Women In Sales Awards India

The

MARCH 2015

Women in Sales Awards INDIA

TAKING THE LEAD,

Women in Sales

THE WINNERS

2015

Meet the SALES SUPERS

RUCHITA TANEJA AGGARWAL, the most distinguished sales woman of 2015

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 1

RAISE A

GLASS TO THOSE WHO’VE

RAISED THE BAR

CONGRATULATIONS FROM BACARDÍ, PROUD SPONSORS

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WELCOME Afi Ofori

Managing Director, Zars Media

If talent is not recognized, does that mean it does not exist? Of course it doesn’t, but in our fast-moving world the everyday brilliance of gifted saleswomen does often go unnoticed. Using the Women In Sales Awards as a platform, we hope to change this by recognizing and celebrating the women driving businesses forward in India.

Thank you to the companies that nominated and supported the inaugural Women In Sales Awards – India. Congratulations to all the nominees, the finalists and the winners.

I would like to thank all the judges, our partners, Business Salt and Sales Express, and our generous supporter Bacardi, without whom this event would not have been possible.

A special thank you to Chandni Mehta and Deepti Keshari whose dedication and hard work has helped make the event a success amidst all the challenges we faced in organising the Awards.

This competition should not be seen as a one-off for any nominee, finalist or winner. We would like to stay in touch with you, and see how your careers and ideas develop. You are the best Ambassadors to promote the Women In Sales program in India specifically, and to help promote the furtherance of Women’s careers in the Sales Industry in India more generally!

We look forward to more companies taking part next year. Thank you.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 3

In this magazine 6. Taking the Lead

Women in Sales 8. Judges Profiles & The Judging Process

34. UK Still a Selling Country 36. 2014 Winners - Women in Sales Awards Europe

12. Sales - the Perfect Antidote:

38. Interview with 2014

a Focus on India

Sales Director Winner Nicola Robinson (Europe)

14.

41. Interview with 2014

The Winners

Financial Sales Winner & the Most Distinguished Saleswoman of the Year Serra Erelcin (Europe)

32. Innovation, Productivity

42. Performance Potential in

and Insight

6.

the Global Talent Pool

32.

4 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

Thanks To Our Partners :

14.

Data breakdown, n= 377 Data breakdown, n = 348

By geography:

By geography:

Europe 60% Asia 11%

9%

Middle East 0.5%

Australia & New Zealand 0.5%

North America (USA and Canada) 32%

Europe 33.5%

South Africa 5%

Middle East 0% 25%

North America (USA and Canada) 1%

%

South Africa 48% South America 6%

By industry: By industry: Banking 19%

g

42.

Business services (including recruitment) 9% Construction 11% Healthcare 39% Insurance 4% IT 10% Manufacturing 15% Pharmaceutical 5% Utilities 5%

Business services (including recruitment) 9% Construction 28% Electronics 0.2% Engineering 6% Hospitality 0.1% IT 8% Manufacturing 23% Publishing 0.1% Utilities 3%

The Women In Sales Awards Magazine is published by Zars Media 8 Heathfield Court Fleet, Hampshire GU51 5DX England

01252612025 info@wisawards.com

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 5

By Priya Sachdev www.business-salt.com

Women in sales…

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Globally, women influence 70% of buying decisions, yet, even with this significant influence, women worldwide fall severely short in contributing to the world of sales.

I

have witnessed this phenomenon in the numerous sales workshops that I have facilitated wherein women have always been a minority.

Both globally and in India there is a serious crunch of women in the leadership and executive boards despite high level of aspirations amongst women employee to reach these levels.

Is this truly the effect of the “glass ceiling”? I think not!

As per Women Matter a research by McKinsey & Company there isn’t a single glass ceiling but a pipeline towards the top that is dropping women at every transitional point.

Hence, the need of the hour is to retain women in sales and groom more women to join the sales force and nurture them into leadership roles.

My own experience of being in sales for over two decades has taught me that to succeed in this field what one needs is the passion to outperform, a supportive team and most importantly mentors.

So, my advice for a successful sales career would be:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Understand the buyers & the buying process – THE most important style element in a successful sales cycle isn’t how sales professionals sell, but how the buyers buy. The focus is on the customer, not the salesperson. One of the key tenets of the MHI Global sales philosophy is that every buyer makes every decision differently, every time. Even if this is the third time they have bought a solution like yours – or even your solution – there will be nuances to this buying decision.

Sell and negotiate solely on value – If price was the main reason for losing a sale, it would be a lot easier to win by simply dropping it. The reality is that there are solutions customers will pay a premium for and this is the point where knowing your buyer will help you win. Ultimately, customers decide to buy from you because they believe you brought to the table something that has value to them that they can’t get elsewhere.

Retention is the name of the game – While account acquisition is one of the main drivers of growth, acquiring new accounts is extremely challenging and costly for most businesses. Experts place the cost of acquiring a new customer between 4 and 10 times the cost of maintaining an existing one. Not all companies can weather the financial strain associated with losing a customer and it could be especially critical to the individual salesperson.

Stay optimistic but know when to move on! – Winning fast is great, winning slowly is ok, loosing fast is also manageable but losing slowly is pathetic! Hone discipline to run opportunities and against a carefully vetted set of criteria to decide when to chase or walk away.

