What to Look for in a Great Employer

"It's a leadership issue" - Lori Richardson (on why most issues happen at a company)

Recently I hosted an event where we had top sales leaders and sales experts speak in front of others in B2B sales who came from as far away as Florida to learn tactical and strategic ideas. The morning session is exclusive to women working to rise in sales roles within their companies - a huge opportunity for companies to grow ROI and the afternoon is devoted to helping sales leaders be even better.

The topic of finding a great company to work for came up throughout the morning and in the afternoon. One of our morning panelists, speaker and startup founder Kathryn Rose reminded everyone of the quote above: "Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated." It struck a chord with me because of my many sales roles, managers, and companies over the past years and the women in sales I've talked to who don't feel listened to or even respected in some cases - in their existing sales role.

There are TWO things to consider in choosing where to work - who your direct manager is, and what the company culture, values, and overall leadership is like.

Business author Marcus Buckingham aptly shared that "People leave managers, not companies." As someone who had dozens of sales manager bosses in my career, some were awesome (and I keep in touch with a few) but more than a few were awful.

If you have a bad manager - someone who does not listen to you, support you or help you win as you ramp up as a new BDR / SDR / AE / sales rep, they probably won't change. Your manager should be there to serve you as their customer - if you do well, they do well. They should sell you on why you need to follow certain processes and procedures. They should be there to help you bring your first deals to closure. They don't make excuses.

This becomes a problem when they are in a "player / coach" role. They manage, but they also have their clients and territory to help first. Very few in this situation can do both well.

TIP #1: When you get an offer for a new sales role, find out if your direct supervisor also sells and has some sort of a sales territory or key accounts. If you have another offer with another company where your direct supervisor simply manages, and the opportunities seem about equal, take the other offer. You don't want to compete for attention with your supervisor's prospects and clients.

When you work in a sales role at a great company, you should expect these things:

Top leadership has clearly stated what sort of a work environment it is. Look for codes of conduct, vision and mission statements and "what we stand for" on the walls.

The CEO and / or President clearly set a tone of professionalism.

You should expect to be paid well in a sales role. Women should make the SAME salary as their male counterparts.

You should be challenged in your role and in an environment created for you to learn.

You should be able to make mistakes and they are cheered on - because if you do nothing for fear of making a mistake, you will fail. Get out there as soon as you can and fail then learn from it and do better the next time.

A great company has transparency. There are not secret meetings going on - you should feel included.

TIP #2: If you are in a toxic environment where it is not professional and you do not feel championed or supported - or your ideas are not valued - RUN. The environment won't change until leadership changes. This happens in Fortune 500 companies, SaaS startups, and everything in-between. There are TOO many GREAT companies to work at for you to be in a sales role at one that is not good for you.

Read how Salesforce explains their company culture

Read about Good Sales Culture on the Hubspot blog

Read The Mission and Values of Drift

Lori Richardson launched Score More Sales in 2002 to help leaders of companies solve sales problems. She became President of Women Sales Pros five years ago - a community where you can find the top women sales experts in the world - and where companies can learn how to get more women into their sales teams and in leadership positions.