Women In Sales With Sarah James
‘Women In Sales’ is all about showcasing women who sell, and are thriving and challenging stereotypes. We feature real perspectives of what it’s like, the barriers and the breakthroughs.
Here, Sarah James, Business Development Executive at Flourish shares her take for the second time!
How have you found the move from Sales Development Representative to Business Development Executive?
So the transition from SDR to BDE has felt natural in many ways, but it hasn't come without its challenges.
Shifting my sole focus from lead generation, prospecting, and booking meetings to now actually doing the full sales cycle and running those meetings myself has felt like quite a big jump. Now I am qualifying, finding pain points and building trust, building value.
In the beginning, I thought, I cannot do this. I hate feeling incompetent. I like to learn things quickly. It really put me out of my comfort zone, feeling like I was starting a craft all over again. But you only learn from putting yourself out there, doing it in real-time, learning from your mistakes. And now I love it. It's very much like the craft of cold calling. And the more that you do it, the more confident you get. I come off meetings and I think, oh my gosh, I should have done this. I can do that next time. And it's that self-reflection piece, and then being able to implement it next time, and that's what makes it so exciting, it's that there's always room for improvement.
There are always things that you can do differently. And I am my own biggest critic.
Do you find it different being a woman in sales within a corporate environment vs. a startup?
I think for me personally, no, I haven't felt that shift, and that's probably because I'm lucky enough to have come from a corporate environment that did have a lot of female leadership and also now Flourish. My MD is also a female so it hasn't really felt much different to me, to be honest.
What’s been the biggest shift in your sales approach as you've moved into the new role?
So the approach is different, I mean, with regards to even metrics and targets. So when you're an SDR, your main focus is getting as many meetings booked to get as many meetings attended. And that doesn't always drive the best behaviours, and it can be counterproductive, essentially.
And now I'm targeted on revenue. I'm much more specific with who I'm targeting and there is a genuine need for quality over quantity. And when I'm booking that meeting, I'm understanding as much detail as possible, getting as much from that, so that I'm more prepared, so that when I'm going into the meeting, I'm fully equipped in the best position possible, ready to close that business.
How did you develop your own sales strategy and style?
I think I've always had my own style, even when I was on the candidate side of sales and moving into new business, I'm very high energy, and very passionate, and I think that definitely comes through when I speak with people. You have to be authentic, right? Because people will see straight through that.
And I'm so passionate, and I love what I do, and I think that people see that. And I think what comes with being genuine also builds trust and those relationships, even if it's challenging your prospect in their thought process and what they may think is going to be best, it's questioning the why around that, and essentially that builds that trust, which is the foundation for any success.
Sales can be fast-paced and high-pressure - how do you manage your wellbeing in tougher periods?
For me personally, I thrive in fast paced, high pressure environments. I love the competition and gets me motivated, but at the same time, I obviously do have those tough days, and it's really hard to not let them consume you. It's super important to have a supportive team and network surrounding you to help lift you back up.
And I personally also love going to the gym, letting off some steam and just chasing those endorphins. You have to ride the highs and lows in sales. And I guess this is why I'm so passionate about our partnership with human OS here at flourish, we are providing a platform exactly for this, a holistic approach in high sustainable performance, in personal and professional life for success.
So I would say, Never make assumptions. You are gambling by not asking them why, and it's genuinely understanding your prospects world rather than just pushing that solution.
How have you found entering sales without a degree?
So this is something that I absolutely pride myself on. I'm an advocate of a non-grad. You cannot tell who will be successful in sales from academics. No two people's paths have to be the same to reach that same result of success.
For me, personally, university wasn't for me. I decided I wanted to travel to become more of a well-rounded person. I lived in India, I lived in Egypt, and I immersed myself in those cultures, and different environments which built on those soft skills for me, emotional intelligence, thinking on my feet, navigating challenging situations, and communicating confidence.
So there are many different ways in which you can still become somebody that is going to be successful in sales. But ultimately, I do not believe that having a degree is a deal breaker.
If you would like to get involved with the blog series and share your story as a woman in the sales industry, we’d LOVE to hear from you. And head over to Women Who Sell’s LinkedIn for more content.
