will start releasing adrenaline and cortisol to help prepare our body to fight or run from the threat in front of us.

Most of the time we won’t even be consciously aware of this system activating during the work day; primarily because we’ll be so distracted with the work in front of us. Generally we describe these physical changes that we experience as “feeling anxious” or “stressed”.

This system also makes us highly emotional and reactive. The part of the brain responsible for our emotions powers UP and the part of our brain responsible for logic and creativity powers DOWN. It becomes literally impossible to sell and perform our best at work.

Phase 3 Freeze / Collapse Finally – in extreme cases of danger, that are unlikely to exist in the workplace (I hope), the last stage is phase three. In situations where we’re unable to fight or can’t get away because we feel trapped; everything in our body will start to shut down.

Our heart rate and breathing may drop rapidly causing us to faint and/ or our digestion system will stop working and empty (aka scaring the sh*t out us). We’ll also start to become numb to the world around us.

Unpleasant consequences of being extremely afraid and unable to cope with the danger we’re facing.

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Impact of Supportive Leadership on Mental Health

The relationship between leader and employee is the most important bond that gets formed in any workplace.

Countless data points and studies have confirmed that the strength of this relationship has a direct impact on employee engagement, productivity and well-being.

Data from the survey mentioned above showed similar results.

Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” that they felt supported

by their leader; 68% rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent. When salespeople “Strongly Disagreed” they felt supported by their leader; only 15% rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent.

This means salespeople are 4.5X more likely to rate their Mental Health as Good or better when they feel strongly supported by their Leader.

Impact of Supportive Leadership on Mental Health Excellent

Very Good

Good

How Salespeople Rated Their Mental Health

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During the last 6 months - You felt supported by your leader.

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Strongly Agree

Impact of Supportive Leadership on Sales Performance

Though less impactful overall, supportive leadership also correlated with better sales performance.

Among salespeople who felt strongly supported by their leader; 87% rated their sales performance as Good or better. This was 28% higher

than salespeople who felt strongly unsupported by their leader. In the graph below, you can also see the percentage of salespeople who rated their sales performance as Very Good or Excellent, steadily increases with more leader support.

Impact of Supportive Leadership on Sales Performance Excellent

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How Salespeople Rated Their Sales Performance

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During the last 6 months - You felt supported by your leader.

Supportive Leadership Take Away

“Supportive Leadership” can mean different things to different people.

Regardless of your definition, being a supportive leader means providing three primary things to your team: •

Make it easy for your sales reps to ask for help.

•

Make it “OK” and safe for your sales reps to make mistakes and fail.

•

You need to make yourself available as a leader.

When I posted about psychological safety recently on LinkedIn, Melissa Meyer who is a forward thinking sales leader, summarized the first two areas perfectly: “For me at work, it comes down to having the “freedom to fail” or make a mistake and receive the support or comradery to know when, where,

and how to ask for help I’ve worked in terrible environments where asking for help was seen as weakness and bad managers or unscrupulous coworkers used others’ mistakes as a way to move themselves up in the pecking order. Thank you for bringing up this topic and elevating the need to a foundation of trust and respect at work.”

As Melissa states – leaders can make it easier for team members to ask for help by providing clear guidelines on how, when and where to do so.

Amy Volas, Founder of Avenue Talent Partners, also contributed to the discussion by sharing this amazing visual below. It shows the massive impact fear of failure can have on Psychological Safety and culture when leaders don’t make it safe for reps to make mistakes.

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Sales Leader Take Away Sales leaders your main takeaway here is you need to be hyper aware of the interdependency between phases. You need to create a psychologically safe environment that reduces the amount of time team members spend in Phase Two. Simple actions leaders can take like making themselves more approachable or making it easy

for reps to ask for help are often overlooked. Basic safety needs that are neglected in sales, which erode Mental Health and sales performance over time.

You may be thinking… Those wishy-washy things don’t matter that much… But I assure you they do – so let’s take a closer look at some recent data.

We gathered responses from 770 salespeople to find out how vulnerability, supportive leadership, connection to others and job security impacted Mental Health and sales performance.

What’s The Impact Of Psychological Safety?

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The failure to provide psychological safe environments and it’s impact on Mental Health in sales is enormous.

leadership, connection to others and job security impacted Mental Health and sales performance.

