3 Reasons Women Don‘t Want to Work in Sales (And How to Change Their Minds)

Women make up just 39% of sales professionals, according to LinkedIn data. That figure has barely budged in the past decade, up from 36% in 2010. While small gains have been made, sales remains a male-dominated field.

This gender gap is a major missed opportunity. Research shows that companies with more women in leadership roles see better business results across the board:

Metric	Firms with 30%+ Women Leaders	Firms With Fewer Women Leaders
Profitability	+15%	–
Value Creation	+42%	–
Customer Satisfaction	+39%	–
Employee Engagement	+27%	–

Source: Pipeline Equity

Beyond the bottom line, gender diversity brings valuable perspectives that strengthen organizations. Women tend to excel in building relationships, empathy, multitasking, and transformational leadership. Imagine the impact of those skills applied to sales.

So what‘s holding women back from sales careers? A recent survey of over 2,000 women uncovered three main reasons. Let‘s break them down and explore how companies can overcome these barriers to attract more women to sales.

1. The Pressure Feels Overwhelming

"I would always be stressed and under pressure in a sales job." 70% of women surveyed agreed with this statement. Meeting quotas, chasing commissions, and dealing with rejection day in and day out is a daunting prospect.

This pressure is compounded for women in sales. On top of baseline performance stress, they often face disrespect from male peers, exclusion from team-bonding activities, and harassment from customers. It‘s not just about hitting numbers, but navigating biases and microaggressions along the way.

"As a woman in sales, I constantly have to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously," says Michelle Hogan, Senior Account Executive at HubSpot. "I get asked if there‘s ‘anyone else‘ clients can talk to or if I‘m ‘sure that‘s the best you can do.‘ The mental load of proving myself over and over is exhausting."

Women are also more likely than men to experience imposter syndrome, or feeling inadequate despite evident success. A 2020 KPMG study found that 75% of executive women report having personally experienced imposter syndrome in their careers.

When you layer on societal pressures for women to be liked and avoid seeming "pushy," it‘s no wonder so many are wary of sales. 77% of women surveyed said they don‘t have the aggressive personality needed to succeed in the field.

But the pushy salesman persona is a myth. Salespeople don‘t need to be ruthless to be effective. In fact, high-pressure tactics often backfire. The most successful sellers take a helpful, consultative approach rooted in trust and problem-solving.

Women‘s tendencies toward building connections, asking questions, and reading emotions are actually ideal for modern selling. By reframing sales as collaborative rather than combative, we can shift perceptions and empower more women to enter the field.

Companies can ease the pressure by ensuring women have support systems in place:

• Insist on a zero-tolerance policy for sexist jokes and commentary
• Provide access to sales training and professional development resources
• Connect female sellers with mentors who can offer guidance and encouragement
• Host open forums for women to discuss challenges and crowdsource solutions
• Check in regularly and look out for signs of burnout on your team

Most importantly, make sure women know that you have their backs. Validate their concerns and commit to working together on making sales a place where they can thrive.

2. The Pay and Advancement Path Feel Unclear

For 79% of women surveyed, a commission-based salary was a dealbreaker for considering sales. Compared to positions with a steady paycheck, the unpredictability of variable comp plans is a tough sell.

This is especially true for women, who are more likely to be single parents or primary breadwinners for their families. In sales, even a few lost deals can be the difference between paying the bills and racking up debt.

"Having an inconsistent income is scary when you have kids counting on you," says Jamie Walsh, an enterprise sales director and mother of two. "I know my earning potential is higher in sales, but I constantly worry if I‘ll bring in enough to cover childcare and stay afloat."

Women in sales also earn less than their male counterparts. A 2021 Payscale study found that female sellers make $0.79 for every dollar earned by men in the same roles. At the C-suite level, women represent a scant 18% of Chief Sales Officers in North America.

Part of this pay gap stems from differences in negotiation. A study by Glassdoor found that 68% of women accepted the salary they were offered and did not negotiate, compared to just 52% of men. Given that men are over 3 times more likely than women to ask for a raise, these disparities compound over the course of a career.

In addition to pay transparency, women considering sales want clarity on how much time and effort it will take to succeed. 64% of respondents were unsure about the level of commitment required.

The "always on" nature of sales can seem at odds with work-life balance. Reps are often expected to be responsive to clients 24/7. Travel, trade shows, and happy hours cut into personal time. Add in the mental weight of chasing quotas, and burnout risk runs high.

