Wine + Networking with Women Sales Leaders in San Francisco

Wine + Networking with Women Sales Leaders in San Francisco PowerToFly capped off a busy July by gathering together women sales leaders in San Francisco for an evening of networking, presentations and wine.Held at Monroe (one of our favorite spots) and hosted by PowerToFlys Amanda Bender, the event featured presentations by two impressive companies (that are both hiring) Morning Consult, who are revolutionizing ways to collect, organize, and share survey, and Knotel, who are transforming the way we work through their Agile HQ Platform.This special evening was bookend with plenty of opportunities for our guests to network with leaders from Morning Consult and Knotel, as well as each other, over light bites and delicious wine. Visit our events page on PowerToFly to keep updated on all future live events. Morning Consult is revolutionizing ways to collect, organize, and share survey research data to transform how global leaders in business and government make decisions. They provide re search, news, and brand-tracking technology for over 200 of the worlds biggest companies and industry associations. Additionally, Morning Consult conducts regular surveys for major media organizations including POLITICO, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, and The New York Times.Knotel is transforming the way we work with its Agile HQ Platform. Featuring 200 locations in New York, San Francisco, London and beyond, Knotel is making long-term leases a thing of the past by designing, building and operating custom spaces for enterprises, so that business leaders can focus on building the future. Founded in 2016, Knotel has raised $160 million in funding, and was named a Business Insider Top 50 Startup and New Yorks Hottest New Workspace Model. Knotels member network includes companies like Starbucks, HotelTonight, and Omnicom. PowerToFlys Jamie Lipiner and Amanda Bender head to the event. Welcome to Monroe A great room of women sales leaders. Related Articles Around the Web Morning Consult Knotel, Inc. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer i s most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the wertmiger zuwachs of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is cu rrently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity. Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.

Things Not to Do While Cold Calling

Things Not to Do While Cold CallingThings Not to Do While Cold CallingWhile many prospecting methods exist nowadays including email, social media, and even snail mail cold calling via the telephone is still the primary method used by most salespeople. Thats because cold calling just works best. The other prospecting methods can be extremely effective, but they tend to take much longer to move someone from a lead to a customer. For the salesperson in a hurry, cold calling is the way to go. Yet some salespeople report a complete lack of successful cold calling. Whats going on here? Those salespeople are probably making one or mora of the below common cold calling mistakes. Not Enough Phone Time Some salespeople feel like theyre spending all their time prospecting, without results. But what those salespeople are actually doing is spending all their time PREPARING to cold call, without actually doing a lot of cold calling. They are collecting lead lists, researching leads, going ov er CRM data, talking to existing customers to get feedback, looking up leads on social media, and so on. Pre-call research definitely has its place, but if youre spending more time researching than you are spending actually on the phone with prospects, its time to cut back on the preparatory activities and invest that time on the phone. Failing to Qualify The only way to determine which leads are actual prospects is to qualify them. You can, of course, wait to qualify until you are actually in the sales appointment. However, if you dont do at least a little qualifying over the phone, you will end up wasting an astounding amount of time meeting with people who are not actual prospects. Given that time is a salespersons most precious resource, youre better off taking 30 seconds to ask a couple of basic questions during the cold call. Selling During the Call The point of a cold call is not to make a sale. The point is to get your prospect to agree to a meeting, at which you wil l have his full attention and can start actually selling to him. During the initial call, its very unlikely that your prospect will become interested enough to buy. If you try selling during the cold call, all you will do is give your prospects an excuse to say Im not interested and hang up. Neglecting WIIFM Your prospects dont care that you need to make a sale. Theyre thinking about their own problems, not yours. So if you fail to show WIIFM during the cold call, you may lose the prospect right then and there. Remember, the entire purpose of the cold call is to get the prospect interested. And the prospect is not going to be interested in your products features. A Weak Opener When you make a cold call, you have just a few seconds to catch the prospects interest. Because as soon as the prospect realizes that this is a cold call, he stops listening. You need to pique his interest in the first few seconds so that when he does realize youre a salesperson, hell still be intrigued enough to want to hear more. So before you even touch the phone, craft yourself a strong opening phrase. Not Closing the Call Most salespeople know that its important to close in order to commit a prospect to buying. But you may not realize that you also have to close the prospect on making an appointment. Even if your cold calling technique is effective and the prospect is interested, he probably wont volunteer to meet with you and hear more. After youve delivered your opener, answered a few questions, dropped a few interesting facts, and done a bit of qualifying, its time to ask for the appointment just as you would ask for the sale.