The Sales Health Alliance recently partnered with UNCrushed and The Harris Consulting Group on a survey that collected data on several variables contributing to psychological safety. We gathered responses from 770 salespeople to find out how vulnerability, supportive

Across all four variables there was a strong positive correlation. Though we cannot claim “causation” we can strongly suggest that improving psychological safety in these areas will improve Mental Health and sales performance.

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BETTER BLAMING

I N N O VAT I O N

OTHERS

& DECISION MAKING

Psy

logical Dan o ch

Psy

"COMMON KNOWLEDGE EFFECT"

L E S S L I K E LY TO SHARE DIFFERENT

LEARNING FROM FA I LU R E

EVERYONE IDEAS

Far too often Sales Leaders are chasing perfection from their team.

There is nothing wrong with setting high expectations and holding reps accountable; but expecting them to be perfect is a fool’s errand that does more harm than good.

Failure and making mistakes is a part of working in sales and being human. When leaders learn to embrace and value the lessons taught by failure, they create a more supportive environment where trust and innovation can flourish.

Lastly, leaders need to be available to their team. As we learned at the start of this post, our first instinct is to ask for help when we don’t feel safe tackling a

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Psychological Danger VS Psychological Safety

COMFORT ADMITTING

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stressful situation. If no one is available or no one responds to our calls for help, then our stress response will engage.

In a remote working environment, making yourself available when your team needs you can be challenging for a leader. My recommendation is for leaders to time block “open office hours” each day.

To do this – simply create an open Zoom or Conference link that people can drop into at a set time each day. Inform your team that this is the time to ask questions, vent and connect when they need it. If no one shows up; then you can use this time to complete admin tasks while a conference room is left open.

Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” that they could be open and vulnerable with how they were feeling at work; 69% rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent.

Impact of Vulnerability on Mental Health in Sales

It makes you safer to approach and easier to trust when reps on your team are struggling.

So you’ve informed your team how, when and where to ask for help. You’ve made it safe for them to make mistakes. And you’ve made yourself available each day to support your team.

But still – all your conversations with reps are surface level, no one asks for help and you can tell your team is harboring uncomfortable emotions.

Well this is likely an issue with approachability and trust. If you’re not approachable and your team doesn’t trust you, then it’s unlikely they’ll ask for help. This is why becoming more vulnerable as a leader becomes so important to providing psychological safety.

In the survey data, we saw a very strong positive correlation between increasing vulnerability and better Mental Health. Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” that they could be open and vulnerable with how they were feeling at work; 69% rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent.

This was almost 4X higher than salespeople who felt unsafe being vulnerable. Among salespeople who “Strongly Disagreed” they could be vulnerable at work; only 18% rated their Mental Health as Good or better.

Impact of Vulnerability at Work on Mental Health Excellent

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Impact of Vulnerability on Sales Performance

Increased vulnerability in the workplace was also correlated with better sales performance.

Not only did overall sales performance improve with increased vulnerability, but the percentage of salespeople who rated their sales performance the highest more than tripled.

We found that among salespeople who felt most comfortable being vulnerable with how they were feeling at work; 31% rated their sales performance as Excellent. This was 3X higher than salespeople who felt uncomfortable being vulnerable, where only 10% rated their sales performance as Excellent.

Impact of Vulnerability at Work on Sales Performance Excellent

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Vulnerability Take Away

As a leader who likely cares about your teams Mental Health and sales performance, your team would benefit from more vulnerability.

To do this you need to address the Vulnerability Paradox within sales.

This paradox can be understood by asking one simple question:

to be more vulnerable or to “open up” will not work. You as the leader must go first. It’s a misconception many leaders have that they must present themselves as “perfect”, “fearless” or “infallible”. When leaders do this they strengthen the effects of the Vulnerability Paradox.

How likely are you to be vulnerable with someone who is judging your performance on a task?

The answer — Very Unlikely.

In a situation where someone is being evaluated or judged; they will only feel comfortable being vulnerable when they know their evaluator or judge will be compassionate and empathetic to what they’re feeling.

Sales leaders – YOU are the ones judging your sales reps’ performance. Simply telling them

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Sales leaders – YOU are the ones judging your sales reps’ performance.

