Networking at the reception |
On Wednesday May 25, 2011 the Men's Alliance of the Financial Women's Association (FWA) hosted its first dialogue event -"The Fearless Sales Person". The event was sponsored by Criteria For Success and TheaterMania. The law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP graciously hosted and provided invaluable assistance throughout the event. Beautifully presented and delicious food and a selection of wines were provided by Paul Neuman Catering. 120 guests were able to network and enjoy a wonderful reception which was followed by a panel discussion.
Paul Neuman Catering |
The panel was moderated by Andrea Nierenberg of the Nierenberg Group, with panelists Charles Bernard, CEO Criteria for Success; Gretchen Shugart, CEO TheaterMania; Mark Hemenetz, Chief Operating Officer-Americas, Schroder Investment Management North America, New York; Stella Lagudis, Managing Director, Global Sales Coordinator, BNY Mellon; and Jacqueline Wales, CEO, The Fearless Factor. The five panelists included two male/female pairs who had each sold and bought from one another. Andrea Nierenberg began the discussion with general warm up questions about sales and gender effects on buying and selling.
Panel Moderator, Andrea Nierenberg |
Charles Bernard observed that he found the generalization about men being less able to, or disliking to multitask, to be true. "If you are selling to a man and he picks up your materials, he will no longer be paying attention, stop talking because he won't hear anything you say afterwards."
"But," he continued, "if you are selling to a woman and she is doing something else, go on with your presentation, women can multitask – she'll wonder why you stopped talking!" Stella Lagudis indicated that sales persons (male or female) should do their homework prior to the sales meeting. Then, at the first meeting, establish a relationship; if you can do that, it will mean that you can work together and thereby facilitate the sale. Finally, make sure you don't leave the meeting without establishing the next step.
Panelists (l-r:) Charles Bernard, Gretchen Shugart, Mark Hemenetz, Stella Lagudis, Jacqueline Wales |
Jacqueline Wales noted that the biggest fear for women in sales emanates from the fear of rejection, and as a result, feeling humiliated. All sales situations may involve rejection, so women, as well as men, should recognize it's not personal. Another observation about women in sales is that they approach matters indirectly and do not take as many risks as they should. Mark Hemenetz thought good sales techniques were more a matter of competence, than gender; in his view, both men and women should do an assessment of their audience and figure out what they want.
Gretchen Shugart stated that women buyers provide and require much more detailed information than men. Men are more interested in the big picture – this seemed to confirm Mark's view about what men prefer. Charles followed, and all panelists agreed, that women and men selling should have a written agenda (if not written at least in their head), and should talk about the next steps at the beginning of the meeting – or bear the risk that they'll run out of time and attention, and no one will listen at the end.
Specifically, Charles advised to spend the first 50% of the time asking pertinent and relevant questions; talk about budget and decision, then show your product.
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Most interestingly, and not planned by the panelists, in a poll of the staff of Gretchen Shugart's staff (almost evenly divided between men and women), all the women thought selling to men was different from selling to women; all the men thought there was no difference in selling to men or women. Bearing this out, Mark Hemenetz and Stella Lagudis then outlined a transaction in which Stella led BNY Mellon's bid team for a major service to be provided to Schroders. All the final bidders were women-led deal teams. As much as Stella tried to get Mark to point to any gender differences in the RFP process, or even in the negotiations, Mark held firm to his view that the factors leading to winning the job had nothing to do with gender. Mark's view that he doesn't notice a difference in selling to women appears to have confirmed Gretchen's poll. Thus based on Gretchen's poll and Mark's view, it appears in sales, women are more attuned to, and believe there is, a gender difference in selling, while men may not think about the issue at all.
Men's Alliance Cochairs (l-r):
Fred Smith and Charles Bernard |
Afterwards, guests were able to chat and further network while reflecting on the event. More than one male attendee stated "gee, I never thought about any differences in men vs. women selling before. I will now." And after hearing this, another man suggested that as a follow on, the Men's Alliance should explore the differences in men's and women's negotiating styles – he said he will in his own business.
The Men's Alliance Mission: "Through our ongoing discussions and events, we: encourage men and women members and guests of the Financial Women's Association to learn to work more effectively with each other in business; engage men and women in advancing their respective careers; and solicit specific input from men on the advancement of women."
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