“We must be authors of the history of our age.”

Madeleine Albright

Echoing the sentiments behind the words of Madeleine Albright the 1st woman to have become the United States Secretary of State, I would say that this is the time to take the lead and sway the balance of influence to our favour.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 7

JUDGES PROFILES

& THE JUDGES

A group of 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.

"I love the idea behind the awards and feel that this recognition will go a long way in building confidence and creating awareness that more and more women are entering and succeeding in the sales field. Leaders across the industries are looking forward to this and the participation is a clear indication of this. Both the nominees and the winners have impressive credentials and my only wish is that they should mentor more women to join them."

THE JUDGING PROCESS

THE JUDGING DAY The judges were organised into 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 an interview with the judges.

WHY AN INTERVIEW WITH THE JUDGES? The 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 FINALISTS TIME WITH THE JUDGES 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 they should win the award in their category?”

Each finalist’s overall score was the sum of the scores from the interview with the 3 judges in their category. The finalist with the highest score in each category was selected as the winner in that category.

THE DISTINGUISHED SALES WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD This award is for the finalist who scored the highest among all the finalists.

"The Women in Sales Awards India chapter -2015 was orchestrated professionally. It was heartening to see the nominees vying for the top slot with focused presentation and engaging reviews with the judges. I would like congratulate all the winners and wish Afi & her team the very best for sustaining this momentum."

Urvashi Mehta GM Sales & Marketing , Carnoustie Resorts

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Salil Bhatnagar Sr. VP Sales Training Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited

Sunil Lulla

Monica Tata

Priya Sachdev

Chairman and Managing Director, Grey Group

Managing Director,

CRO & Head Strategic Alliances, Business Salt

Over the last 26 years, Sunil has enriched himself with extensive experience in building brands and businesses. Having worked with a number of start-ups and turnaround businesses. Sunil has worked with media, entertainment, technology and television broadcast.

With over 24 years of experience behind her; Monica has expertise in management of television networks operations in the Media and Entertainment industry. She worked as part of the leadership team at Star and Turner. She has had a consistent record of increasing sales, effective negotiations, profit and loss analysis and strategic implementation of business operations.

Priya has over 20 years of professional experience spanning multiple business verticals and diverse sectors and across geos. In the past few years she has been responsible as profit centre head for successful start ups and has led Business Development initiatives across sectors such as Office Automation, Training & Development, Consulting and FMCG.

Sandhya Vasudevan

HBO India Pvt Ltd

Salil Bhatnagar

Managing Director at DBOI Global Services Pvt Ltd; Deutsche Bank Group

Sr. Vice President - Sales Training at Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Sandhya has over 24 years of rich industry experience in the field of Operations, Financial Services and the IT Enabled Services industry and has worked in organisations such as Guardian Royal Exchange, Thomson Reuters and AXA. Her most recent roles prior to joining Deutsche Bank were in strategic development and integration of Thomas Reuters.

A Sales & Marketing professional Salil has over 24 years’ experience. He specializes in Sales, behavioural and Leadership Training aimed at building people excellence and has trained across India, Middle East and Asia Pacific countries, i.e Singapore, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Sumit Chadha

Ex Managing Director & Country Head, BlackRock India Sumit Chadha is a Business Leader, Management consultant, Mentor, and Advisor with over 25 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry with expertise in Setting up/Scaling up operations, Strategy development & execution, Business Transformation, Contact Center Management, Client Experience, Retail banking products, Diversity & Inclusion practices.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 9

Deep Bhandari

Director Marketing & Sales Excellence, UCB As Director Marketing and Sales Excellence, Deep’s key role includes driving Sales Force Effectiveness and Sales Force Optimization, continuously evaluate and optimize sales force sizing and structure, hiring and designing career pathways.

Urvashi Mehta

Ashish Dewan

GM - Sales & Marketing , Carnoustie Resorts

Sales Director Indian Operations at Nivea

In her current role as GM Sales & Marketing for Carnoustie Resorts, Urvashi handles the Revenue Generation and Brand Building for the newly opened resort in Kerala. She is also responsible for their international presence.

Ashish is a key player in developing and implementing the overall business strategy and plan for Nivea India’s sales strategy. Prior to joing Nivea he was the National Sales Manager at ColorBar Cosmetics and spent 14 year at at L'oreal in various roles.

FAQ's

Who are the judges?

Where do they come from?

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

Rehan A. Khan

Managing Director, Abbott India Ltd General Management responsibility for publicly traded company which is India’s third largest multinational Pharma business. Leadership of a 3000 person team, with a P&L responsibility of $400 million for South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan).

Pradeep Dwivedi

Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group| DB Corp Ltd. Pradeep has an experience of nearly 22 years of B2B as well as B2C managementcutting across functions and industries.

Earlier Pradeep was Regional Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise Business of Tata Teleservices Ltd, and has previously worked with American Express Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, GE Capital & Eicher Motors.

"This Awards will certainly pave a way and help bring a greater awareness of the need for gender diversity in sales and in executive sales leadership teams, as well as help grow the pipeline of female sales talent and to pave the way for more women to secure board-level positions.”

Urvashi Mehta GM Sales & Marketing , Carnoustie Resorts

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How do you choose the judges?