Simply telling them to be more vulnerable or to “open up” will not work. You as the leader must go first.

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Sales reps want to know that they’re sales leaders “get it”.

When a sales rep is wrestling with anxiety, embarrassment, trouble sleeping, relationship turmoil or a deal they just lost; they need to feel safe knowing they won’t be judged for opening up and perceived as “weak”. They need to trust their leader will understand what they are feeling and support them.

The only way they will feel this trust is when leaders share first.

Leaders need be consistent and open with their emotions on a regular basis. Develop your Emotional Literacy so you can accurately describe how you’re feeling to your team. Open up about your own Mental Health journey and share

stories about when you struggled or faced challenges in sales.

After 2.5 years of leading conversations about Mental Health in sales, one thing remains abundantly clear: Anxiety in Sales is not optional. It’s part of everyday life. I’ve yet to meet a leader or rep who hasn’t struggled at some point during their career, which means you likely have something to share.

Injecting more vulnerability into a sales culture requires leaders to lead by example. In doing so they become more approachable, easier to trust and make it safer for reps to ask for help.

Importance of Job Security on Psychological Safety Even if you’re a supportive leader who is trusting and approachable, sometimes the sales environment will simply get the best of the sales reps on your team. Stressors will unconsciously pile up and declining Mental Health can cause reps to lose perspective very quickly.

A string of bad deals falling through, dealing with an angry customer, followed by missing target; and it doesn’t take much for a rep to start feeling unsafe in their environment. As their Fight or Flight system starts ramping up, it’s not long before anxiety and intrusive thoughts have a rep second guessing their job security.

This has a dramatic impact on Mental Health when a sales rep starts thinking: “What if I get fired or what if I lose my job?”

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Impact of Job Security on Mental Health in Sales

Our data showed that among salespeople who “Strongly Disagreed” they felt job security in their role; only 11% of salespeople rated their Mental Health as Good or Very Good.

Zero percent of salespeople rated their Mental Health as Excellent.

On the other hand, among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed”

their role was safe and experienced job security; 74% of salespeople rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent.

This means salespeople who feel strongly secure in their jobs are 6.5X more likely to rate their Mental Health as Good or better; compared to those who feel most at risk of losing their job.

Impact of Job Security on Mental Health Excellent

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Impact of Job Security on Sales Performance

Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” that they had job security and their role was safe; 96% rated their sales performance as Good or better. Within this group, 41% of salespeople rated their sales performance as Excellent!

There was also a strong positive correlation between job security and sales performance. This means the more secure and safe a salesperson felt in their role, the higher they rated their sales performance. This was especially true for peak sales performance.

Imagine how much less stressful your day to day would be as a leader if almost 100% of the reps on your team were performing well?

To the Sales Leaders reading this post right now – are you ready for this?

Impact of Job Security on Sales Performance Excellent

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Why Job Security Impacts Psychological Safety SO Much

Every single moment our brains are automatically assessing the safety of our environment based on what it is perceiving internally and externally. Stressors we face on a regular basis in sales can shift us into a more guarded, panicked and frightened state.

External stressors can be events that happen to us like losing a deal or getting rejected. Internal stressors can be negative thoughts like thinking our manager doesn’t like us or thinking we might lose our job.

Regardless of the type of stressor, our brain will assign a “threat score” to these events using three different categories to determine how much danger we’re in: •

How much damage will be done in that moment if X happens?

•

If X happens then how much damage could be done in the future?

•

When X happens, how challenging will it be to overcome?

When X equals “losing your job”, the threat score in all three categories will all be extremely high. This is why even thinking about losing our job can be perceived as an extremely dangerous event and engage our Fight or Flight response.

All human beings have evolved to be social creatures. Thousands of years of evolution have taught us that being part of a tribe means safety and support. When we feel pushed to the edge of this tribe, like when we think about losing our job, we perceive this as an extremely dangerous and vulnerable position.

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Job Security Take Away As a leader, reinforcing job security with your team on a regular basis is one of the best ways you can be supportive. This creates a psychological safe environment that helps improve sales performance and Mental Health, while keeping stress hormones in control.

to tell you they’re having a tough time. If you see a rep lose a deal they were excited about or miss their target on the last day of the month; approach them and let tell them these events are normal and that you still value the work they are doing for the team.

