Valuing diversity

Arrow ECS' Denise Bryant looks at the positive effect of gender equality for today's sales professionals

Selling often gets a bad press.

Stereotypical images of sales people include smarmy used car sales executives, door-to-door window replacement salesmen or unwanted telemarketers making anonymous phone calls from a cubicle.

A quick search on the UK's most popular course search site brings up just 11 undergraduate courses in Sales and only four in Business Development compared to 4,430 for Business Management.

Even if students choose economics or business, they're much more likely to study accounting practices and financial statement analysis than to learn how to build a sales pipeline.

So what can we do to improve the perception of the sales profession to recognise the value it brings to the business and the rewards it can offer individuals in terms of career and personal fulfilment? Obviously sales qualifications and best practise standards are vitally important.

However I believe the key to increasing the professional image of sales is to create a better balance in the mix of genders within the sales profession. Earlier this year, I attended an event hosted by the Sales Leadership Alliance (SLA), a group of senior sales practitioners, organisations, thought leaders and academics from within the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The focus for the event was a discussion around a new paper published by the CIM entitled ‘Women in Sales: does the sales profession need more women?'

The conclusion, which was based on research conducted across the SLA Fellowship, was that improved financial performance is one of five business benefits that can be derived directly from creating a more balanced mix of genders across sales teams.

Up to this point I had seen how the stereotypical characteristics that are often applied to women in business -logical and structured in approach with a lower appetite for risk, - had been beneficial in creating strong and successful teams within the businesses I have been involved in during my career in IT sales and business management.

However, I realise that my experience may not have been typical and therefore I was keen to see how the facts supported my own belief that greater gender equality is the key to better business and to making sales a more professional environment to work in.

The discussion paper highlighted five key benefits of promoting a more even mix of women and men at all levels of a sales operation - each has the potential to make a major impact on business performance: Better alignment to customers The most compelling argument in favour of creating gender balance in sales is that it helps organisations better align to their customers.

Women not only represent the majority of buyers (60 per cent according to McKinsey & Company), they are also the key economic stakeholders of the future: women are forecast to own 65 per cent of wealth by 2025 and now influence over 70 per cent of buying decisions.

So it makes sound commercial sense for organisations to ensure they have a healthy balance of men and women in the sales force.

A more compelling brand

A balanced gender profile improves market perception, especially when it comes to its ‘hiring brand' and ability to attract new talent. According to research from McKinsey, 69 per cent of companies that increased diversity also posted an increase in their brand strength.

Gender diversity drives innovation

Studies also demonstrate a strong positive link between diverse workforces and innovation.

In a study of 28 teams by Henley Management College, diverse teams exhibited a higher level of creativity and a broader thought process. So teams with a more equal mix of women and men are better at problem solving and perform more strongly.

Improved governance

Creating gender balance in sales could also help improve organisational governance. A recent study of business boards indicated that better gender-balanced boards are more likely to identify the criteria needed for measuring strategy and for monitoring its implementation.

They are also more likely to adhere to codes of conduct and have better communication, both internally and with customers and other stakeholders.

Financial performance

Finally, the SLA found statistical and anecdotal evidence that suggested that companies perform better financially where there is a more equal gender mix, both at the team and organisation level.

For example Credit Suisse research found that companies with at least one female board member delivered 26 per cent more value to shareholders, a 33 per cent higher return on equity, four per cent lower gearing and 40 per cent higher average rates of income growth.

Historically, the sales profession has been seen as a male dominated world with many areas of sales traditionally seen as men-only business, so the question is how to redress the balance?

The SLA Fellows noted that it tends to be counter-productive to impose quotas as women dissociate themselves from the negative concept of being positively discriminated, which ultimately leads to a decline in female retention. However, targets are viewed as an essential way of achieving further diversity going forward.

Ultimately the facts speak for themselves. The gender issue in sales is actually a business issue and one that affects men just as much as women so it's not just the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do.

Denise Bryant is the UK sales director at Arrow ECS