We usually look for executives with sales backgrounds and with more than 15 years sales experience. We actively recruit and also take suggestions from partners and past judges.

What do the judges evaluate?

Judges will 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'd like to be considered, or suggest future judges, please email judges@wisawards.com

www.teamchat.com

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 11

SALES - THE PERFECT ANTIDOTE: a Focus on India

It is appalling to note that in a developing country like India the percentage of educated unemployed youth is among the highest in the world! Though the government machinery is undertaking a slew of measures to improve the traditional skill sets and develop proficient manpower, a critical area is being overlooked- Sales Skills!

A

s more and more companies make a beeline to India and develop strategies to bolster their balance sheets by exploiting its growing market, the demand for skilled sales professionals will grow multifold. It is ironical to note that barring a few MBA colleges, which can be counted on the fingertips, majority of the B- Schools have failed miserably to make the future business leaders aware of the importance of sales in business and consequently train them on contemporary sales skills.

A recent research by Times of India, found out that 60% of graduates from tier II and 35% graduates from tier I B-Schools are below industry standard in Sales Acumen! Yet another study

by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) discovered that only 10% of the graduates are employable barring top B-Schools!

Though it is a well-established fact that sales function offers tremendous growth opportunity, youngsters in India and especially girls are unaware of sales as a career option let alone knowing about sales skills. The awareness about sales being an effective tool to grow in career is by and large restricted to the metros and that too with limited emphasis on continually improving sales skills. For majority of those who join the sales force their decision is shaped largely by uncertainty of getting a job after the course completion or financial pressure. The percentage of youth taking up a sales job as a planned step to rise in career is dismally low.

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In India, sectors like Telecom, FMCG, Manufacturing companies (especially 2- wheeler segment) etc. have been investing a lot to tap the vast rural and semi- rural markets to increase their topline. Companies in these sectors have huge requirement of skilled sales professionals for deeper market penetration.

Fortunately, India enjoys considerable demographic advantage and is well placed to fuel the growth of companies in these sectors. All such areas like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand etc. are under the radar of big companies and have sufficient manpower that is educated and have fire in the belly to make it big. This youth can be trained on sales skills and brought into the workforce to the benefit of all stakeholders.

India under the new government regime is pushing the reforms in order to make India a conducive place to do business for overseas companies. This can be reality only when it has good manpower, who can effectively translate the board room level strategies into sales at the ground level.

Unlike many other skill development courses, sales skills can be imparted in a relatively short span of time and make individuals competent enough to join the workforce at an entry level. It is thus, a potent tool to dismantle the vicious circle of unemployment created by obsolete courses, which are not offering an accurate reflection of the market demands.

At Sales Express, our mission is to empower sales professionals and organizations with means to grow their business by engaging with multiple stakeholders and to find best possible solutions through mentoring, networking and training in sales domain.

www.salesexpress.in Enabling Sales Leadership and Enhancing Profitability Through Innovative Sales Solutions

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 13

The Winners

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The inaugural Women In Sales Awards – India attracted nominations from some of the leading organisations in India, Including Nike, Capgemini, America Express, Dr Reddy’s, Thomson Reuters, Abbott, Citi etc. After hours of application reviews and a day of interviews with the judges please meet your 2015 Women In Sales Awards India Super Stars!

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BEST WOMAN SALES DIRECTOR & THE MOST DISTINGUISHED SALESWOMAN OF THE YEAR

I was super excited upon learning the news and immediately shared it with my family. I thanked my management and celebrated with my team as this recognition is shared with them for the hardwork and successes that we have had together as a team.

Achievement is important to me and drives me to excel in Sales. I have been privileged to be part of Citi, an organization that recognizes and rewards meritocracy. Being nominated by my management for this award and now winning it is a great moment for me and motivates me to scale greater heights in the future.

Many research reports have talked about there being a limited pool of successful women leaders around for other women to aspire to. I hope this recognition can serve as that catalyst for other women colleagues within Citi to allow them to know that it is indeed possible for a woman to have a family and also do well at work. In the many more years of professional life that I have ahead of me if I can use this platform to help other women (within/outside Citi) feel confident in straddling both their personal and professional aspirations, I would feel a sense of gratitude and satisfaction for having had the opportunities including this award.

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The journey from getting nominated to being on the shortlist along with other strong women achievers was a challenging and interesting experience. In the final interview round while competing with fellow candidates I learnt a lot from studying their (shortlisted women) individual career paths and from the opportunity to interact with distinguished panellists. Responding to the insightful questions posed by the panellists allowed me to appreciate different perspectives required to be a successful senior leader.

I would definitely advice my company to nominate more women in sales for this award as the external / independent recognition that this platform provides is very special, the process of selection and the opportunity to network with other women colleagues across companies/industries is a valuable experience that adds to one’s personal and professional development. Citi has taken on a lot of initiatives with regards Diversity and this would be a great add-on to furthering the Diversity agenda at Citi.

Companies can build more visibility around this recognition and therefore, inspire more women to participate in future. This will also facilitate increasing aspirational quotient of these awards.

RUCHITA TANEJA AGGARWAL Director, North & East India Sales Head, Citibank

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CHARISMA MAHAJAN Head – Account Management, Thomson Reuters 18 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

BEST WOMAN SALES MANAGER

The first thing I did when I was told I had made it to the finalist stage was call my mom.