One of the best ways leader can reinforce job security is by becoming acutely aware of sales reps who are struggling. Don’t wait for reps

Get ahead of swirling negative thoughts, by flat out telling them their role is safe and you’re there to support them.

One of the best ways leader can reinforce job security is by becoming acutely aware of sales reps who are struggling. Don’t wait for reps to tell you they’re having a tough time.

Stop With The Performance Improvement Programs (PIPs) Before continuing, this data should be an eye opener for any sales leader currently using Performance Improvement Programs (PIPs).

PIPs exasperate the fear and stress response the rep is already facing, which will only sink performance even further.

In situations where a sales rep may be underperforming; it will always be more effective to double down on

psychological safety, vulnerability and job security. Only when a sales rep is feeling safe and protected, will a leader be able to uncover the honest answers and resolve the challenges impacting performance.

Sales Leaders – please start listening to the neuroscience and research on this topic. Applying more fear and less safety is never the answer to performance issues within sales.

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When trust, compassion and collaboration are genuinely intertwined within team culture; there will always be someone a sales rep can turn to for help, when they feel in danger or unsafe.

Impact of Connection On Mental Health in Sales

It’s important to acknowledge, that there will be times when a leader will be unavailable to their team. They might be on vacation, putting out fires or struggling with their own Mental Health. As a result it’s normal for leaders to be less supportive or unavailable to ask for help from time to time.

That’s why fostering connection between sales reps and their peers is so important to psychological safety. When trust, compassion and collaboration are genuinely intertwined within team culture; there will always be someone a sales rep can turn to for help, when they feel in danger or unsafe.

The impact connection has on better Mental Health amongst

salespeople is huge. Our data showed a strong correlation between feeling connected to peers/ teammates and better Mental Health. Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” they felt connected to peers and teammates; 67% rated their Mental Health as Good, Very Good or Excellent.

When salespeople felt disconnected from their peers and teammates; only 11% of salespeople rated their Mental Health as Good or better.

Therefore, salespeople who feel strongly connected to their peers are over 6X more likely to rate their Mental Health positively; compared to those who feel least connected to their teammates.

Impact of Connection at Work on Mental Health Excellent

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Impact of Connection on Sales Performance

Increased connection amongst salespeople also correlated positively with better sales performance.

The most important take away from this section of the data is the role connection plays in achieving peak sales performance.

Sure – salespeople who feel strongly disconnected from their team will still perform to a certain degree.

Among salespeople who “Strongly Disagreed” they felt connected to their peers and teammates; 54% rated their sales performance as Good or better, but only 8% rated their sales performance as Excellent.

This improves drastically when connection between salespeople increases. Among salespeople who “Strongly Agreed” they felt connected to their peers and teammates; 89% rated their sales performance as Good or better, with 31% rating their performance as Excellent!

Therefore, salespeople who felt a strong degree of connection to their peers were almost 4X more likely to describe themselves as achieving peak performance (Excellent); compared to sales teams that were operating as disconnected individuals or lone wolfs.

Impact of Connection at Work on Sales Performance Excellent

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Connection Take Away Comparable to the other variables we have already discussed, connection amongst sales reps impacts Mental Health and sales performance a lot.

Often these connections get built during team building activities, nights out together or through micro-interactions at the office.

In an increasingly remote working environment, it has become more challenging for leaders to foster connection between teammates.

Though some of this connection will return as the ability to socialize

with our peers becomes more common in a post COVID world; I do however believe it’s time for leaders to rethink how sales teams are structured and incentivized.

Individualism in sales is perpetuated by individual sales targets and individual incentive structures.

As a result we are all incentivized to put our individual needs ahead of the needs of our team.

Leaders then use these structures to create environments that pit salespeople against each other to “improve performance”.

Too often however, increased competition means sacrificing connection and the psychological safety of the team.

It means sales reps only “feel safe” when they “win” first, with hardly any incentive to help others when they need it.

The data on Mental Health and sales performance is clear. As an industry we need to start prioritizing more connection over more competition if we wish to achieve peak performance.

