The roadmap to career development in sales

Don’t be afraid, invest in yourself, and stay authentic. That’s what Pilkku Munte, Natalie Ellis, and Jill Joaquin would tell their early-career selves if they could travel back in time.

Yet, even without the time machine, the present accomplishments of these three women point to successful career paths in sales. They’ve all found themselves at Autodesk, where Pilkku serves as the Senior Director of EMEA Partner & Scale Sales, Natalie as the Director of D&M Inside Sales, and Jill as the Senior Director of EMEA Licence Compliance.

You could say that peaks and valleys are part of the journey, and experiencing a few bumps along the road only helped these three women better understand the components of a fulfilling sales career.

Following Autodesk’s Women in Sales Leadership panel, we caught up with Pilkku, Natalie, and Jill to hear more about what they’ve learned while building sales careers and growing as women in leadership — in other words, your roadmap to career development.

Stay curious

During forward career strides, Pilkku, Natalie, and Jill all caution against losing your humility and curiosity.

“I often see people be successful for a year or two, somehow decide that they have mastered their craft, and start to ask, ‘What’s next for me?’” says Natalie. “This can lead to a lack of self-awareness around development areas, or a lack of drive, motivation, and hunger to always be better.”

Pilkku points to how quickly the technology sector is developing, and with it, a growth mindset becomes critical. Your innate talent is simply a starting point; with a curiosity to adopt new technologies and get ahead of trends, you can elevate your client interactions and partnerships.

“There is so much value in developing mastery in your field and industry,” adds Jill. “Once you have established mastery and brand, you can take this to explore good networks and sponsorship within the company and leverage this to increase your market value. Just remember that this takes time and investment from your side.”

Follow the three C’s

For Jill, prioritizing a series of three attributes has helped her gain influence as a sales leader and build a strong personal brand.

“It starts with demonstrating competence,” Jill explains. “Always be learning. Always try to get to the next level… The second ‘C’ is care. Be interested in the business of your customers and what your colleagues are working on, because once you demonstrate that you are competent and you care about the business of your customers, guess what’s going to happen? The last ‘C,’ which is credibility. Your customers will listen to you, your colleagues will listen to you, and then the final piece of the formula comes: Then you can influence.”

Sharpen your communication skills

“We’ve all seen salespeople who tell their stories in a very boring way,” says Pilkku. “Learn to be a storyteller and give color to the customer. Make it personal and authentic.”

Pilkku also emphasizes the other side of the coin: listening.

“It’s the customer first. It’s not your opinion.” In listening, you allow the prospect to feel valued and can then craft the most appropriate solution and win their trust.

“Plus,” adds Pilkku with a smile, “it’s more interesting to listen.”

Leverage remote-first tools

The importance of human connection continues to surface in a growing remote-first sales landscape. To stay ahead of the curve, Pilkku, Natalie, and Jill encourage you to harness remote work tools.

“Perhaps it’s Zoom, Teams, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms. The idea is to connect, connect, connect — and do it with intention,” says Jill.

Natalie recommends that you “focus on the things that have become more challenging since we became a hybrid world, such as small talk, coffee breaks, and informal conversation, and bring those into your virtual interactions still.” She adds: “There are many benefits of virtual selling. Our customers’ expectations have changed and we are more likely to get face-to-face time with customers than ever before, it’s just on Zoom.”

Use your diversity as a superpower

As women in sales, Pilkku, Natalie, and Jill all understand how it feels to be an “only” in the room — but they don’t view it as a disadvantage.

“Get comfortable with being diverse. Use your diversity as an advantage. You are the only one in the room, and that has its benefits,” says Natalie.

Beyond gender alone, Pilkku stresses how your unique strengths come from an amalgamation of all of your lived experiences.

“I am strongly shaped by being from Estonia, therefore startups and digitalization have a strong focus for me,” she says. “In the same way, I’ve lived in 10 countries and focused my work interest on transformation and positive leadership. All these components are part of my superpower DNA.”

The final piece? Be you

Jill reminds us that while these tips and tricks have helped elevate her career, every sales professional will have a unique path to success.

“The first reason why there’s no fixed formula is exactly what makes women like us very successful in sales: We are authentic,” says Jill. “So, be yourself. If you can’t look people in the eyes and be happy about who you’re showing up as, then you won’t be successful. You have to be able to stand in the midst of other people who may all look the same, behave the same, and have exactly the same opinion — but remember that you are you, right? So show up as authentically as you can.”