It means the world to me that I have won in my category. It has reiterated my confidence and given me the boost to go on to become an accomplished sales professional.

I plan to share my experiences so that other female colleagues can make use of my experiences as a learning platform to fast forward their growth in the professional world.

It has been a very enriching experience taking part in the awards.

The best part was the feedback that I received not only in writing from my customers but the very fact that they were as excited as I was about the awards.

I would most certainly advise my company to take part again next year……YES!!! It’s a truly rewarding experience to be a part of an international selection and awards process.

I think companies must nominate and socialize the importance and criticality of these awards. It really means a lot to be a part of this forum and winning it!!!

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BEST WOMAN IN FINANCIAL SALES I was really overjoyed on being selected as a finalist and first thanked my leaders as it was an achievement in itself to be nominated across American Express’s large spectrum of talented women employees in the first place. A big reason for my success thus far, is the extensive support and encouragement from my family, who have been with me every step of the way, especially when it involved a lot of travelling and time away from home. So, I celebrated this honour with them and in a way, it reinforced to us that all the sacrifices and hard work was really worth it.

Winning this award is a remarkable personal accomplishment and will surely help advance my career, while providing immense industry recognition at the same time. But, more importantly winning means that today, women don’t necessarily face the “either or” choice but can effectively balance work and family life even in a sales role! I love my job and equally love being a mother and wife and don’t think I’ve compromised on either of them at any step of this journey. This win is going to instil in me more confidence and drive to take on the next big challenge head on.

I would really like to use this win as an opportunity to break barriers in women’s minds that sales is not a function that we can excel in. Leading by example, I hope to help demystify this domain for women and especially show them through my journey, that it’s as easy or as difficult as any other role. Being a part of the women’s leadership initiative and West India leadership team in American Express, this will help increase women is sales & sales leader 20 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

roles which in turn will make our company stronger through a more diverse salesforce.

Right from being nominated to preparation to the final interaction with the judges, it has been an extremely exciting and enriching experience. On the one hand, it’s made me reflect on my leadership style, accomplishments and career journey while on the other hand, it challenged me on making my achievements stand out across industries and organisations. I think it’s a great initiative and I feel honoured to have been a part of it, especially during the inaugural year, and winning for me is the icing on the cake.

I would certainly advice the company and senior leaders across businesses to nominate women in sales every year. This will add to the prestigious reward and recognition programmes and sales excellence awards that American Express invests in every year. It’s also a great opportunity for both the individual to be appreciated across the industry as well as a platform for the company to showcase talent.

I would suggest that companies inform and educate business leaders at least 3 months prior to submitting nominations so that talent pool can be judiciously assessed and final nominations selected after rigorous evaluation. Moreover, all women employees, especially in sales roles must be aware of these awards and the company’s participation, which will give them further incentive to excel in their roles.

BANI SALUJA

Director Consumer Cards American Express

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SANGEETA ROY National Business manager MNC, Intel Technology India

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BEST WOMAN IN TECHNOLOGY SALES

The first thing I did after hearing the news that I had been selected as a finalist? It was more of a feeling than a reaction. A wow feeling to celebrate another award(if won) as a sales professional and be part of the great initiative of encouraging diversity in workplace.

The feeling of achievement of recognition from an external organization is exemplary and I am very grateful that I have won.

Representing a technology organization/award category means a rendition of the fact of transforming lives of consumers by creating an impact through computing technology.

Having won I plan to encourage more women to take up sales roles which is exciting enough to be in the realm of action as front leaders.

I will also try to mentor other women around creating a unique differentiation for themselves in the sales function which should stand out for themselves in such initiatives of being chosen amongst other women. Finally this win will hopefully support the focus of my organisation (Intel) in developing an inclusive and diverse workforce to prevent from being myopic.

It’s been a very pleasurable experience taking part in the awards.

I will advise my company to take part again to ensure they gets more opportunities to showcase diversity at work and encourage the women force to be role models in male dominated sales world.

For companies considering nominating next year my advise is use an assessment by calling out a unique differentiation /USP of the nominee which stands tall amongst all.

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BEST WOMAN IN INSURANCE SALES

I was very pleased to hear that I had been selected as one of the finalists. I expressed my gratitude to the senior management team for nominating me. While participation is important, being shortlisted as one of finalist is very rewarding.

Insurance Sales has always been considered an unusual career choice for women and winning in this category has been a privilege. This award is a great recognition for my dedicated work, over the past decade and will motivate me to perform better.

Winning this awards will hopefully help me showcase, that it is possible to break conventional perceptions about Sales and motivate more of my fellow women colleagues to take up Sales responsibilities.

Participating in the awards has been an enriching experience.

Especially the interaction with esteemed jury has been a great learning experience. I have discovered new facets to my personality during the process, which has enhanced my confidence.

Nomination to national level awards will definitely encourage more women to take up Sales as their career as compared to other traditional options. This is a great recognition to their efforts and helps create role models to build future women leaders. I would love to see more of my fellow colleagues being nominated and winning this award.

Companies need to create more visibility around nominations for women in sales awards to attract more attention across all sections of the corporate world.