Next Steps & Psychological Safety Action Items It should now be clear just how important supportive leadership, vulnerability, job security and connection are to sales performance and Mental Health. Improving psychological safety through these avenues should be the top priority for any sales leader building a high performing team.

In addition to environmental improvements, we as salespeople and leaders can also make individual improvements to their Mental Health. Tactics and strategies we can learn, that are rooted in neuroscience and physiology that will help us self-regulate stress.

It’s only when we’re able to take care of our own Mental Health first, when we’re able to be the most supportive, compassionate and empathetic to others on our team.

Building a psychological safe environment requires a team effort.

The online course below will support you in acquiring this skillset. It will teach you new ways to improve your sales performance, resilience and EQ through better Mental Health.

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Salespeople are Corporate Athletes.

Time to Improve Your Mental Game.

R E S I L I E N C E , M I N D S E T & M E N TA L H E A LT H T R A I N I N G T O I M P R O V E S A L E S P E R F O R M A N C E

jeff@saleshealthalliance.com

saleshealthalliance.com

Questioning Your

Sales Engagement

By IAN MOYSE, Chief Revenue Officer, OneUp Sales

As a Sales Leader I get to meet with many sales peers and to interview many sales people seeking a new role as well as the pleasure to sit as a judge on numerous sales awards. I see a constant flow of sales people who believe they are baked, have stopped investing in honing their skills and who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.

Cynical I may be, but I am frustrated by the prevailing mantra of assumed greatness, a selfbelief that the basics were nailed years ago.

So, what is missing?

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sk a sales person what skills they wish training on and invariably I get a reply of ‘Negotiating Skills’, ‘Enterprise Selling’, sometimes ‘Social Selling’; all valid skills to have, however what frustrates me is that they assume they have mastered the basics and yet do not demonstrate as such in their actions.

For me the biggest sales skill to learn out of the gate and that needs constant practise and tuning is that of Questioning. I interview a breadth of sales people, many with years of experience to their name who demonstrate poor to average questioning skills. Now I count questioning skills to include the pre-research that leads to smart prepared questions into this

mix. Good questioning needs pre and after thought, preparation, note taking and active listening skills for not only what is said, but also for its context and tonality.

For this reason, I encourage that good questioning needs to be done verbally, on the phone or in person in a ‘true’ conversation. Often I hear a Salesperson report they had a customer conversation, which when questioned turns out to be an email exchange. This is better than no communication for sure but is not a 2-way conversation; each reply is pre-thought and has the ability to be reconsidered and edited, very different to a live flowing conversation.

Numerous psychological reports have shown that a far lower % of communication interpretation is from the words when compared to the intonation and expression,

explaining why so many digital communication breakdowns occur.

Numerous psychological reports have shown that a far lower % of communication interpretation is from the words when compared to the intonation and expression.

For the Salesperson, questioning skills were the 1st thing they learnt and the 1st thing they moved past! Too quickly they considered questioning as done and wanted to progress to the next thing. Questioning needs to align to certain edicts and to be practised until habitual as a behaviour. Most sales people when asked quote a methodology such as SPIN, BANT, SCOTSMAN, TAS or one of the many others, this is all fine, but these provide a baseline to adhere to, but not the detail required to be applied on a day to day client interaction basis.

So, I hear sales people with pride citing they know these acronyms and are good at questioning and yet when challenged failing to

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demonstrate (in most cases) having moved past this superficial level of method. Ask the average sales person and yes, they will roll off facts to demonstrate they asked the budget, the timescale, who makes the decision and why there is a need. However, delve below this on any of these pillars and quickly find that this is the only level of detail questioned as this is what training and methods cite.

For me a strong salesperson will not only know the budget, but why that budget is quoted as x amount , who set the budget, the process for changing the budget, the outcome if the solution preferred doesn’t meet budget. They will know the signoff process for this level, if the project can be split to product and services to meet two budget allocations, etc and so on. The unpeeling of the onion, asking question upon answer, upon question is the skill of good questioning and qualification.

A sales person knowing 20 more things than a competitor about the client’s needs and motivations has a greater propensity to be selected and a greater chance to know when to qualify out for the right reasons.

Now this needs to be done in a natural ‘earn the right’ approach and not simply a reeling off a list of 50 questions, wearing down your prospective client in a nonconversational list. This is where the practised skill comes into play!