To attract and retain more women, sales organizations need to rethink their compensation and advancement strategies:

• Set equitable base salaries with female market value in mind
• Be upfront about on-target earnings potential and quota expectations
• Offer family-friendly benefits like paid parental leave and subsidized child care
• Put clear promotion criteria and timelines in place to facilitate advancement
• Audit salaries and close gender wage gaps across the sales org
• Highlight female leaders as role models for up-and-coming women in sales
• Launch mentoring programs to build skills and chart career development paths

Providing stability and growth opportunities will go a long way in making sales an appealing option for high-performing women. Flexibility is also key. Remote selling opens the door to more women who may have opted out due to long hours on the road.

3. The Culture Feels Stuck in the Past

67% of women said a sales job reminds them of a "used car salesman." Ouch. This smarmy reputation dies hard, even as the vast majority of B2B sales look nothing like the slapstick showroom floor.

The Wolf of Wall Street "work hard, play hard" ethos that valorizes alpha males and encourages bad behavior still permeates too many sales teams. Women often feel like outsiders amidst the fist bumps and crude banter.

"I once went on a sales call with a male coworker who introduced me as his secretary," recalls Heather Morgan, founder of SalesBorgs. "He said he brought me along to take notes. Never mind that I was the one who landed the meeting and had been working the deal for months."

From "booth babes" at trade shows to "invite the wives!" holiday parties, sexism shows up in ways big and small across sales. A recent survey by sales analyst firm CensusWide found that 61% of women in sales have been subjected to unwanted sexual advances in the course of doing business.

It‘s no wonder 60% of women say they‘ve never even considered a career in sales. The reputation of sales as an old boys club is repellent to the vast majority of female talent. Companies that fail to address toxic culture will continue to struggle with diversity.

Modernizing sales culture to be inclusive is not only the right thing to do, but a business imperative. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 60% of B2B sales organizations will transition from "intuition-based selling" to "data-driven selling," powered by technology and analytics.

This shift requires a wider range of skills and competencies than the Rolodex and golf course connections of yore. Building diverse teams with varied strengths will be a major competitive advantage. Women tend to outperform men when it comes to emotional intelligence, multitasking, and relationship-building – key traits for sales success.

Some tactical ways to create a woman-friendly sales culture:

• Get leadership buy-in and model diversity as a priority from the top
• Update policies and practices to be gender-neutral (e.g. parental vs maternity leave)
• Train managers to recognize and call out bias and microaggressions
• Set team diversity goals and measure progress as a core KPI
• Celebrate a wider range of sales styles and strengths in promotions
• Partner with women‘s colleges and groups to build diverse talent pipelines
• Support Employee Resource Groups for women to connect and share experiences
• Sponsor female sellers to attend industry events and expand their networks

Culture change takes time and sustained effort. But for sales orgs looking to win the war for talent and drive long-term revenue growth, cracking the code on gender diversity is mission critical.

The Sales Landscape is Changing. Women Will Define the Future.

Despite systemic challenges, women are making major strides in sales. Female-founded sales training startups are raising millions to equip women with skills and confidence. Events like Women in Sales Everywhere (WISE) and Girls Club female sales forums are booming in popularity.

"We need to move past the idea that women just ‘aren‘t interested‘ in sales and take a hard look at what‘s driving them away," says Lauren Bailey, founder of #GirlsClub. "It‘s not a pipeline problem – I talk to incredibly ambitious women every day who would love to crush quotas. We have to fix the plumbing."

When companies address the barriers revealed in this research and take action to attract and develop female sellers, incredible things happen. Representation increases. Success stories emerge. Perceptions change. Momentum builds.

75% of women who had previously considered sales said they would consider it again in the future. Once initial hesitations are overcome, the upside becomes clear – lucrative earning potential, flexibility, transferable skills, and tangible impact.

The question is no longer why women avoid sales, but how we create the conditions for them to join, stay, and lead. Only 1 in 4 sales organizations report setting any kind of diversity goals. Now equipped with data, there‘s no excuse not to act.

Building a sales force that reflects the gender makeup of the population at large will require ongoing investment and commitment. But the business case is clear – more women in sales equals better outcomes for all.

It‘s time for "sales bro" to give way to "sales pro." The future of selling is bright – and she‘s just getting started.