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NALINI VENKAT

Assistant Vice President Sales, Marsh India Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd.

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BENITA LAISHRAM

Sales Associate, Abbott India Limited

26 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

BEST WOMAN

IN PHARMACEUTICAL

SALES

The first thing that came to mind after being told I was a finalist was the day when I started this career coming out from the college. I remembered my long journey in sales career spanning 9+ years. I felt a great sense of achievement when I heard that I have been nominated for this award. I called up my mother, sister, my colleagues and friends to inform them.

It’s a great honour for me winning this award and in this category which recognizes the sales as a career for women, when majority of the people assume that a sales career is not suitable for women. It is really encouraging for me and other women who want to choose sales as career.

Having won this award I would like to share my experience in terms of the challenges I faced and how one can overcome to become successful in their career. I would encourage my company to allow me to share this with my colleagues during the annual meetings / review meetings.

Taking part in the awards has been a totally a different experience. A very unique experience which values contributions from women in sales.

It was exciting and nerve racking at the same time; thinking about the significance and magnitude of this award for one’s career.

I would advise my company to nominate more women for this award next year as it will motivate the individuals to strive to achieve more success.

It’s a win-win situation for both the individual and for the organization.

I would like companies to consider the following points when they nominate in 2016.

• •

•

What contributions that the individual has made to the healthcare community beyond their normal work.

How they were able to extend the scope of pharma sales to the other healthcare channel partners like patients, communities, NGOs in addition to physicians and pharmacies to better the healthcare delivery to the needy.

What were the challenges that they faced in terms of family, society in choosing the sales as career? Finally enjoy the whole process.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 27

BEST WOMAN IN ADVERTISING SALES Being nominated by my company in itself was very encouraging & satisfying & it surely proves that hard work always pays off!! I called my boss immediately & told him that his trust in my abilities has been acknowledged by Women in Sales awards organiser’s too. He reciprocated the same feelings and replied that if you get this award it is going to be the victory of my belief in the exponential virtues you possess.

Winning this award reflects does not only highlight the recognition of my hard work, but also victory of every single woman who is trying to balance life as a professional and a mother. I have worked throughout in this category in my career, winning the award in this category has corroborated my credence that I am walking on the right path. I am feeling very thrilled and contented.

I trust that winning this award is going to be a source of inspiration to all other women in my company and I hope to help them in believing in themselves to succeed, both at a professional and personal level. I am certainly going to share the entire journey of my experience with all my fellow colleagues and would ensure that they definitely participate next year. Also I would share my experience with the HR Dept. and would ensure that the communication gets circulated across female employees in the organisation.

I have experienced a lot of excitement and enjoyed the entire process it was Amazing and satisfying, thanks to professional way it was coordinate. In fact, the pointers given to us really helped me in structuring my thoughts and presentation for the esteemed jury. It was a flashback to the journey of my success.

I will definitely encourage my company to nominate other women next year. Definitely Yes! I would certainly share a presentation of my experience with all the HOD’s of my company and would convince them to nominate more female employees for this award.

Believe in Women Power and Believe in your women employees.

Empower them, and encourage them in large numbers to participate in such awards!

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PUNEETA VADEHRA NEGI AVP & National Head Government, ABP News

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 29

SMIRITI RAJU

Corporate Sales Manager, Abbott India Limited

30 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

BEST WOMAN SALES NEWCOMER

I was surprised when I heard I had been selected as a finalist and called up my managers to thank them for the nomination that they had sent as it came as a big surprise; afterwards I called my family to share the good news with them.

This is the first awards event I have taken part in as a sales personnel and having won especially in a cross industry competition has given me a huge boost and enhanced my motivation level. An acknowledgement at this point in my career only motivates me to achieve more. It has certainly boosted my morale as it is external unbiased recognition for my efforts. This confirms it for me that hard work pays.

I always believe in the saying, “Never Eat Alone,” as helping others succeed is the best way to ensure your own success and network.

Thanks to reciprocity, your investment in others will likely pay off down the road with a network of people who want to support and develop your career.

The experience taking part in this event has been excellent.

I would recommend to my company to nominate all deserving candidates next year. However I am sure Abbott being a very employee friendly company will do the needful by its own.

For companies considering submitting nominations in 2015…….. the evaluation and nomination process is quiet clear.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 31

Congratulations to everybody involved with this year’s Women In Sales Awards WE’LL BE SEEING YOU NEXT MONTH IN OUR INAUGURAL ISSUE…

THE INTERNATIONAL

Journal of Sales Transformation is the new publication exclusively focused on the promotion of sales excellence among global corporates.

Our content is a mix of quality journalism, insightful opinion and research by current sales leaders and academics.

ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL SALES

Our mission is to help enhance the professionalism of sales organisations by bridging the gap between businesses and academic research to offer the best of both worlds.

Find out more at: www.journalofsalestransformation.com To receive a free trial copy, please email editor@journalofsalestransformation.com 32 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

INNOVATION, PRODUCTIVITY AND INSIGHT Will women be the new driving force behind professional selling, asks Nick de Cent?

A

ccording to the Harvard Business Review, women now drive the world economy.

Globally, women were responsible for $20 trillion in spending in 2009, and this figure is expected to rise to $28 trillion this year. Meanwhile, their total annual earnings could reach $18 trillion by 2025, by which time women are forecast to own 65% of wealth; they currently influence over 70% of buying decisions.