Questioning is important throughout the sales process. A sales person knowing 20 more things than a competitor about the client’s needs and motivations has a greater propensity to be selected and a greater chance to know when to qualify out for the right reasons.

Also post conversation there is nothing wrong in reviewing your notes yourself or with a colleague or manager, to identify questions missed and to go back to the client to request a follow up call. ‘Having spent some time reviewing the notes I took from our call I realised that I have missed a few important questions which will help me serve you better in our offer. May I call you again to quickly clarify these points?’. Demonstrating to your client interest in the call you had, time invested in the answers they gave and professionalism in your approach. You do not have to nail questioning 1st time every time, just practise a method that is respectful, professional and helps you and the client have a more informed engagement.

Questioning is a honed skill and done well you can get information from a prospective client that the prior competitor salesperson did not, either they did not ask or they did not do so with rapport and skill to have the customer see value in sharing their answer. You can question your way into a win early in the sale and differentiate yourself as the more trusted, safe pair of hands to place their business with

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Bridging Our

Differences At Work

By JOANNA GAUDOIN, one of Voice At The Table’s Expert Associates, our resident expert on Networking, Office Politics, Professional Relationships and Personal Impact. Joanna also runs Inside Out Image which helps ambitious professionals and their organisations improve performance and achieve their goals.

Our upbringings impact us more than we think, ultimately shaping what we consider “normal” and “how things should be done”.

However, I often think too much emphasis is put on our differences as humans being down to culture. It can be too often used as an excuse for not making the effort to work together and embrace our disparities. Differing “culture” can too easily be made a scapegoat.

I

do a lot of work with clients on their challenges working with others, whether it is the boss that someone seems to have a continually strained relationship with, other senior people who never support someone’s proposals or the team member who can’t be motivated to pull their weight and fulfil their potential. There are some common themes. Yes, cultural differences can play a role, both in perception and reality but they are neither the whole “cause” nor the whole “answer”. Even if they were, the ways to tackle relationship difficulties wouldn’t really differ.

Being able to navigate “office politics” positively and build productive professional relationships are essential skills, in my view. None of us works in complete isolation (even during a pandemic). We are made to relate and have dependencies and interdependencies with other human beings so it isn’t an issue we should deprioritise - for the sake of our careers, the organisation we work for and our own happiness and wellbeing.

Here are my top five (very simple) tips for improving your relationships. You’d be surprised how rarely they are used but when they are, my clients see a marked improvement in their working life.

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1. Make time for relationships: we are not machines.

If you only ever engage with someone when you want something from them or to respond to them about functional tasks, no real relationship will be built. Be human and listen to what people are really saying!

2. Have in mind that we are all different.

The whole premise of the useful and easy to read book Surrounded by Idiots, by Thomas Erikson, is that very few people in the world, if any, will think exactly the same as us about everything and behave the same as us in every situation. Therefore, with most people we will have frequent moments of not understanding. This has implications for how we engage with people and communicate.

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3. Remember we are in different situations; when thinking about how to engage with people, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes is imperative.

We might want to share every glorious detail with our line manager about the big problem we have resolved. But is it really relevant or a good use of their time? We need to acknowledge what is useful for someone else and our motivations for wanting to do something a certain way.

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4. Consider how you react: It’s very easy to react based on an immediate emotion we feel in the moment.

This is rarely a good way to go. If you need to, ask for time to consider what someone has said to you (there’s often pressure in our society to react immediately, which is not always a good thing) and consider your reaction based on the outcome you want to achieve, whether that relates to the situation and/or the relationship.

5. Have the difficult conversations when you need to!

Few would say they enjoy difficult conversations, fundamentally though, but if a situation is either going to reappear anyway or cause ongoing resentment that could impact how you engage with someone, it is best to confront the situation. I could write another article on this topic alone! Think about how and when you start a difficult conversation.

How can you employ these tips?

I’d suggest you start by considering your key relationships and scoring them so you can see which ones you need to work most on. Think honestly about which relationships you make an excuse for, whether it be differing culture or something else.

Behaviour change doesn’t happen overnight, so I’d suggest working on one or two changes at a time to forge longer-term habits • 136

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