Throughout my career, I’ve been at the frontline of enterprise sales, leading teams, heading sales operations, and managing business units and a global reseller channel. My focus has always been on B2B. Over the years, the role of women in these areas has evolved significantly. Asked to consider building a new customer success program, I have started thinking about the talent the team will need when I came across an HBR article that caught my eye.
The article “Why Women Are the Future of B2B Sales” (HBR, Andris A. Zoltners, May 2020) emphasizes the growing importance of women in B2B sales and customer success roles. Women are often strong performers in sales due to their ability to excel in collaboration, shaping solutions, and connecting with customers—skills that have become critical as the sales environment shifts toward customer-centric, digitally-driven approaches.
Incentive solution provider Xactly reported that 86% of women achieved quota, compared to 78% of men.
In customer success roles, particularly in the high-tech sector with subscription-based products like SaaS and cloud services, women play a key role by fostering long-term relationships and helping customers maximize ongoing value. Their strengths in communication and problem-solving align perfectly with the evolving needs of customer success management, where retention and customer satisfaction drive business outcomes.
The article does well to map key skills and qualities that drive success. It reflects hiring processes that should emphasize key capabilities such as collaboration, communication, and problem-solving, which are critical for fostering long-term customer relationships. By widening the talent pool and fostering a workplace where all employees can thrive, it becomes possible to build a team that excels in today’s customer-centric business environment.