Of course, women are not simply consumers; they make a formidable contribution to business. But all is not as it should be. Women comprise half the talent pool in the population and they perform well in education, yet, the gender balance across various industries and roles remains distinctly lopsided. For instance, US women obtain 57% of bachelors degrees overall but receive less than 18% of computer science degrees; they hold only 25% of IT positions and fill a mere 11% of Fortune 500 executive roles.

Similarly, when McKinsey & Company presented a 2011 study at The Wall Street Journal conference on Women in the Economy, it showed that women’s share of corporate jobs is 53% at the entry level, but falls to 14% at the executivecommittee level.

GENDER DIVIDE IN SALES

BLOG

Nick de Cent is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Sales Transformation and also edits the Raconteur “Sales Performance” supplement in The Times. He has been writing about sales and other business issues for over 30 years and contributes to numerous publications online and in print.

In sales, the gender divide is particularly obvious, especially as we look further up the organisation. In the UK, a 2011 Labour Force Survey highlighted the sales gender divide, particularly at senior levels.

While women dominate the retail sector, overall the figures reveal that 54 per cent were salesmen and 46% were saleswomen. The statistics for B2B sales were even more polarised: 70 per cent were male and 32 per cent female. The divide amongst account managers and BDMs was similar: 68% male and 32% female.

At the top level – sales and marketing directors – the gulf between the sexes widened further: 78% were male and

22% female. Overall, the survey confirmed that “37 per cent of all male sales staff are in managerial or associate professional roles; however, only 15 per cent of female sales staff falls into these groups”.

These figures underline the imbalance that we all know exists: that women are under-represented both in certain sectors and across senior business roles more generally.

And this is despite their achievements, their ability to perform and their demographic representation in society – which is why the Women in Sales Awards are so important.

TACKLING THE SALES TALENT SHORTAGE With business perennially complaining of a talent shortage, how can it make sense that organisations fail to recruit the best women into sales, sales management and sales leadership roles? Thought-leaders suggest that engaging women more fully in the global workforce would spark leaps in innovation and productivity, while research also indicates that women bring new insight to sales management and coaching roles.

Here at the International Journal of Sales Transformation we are seeking to help drive professionalism amongst the global sales community by focusing on the best of selling, sales and sales leadership internationally, an ambition we share with Afi and her colleagues at the Awards programme. We will be celebrating the achievements of female sales leaders, canvassing your views and featuring your thought-leadership on a regular basis. In embarking on this mission, we are thankful for the support of prominent business academics – from Harvard Business School and beyond – alongside numerous senior sales leaders from among the world’s biggest businesses.

We look forward to featuring some of the Award-Winners from India and regularly highlighting the achievements of the many outstanding women in the international sales community in future editions of the Journal. If you’d like a free copy of this first edition of the Journal, just email me via editor@journalofsalestransformation.com and we’ll be pleased to make one available.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 33

UNITED KINGDOM

still a selling country

By Sales Initiative www.sales-initiative.com

34 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

New data from a British study looks into the UK’s sales community, comparing its skills to those of other nations.

The results found the UK to be lacking in a number of key skills, when compared with sales professionals in other countries. That said, there are still core areas of ability in which the UK continues to be highly competitive – in places, well above international averages.

The study was prompted by the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey back in 2011, which deemed sales to be the worst-performing profession amongst UK employees.

With the view of keeping Britain competitive, both in terms of employment and the economy, the Universal Sales Skills Audit (USSA) was conducted in 2014, and identified the key areas where development will be crucial to growth.

In particular, 54% of UK salespeople were below the global average for communication.

Indeed, many of the development areas for the UK lie in communication and customer focus. Other countries outperform the UK when it comes to engaging the customer and understanding customer needs.

don’t have the tools to fix the gaps. What I really love about the USSA is that it measures only skills – skills are something you can fix the same day, unlike behaviour or habits which are far more difficult to change. When we sell assessments we make it clear that, if used correctly, you can have better performing staff the same week which means a boost in sales and happier customers.

That’s something we all aspire to!”

Skills are something you can fix the same day, unlike behaviour or habits which are far more difficult to change.

On the other hand, the USSA shows that British determination is as strong as ever, with 52% of sales professionals scoring above average for resilience and follow-through, and 13% as excellent.

Similarly, problem solving continues to be a strength among most British sales teams, with 74% scoring above average.

Now, HR managers and team leaders can also use the audit internally as a benchmark of their sales teams – but more importantly, as a proven methodology for identifying key areas for improvement.

The two firms who have teamed up to establish USSA as the UK’s ‘sales benchmark’ are Sales Initiative and SalesAssessment.com.

Mark Blezard, Managing Director of Sales Initiative said, “One of the key things to consider when assessing sales personnel is ‘can I make a difference with the results that I will get back?’ In other words, what is the point of measuring performance if you

If a team or individual is not performing, specific modules from the audit can be purchased online to hone in on the problem.

Each module takes about eight minutes for the respondent to complete, and the results are then sent back to the manager.

When assessing a larger group, a built-in ‘team dashboard’ allows managers to compare individual members of their team, an insight which affords the opportunity to develop targeted, bespoke training or re-training.

