Top #WomenInSales Communities and Organizations to Join or Follow

Unless you were sleeping under a rock the past year or two, you know that the growth of groups and communities chartered to support women in B2B sales roles has grown and strengthened. Just a few years ago, only one or two of the groups listed above existed. I'll give you my take on each of these - some are more of a community, some are organizations - some for profit, some not-for-profit, some are for just women, others welcome male allies - but ALL with the notion of supporting and encouraging women in sales roles now, plus serving as role models for women considering sales.

Because SO many people in HR, in Sales, and in company leadership reach out and ask me about organizations and groups that encourage women in sales - who are focused to help improve diversity and inclusion on the longstanding monochromatic, often single gender sales team - here are links, contacts, and a short blurb about the top groups out there in 2020. I am also asked for names of women to be podcast guests, panelists, or authors of sales books. These are places you can go to get ideas to launch an internal company program or join in with the great women below. At the end I'll offer special mention to a very new group and corporate internal groups.

Women in Sales Everywhere (WISE) is dedicated to developing the next generation of female sales leaders. Their mission is to combine the best of online and offline career resources to connect members, share knowledge, and grow a community. Join one of their upcoming digital events. I did a "fireside chat" on Advocating for Yourself and Others in July with Cassie Yettru - it was a fantastic audience and they have many wonderful archived events you can listen to or watch.

Women in Revenue is about empowering women leaders in sales and marketing. Attend a digital event or join their Slack group. They have 12 founding members who are all women marketing leaders and sales leaders based on the West Coast. I attended an in-person event (remember those?) during Dreamforce week in 2019 and it was tremendous.

Sistas in Sales is a community for women sales professionals of color to network, advance their careers and most importantly, find sisterhood. Subscribe to their newsletter for upcoming events.

NAWSP is National Association of Women Sales Professionals - a virtual membership organization women in sales roles can join. The mission of the NAWSP is to help women in sales develop and thrive. See their upcoming webinars

#GirlsClub is empowering more women to earn roles in leadership helping reverse the zero growth trend of women leaders in sales. They address this by providing a cross-company community + a six-month exclusive, virtual training program. I have been fortunate to offer advisor-type help whenever founder Lauren Bailey asks. The 2019 live event in Park City, called Rise Up -- celebrating the graduating first Cohort was simply magnificent.

Utah Women in Sales provides a collaborative community to educate, empower, and support women. It was more of an in-person event group in Utah, but now has pivoted to holding great virtual events anyone can attend. I was an early guest on their podcast, Women Who Win and recommend you check it out.

She.WITI.com is a collaboration between WITI (Women in Tech Int'l) and Salesforce.com. Check out their portal, She Sells, for blog posts and more event information for women who are revenue generators in roles in technology.

Society of Saleswomen is a virtual place where women in sales and entrepreneurship can discuss the unique experiences that happen in sales and sales leadership roles. They have a free membership and do a nice member spotlight series.

The Institute for Excellence in Sales has a Women in Sales program. Their in-person forum is postponed until 2021 but there is a podcast that is active.

Special mention: RevGenius, an online community for sales professionals has a Women of RevGenius slack channel to check out too. RevGenius

Finally, Women Sales Pros is a community created to showcase top women sales experts, teach and speak to students about why sales is an admirable profession, consult and train company leaders to hire and retain differently in order to create inclusive culture, and we now are building on Barbara Giamanco's Conversations with Women in Sales Podcast.

Many enterprise-sized companies have resource groups for women and people of color as well as numerous other distinctions - not too many have a Women in Sales group. If your company does, please let me know as we are compiling a list to publish shortly.

It is not difficult in 2020 heading into 2021 to find support for your own company's shift in growing your sales team to reflect who your buyers are, and to give the team and leadership diversity of thought, ideas, and connections. Now more than ever, we need more women in sales. Reach out if you have questions or need a speaker for your organization. Join, sponsor, and share information about the groups above. Together, we can change the face of sales.

Lori Richardson is President of Women Sales Pros and the author of SHE SELLS: Attract, Promote, and Retain Great Women in B2B Sales