In January, I had the pleasure of joining the panel at a Women in Tech forum networking event at The Century Club in Soho with 120+ inspiring women and male allies in the room. My first WITF event and it was a fantastic, inspiring, overwhelmingly positive experience.
There were so many takeaways but my highlights were:
Sales Productivity
Siobhan Gallagher, Vice President, Global Sales at Papirfly, reminded us not to be “Busy fools” and to “Qualify out as quickly as you qualify in”. More than ever, resources are stretched and time is limited for you and your customer so make sure you understand your ideal customer persona and focus on opportunities you can win. I shared one of the principles we have adopted in our team at GBG which has helped us focus our minds on the areas that will drive the greatest impact and therefore reap the greatest results- The One Thing by Gary Keller. What is the ONE thing this week you can achieve, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
Standing Out from the Crowd
My key learning in achieving success as a woman in sales is to bring your authentic self to the room. It is in your unique offering and bringing your strength to the table that makes you stand out. I particularly loved what Marlen von Roth, Regional Sales Director at Atlassian, shared about knowing your worth and not being afraid to advocate for yourself. Often as women, we hope our hard work and results will speak for itself and shy away from shining a light on it. Its a refreshing reminder not to wait to be noticed but speak up and advocate for yourself. If that is uncomfortable for you then lean on the network around you to help raise your internal profile. Don’t be embarrassed about celebrating success! Lastly Angie Vaux, Founder of Women in Tech Forum, added a simple but extremely valuable point, to stand out you must put the work in. Be prepared for that meeting, do your research, know your objectives – I couldn’t agree more. In my experience, if you do the basics consistently well, then success will follow.
Diversity and Equality
Siobhan was passionate about having zero tolerance in her teams shared the importance of “calling out bad behaviour” which I couldn’t agree more. Angie added her perspective that we ought to give our male colleagues the benefit of the doubt and initiate an open dialogue where possible. A great reminder not to move quickly to judgement but take the time and space to understand all views. I think this is crucial in seeing changed behaviours and mindsets in the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed being in a room filled with engaging, passionate women who all aspire to reach their potential in their careers and to support other women in doing the same. I soaked up all the positive energy and look forward to applying these lessons in the coming year.
I’m proud to work for an organisation like GBG Plc that works with partners like Women in Tech Forum to not only facilitate these important conversations, but put these learnings into actions. Looking forward to supporting my colleagues as they shine a light on other key topics with WITF, including Almarni Khan [Link to this post] who shared insights at the GBG hosted event on Diversity, equity, and inclusion: How to claim your space in an industry built for white men.