Similarly, when recruiting, the USSA is likely the only platform which gives employers a fast and precise way of comparing an individual’s skills to those of their peers.

At the same time, because the audit maps to relevant NVQs (equivalent to a high school diploma) and is endorsed by the UK’s Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM), it offers the potential to provide recognised accreditation for members of the UK sales community in the form of a “sales skills passport”, certifying that holders have the full set of up-to-date core sales skills. This is fully transportable across different industry sectors.

Sales Initiative is an online platform for sales professionals to share and transfer content which is highly specific to the field.

It serves anyone in sales looking to grow their skill set, and features insightful commentary from some of the key players in the industry. SalesAssessment.com is a specialist in online talent scoring, specifically in the sales sector.

While determination and follow-through are strong attributes amongst UK salespeople, the statistics show that customer focus skills leave room for improvement.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 35

2014 WINNERS AWARDS SALES DIRECTOR WINNER

SALES MANAGER WINNER

Nicola Robinson

Philippa White

Director, Field Sales Home Channel, Coca Cola

Commercial Sales Manager, Hewlett Packard

IT SALES WINNER

SALES NEWCOMER WINNER

Diana Morales

Katie Glover

Strategic Business Manager, Avention Inc.

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Regional Development Manager, Axa Insurance

WOMEN IN SALES EUROPE FIELD SALES WINNER Kate Derrick

FINANCIAL SALES WINNER & the Most Distinguished Saleswoman Of The Year

Gas Sales Development Manager, Npower

Serra Erelcin

Account Manager, Thomson Reuters (Istanbul)

CONSUMER SALES WINNER

TELEPHONE SALES WINNER

Vicky Hughes

Emma Marriott

Customer Business Manager, PepsiCo

Account Executive, Lincoln West

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 37

NICOLA ROBINSON Director – Field Sales at Coca Cola Enterprises

BEST WOMAN SALES DIRECTOR 2014 (EUROPE)

I

am responsible for managing and inspiring a field sales team of over 320 people who all locally drive the performance of our soft drinks portfolio across the national supermarkets of Great Britain. Retail sales value for this channel is £1.4 billion.

I initially started out in research and marketing but quickly learned that, when I understood what customers would like, I wanted to be the person who directly acted on delivering against it. I also love the responsibility of feeding back and inputting into all the functions based on customer feedback and market developments. I think there are fewer women in sales leadership partly because of perception and partly because of reality. The assumption still persists of a prerequisite to be aggressive and have the capacity to thrive in a cutthroat, long-hours working environment. This is far from the truth and I think businesses don’t necessarily recruit with this in mind, and yet some women do not put themselves forward. However, as a business function, we are often not good at supporting flexible working requests. A lot of senior sales positions are still full time and require considerable travel when there could be flexing for job shares and parttime roles. For the right circumstances, I firmly believe that the cost of doing this would be more than offset by the benefit of retaining more women’s perspective, capability, passion and experience.

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MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 39

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SERRA ERELCIN Account Manager, Istanbul, Thomson Reuters

MOST DISTINGUISHED SALES WOMAN OF THE YEAR AND BEST WOMAN IN FINANCIAL SALES 2014 (EUROPE)

I

began my career in business development at a venture capital firm in the US after my MBA. Upon my return to Turkey, I became marketing manager in one of the leading casinos. Transitioning from one trading floor to another, I landed on a trading desk in the banking sector. However, I quickly got recognised for my strong interpersonal and selling skills. I was usually chosen to be a harmoniser and problem solver for various situations internally or externally. Based on these traits, I was transferred to the bank’s sales desk. All this experience has slowly but surely paved the way to join Thomson Reuters. I have been in Thomson Reuters Financial Sales for 18 years, responsible for a portfolio consisting of market-leader banks, asset management companies, investments banks and some big corporations. The portfolio is around 25% of the total revenue in Turkey. The day-to-day role involves keeping in close contact with the customer for retention of existing services while spotting opportunities for growth.

Since 2010, I have also been acting as the Country Representative for Turkey where I manage all the operational details involved in running a legal entity and office in Turkey.

Being an emerging country, Turkey is inherently volatile and relentlessly changing, so I am proud to say that I have been outperforming in both roles concurrently.

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 41

PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL IN THE GLOBAL TALENT POOL

By Nick de Cent editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Sales Transformation www.journalofsalestransformation.com

A sophisticated self-administered online assessment of hundreds of individuals around the world provides us with a snapshot of the global sales profession.

Although salespeople tend to be lumped together in one group, sales is not a generic, one-size-fits-all activity; selling can actually be divided into various distinct roles, so it is important to hire and develop the right person for the right role. Here, we focus on the roles of account manager, application salesperson and solution salesperson, with individual performances analysed over the period between mid-2012 and mid-2013.

ACCOUNT MANAGER ROLE DEFINITION “The role of an account manager is to engage at C-suite level to proactively retain and develop existing client relationships and income from a portfolio of significant clients, and also to develop and grow new client relationships. An account manager is expected to manage a client portfolio in order to maximise the long-term mutual value of the relationship for both parties.”

•

4% were among the top performers, demonstrating both

•

55% demonstrated above-average behaviour and skill. In contrast, 45% were assessed for below-average behaviour

high behavioural competencies and high skill.

and skill.

•

38% were assessed below average for behavioural

competencies that indicate whether they are comfortable performing in this role.

• 24% were assessed to have below-average levels of skill (not even trained to average levels).

•

54% of account managers have critical reasoning below the level required to respond effectively to complex customer expectations.

Data breakdown, n = 313 By geography: Asia 7% Australia & New Zealand 19% Europe 33% Middle East 0% North America (USA and Canada) 25% South Africa 2% South America 14%

By industry: Business Services (including recruitment) 1% Construction 35%

Data supplied by SalesAssessment.com. Individual salespeople participated in SalesAssessment.com’s online self-assessment process. The approach combines psychometrics with relevant skills and competency assessments to provide a read-out against behavioural fit for the specific role, critical reasoning ability, skills and motivators (what motivates the individual to perform). The results were compared with a global benchmark profile of a high-performer in each role.

42 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

Engineering 9% Hospitality 4% IT 44% Manufacturing 2% Mining/Oil 5%

APPLICATION SELLING

SOLUTION SELLING

ROLE DEFINITION

ROLE DEFINITION

“Occurring at many levels within the customer, application selling is the ability to identify opportunities within which to position an existing, fixed-scope, yet configurable, offering that delivers a ‘defined outcome’ for the customer to meet a ‘defined need’. This can be sold directly to the customer as a stand-alone application (eg an accounting system) or through others as part of a more complex solution (eg a just-in-time manufacturing solution).”

“Solution selling is the most complex form of reactive or customer needs-based selling. Operating at C-suite level, it encompasses the ability to craft for customers a complete, high-level and complex solution to meet a customer business need where the way forward for the business has already been determined by the customer.”

•

5% were among the top performers, demonstrating both

•

54% demonstrated above-average behaviour and skill. In contrast, 46% were assessed for below-average behaviour

high behavioural competencies and high skill.

and skill.

•

•

9% were among the top performers, demonstrating both

•

49% demonstrated above-average behaviour and skill. In contrast, 51% were assessed for below-average behaviour and skill.

•

39% were assessed below average for behavioural

competencies that indicate whether they are comfortable performing in this role.

•

22% were assessed to have below-average levels of skill

•

77% of application salespeople have critical reasoning

(not even trained to average levels).

below the level required to respond effectively to complex customer expectations.

high behavioural competencies and high skill.

31% were assessed below average for behavioural

competencies that indicate whether they are comfortable performing in this role.

• 37% were assessed to have below-average levels of skill (not even trained to average levels).

•

52% of solution salespeople have critical reasoning

below the level required to respond effectively to complex customer expectations.

Data breakdown, n= 377 Data breakdown, n = 348

By geography:

By geography:

Europe 60% Asia 11%

Middle East 0.5%

Australia & New Zealand 0.5%

North America (USA and Canada) 32%

Europe 33.5%

South Africa 5%

Middle East 0% North America (USA and Canada) 1% South Africa 48% South America 6%

By industry: By industry: Banking 19% Business services (including recruitment) 9% Construction 11% Healthcare 39% Insurance 4% IT 10% Manufacturing 15% Pharmaceutical 5% Utilities 5%

Business services (including recruitment) 9% Construction 28% Electronics 0.2% Engineering 6% Hospitality 0.1% IT 8% Manufacturing 23% Publishing 0.1% Utilities 3%

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 43

UPCOMING EVENTS IN INDIA 2015 DATE

LOCATION

WORKSHOP

DESCRIPTION

10 APR 2015

DELHI

Sales Workout – Fight the Funnel Flab

09 APR - 10 APR 2015

DELHI

Funnel ScoreCard®

by Miller Heiman

23 APR - 24 APR 2015

MUMBAI

Think On Your Feet (TOYF)

07 MAY - 08 MAY 2015

DELHI

Conceptual Selling® (CS)

by Miller Heiman

Optimizing Every Interaction with Customers

21 MAY - 22 MAY 2015

BANGALORE

Large Account Management Process SM (LAMP®)

by Miller Heiman

Strategic Planning for Protecting and Growing Key Accounts

11 JUN - 12 JUN 2015

MUMBAI

Channel Success Essentials (CSE)

by Channel Enablers

Improve Channel Sales Productivity and Drive Channel Revenue Growth

25 JUN - 26 JUN 2015

MUMBAI

Strategic Selling® (SS)

by Miller Heiman

Comprehensive Strategy for Complex Sales

®

1 day intense workout to fight your funnel flab!

Opportunity Evaluation and Loss Review Process

Verbal skills workshop that trains you to organize your thoughts and ideas quickly for clear, concise, persuasive messages.

Contact Chandni Mehta, chandni.mehta@business-salt.com or Deepti Keshari, deepti.keshari@business-salt.com for more information 91-9810694359

44 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

MARCH 2015 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA 45

Coming Soon ...

Women In Sales Awards AFRICA

and AUSTRALIA

WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS (EUROPE) PRELIMINARY 2015 TIMELINE 12th March Nominations Open

11th September Nominations Close

46 WOMEN IN SALES AWARDS / INDIA MARCH 2015

12th October Finalists Announced

5th of November Judging Day

3rd December 2015 Awards Ceremony