Making Moves

"I’m a people pleaser – there, I said it." - Jenni Dugdale "It’s an affliction shared by many professional women I know and it’s particularly dangerous for those in sales where there’s usually no end of plates to spin." 🍽️ We were lucky enought to have Jenni Dugdale, Business Development Director at Quadient feature in this month's Sales Unfiltered newsletter about the Value in Saying No. "Often, the perception is if I don’t say yes here I’ll be seen as unhelpful and uninterested. I worry I won’t be given opportunities again in the future if I don’t say yes – does that mean I’ll miss the boat to get involved in a project like this again?" It's important we protect our time, mental health and have confidence to say no or ask for more information. Suppress your inner people pleaser. Jenni shared her 3 key takeaways... ⏰ Push back on meetings that don’t include a working agenda that demonstrates where you would add value. Time is precious and a meeting request is a request, you can challenge this! 🗝️ Delegation is key – businesses need team players, but they also need employees who aren’t overburdened with work they aren’t responsible for. Help, but don’t be afraid to share the workload with the correct team members. 🐝 Give thought-out reasoning for turning down a request – it might be you want to offer the chance to somebody else who’s similarly suited, it may be that you don’t have the bandwidth to devote the attention needed. People respect honesty and giving the reason for your rejection helps take out the sting. To read the whole blog click ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eJjAWHaS Thanks again Jenni - we loved having you involved! ❤️ #WomenInSales #WomenInTech #Empower

When the dog is a paid actor 🐶 Peggy joined us last night for our event with Funding Circle UK 🥂 We discussed the challenges that women face in the workplace as well as listening to inspiring stories from Tia Crabtree and Gaby Proctor "This evening was like therapy" - Making Moves member ❤️ It was such an inspiring evening to have a room of 50 women being open & vulnerable sharing advice and experiences with each other Too many takeaways to mention in one post, but our favourite were... 🧍♀️Power pose- stand with your hands on your hips. It will make you feel more confident and powerful. 💚 What is that thing that makes you YOU? Is it the colour green like Tia Crabtree, a bold lipstick, a song. Whatever it is, incorporate that into your life as it will make you feel comfortable and amazing. 🫢 Stop apologising for yourself - You deserve to be there, you've worked hard and you should own that. Have confidence and don't apologise or suppress who you are. 👯 Find your tribe - Surround yourself with people who inspire you. Find a mentor, preferably someone in the business who can advocate for you and be your biggest cheerleader. 🍀 It's not down to luck- That great quarter, promotion, pay rise was because you are incredible and deserve it. Stop putting yourself down, lean into your strengths, and know your worth. If you joined us last night, what were your key takeaways? ⬇️ Thank you to Funding Circle for partnering with us on this event ❤️ Charlene Simpson Rachael Raymond Bree Christensen #WomenInSales #WomenInTech #Diversity #Events

How do you communicate to male team members that they are crossing the line between “giving their opinion and mansplaining?” Just one of the many challenges that we will be addressing at our next event with Funding Circle UK 🎟️ Elevate: Women Inspiring Women is a female-only event with the purpose of helping lift women up and leave them feeling supported and inspired ready to make moves in the industry. Hear the stories from our 2 speakers Tia Crabtree and Gaby Proctor… ❤️ Tia’s story - Currently the Senior Sales Manager at Funding Circle, Tia will be sharing how she has always struggled with confidence and to speak up in the room. Sharing actionable advice on how to navigate this and feel confident in a male-dominated industry. ❤️ Gaby’s story- The theme of being resilience, Gaby will share her journey of finding a company that supported her being a working mother and how she navigated toxic work cultures. Following this we will break off into smaller support groups where we allow our audience to share challenges they are currently facing and address anonymous submissions. 🤗 Our most inspiring event on the calendar so don’t miss out if you haven’t yet signed up... ⏰ Wednesday 9th October 6:30-9pm  📍 Wiser HQ, Farringdon What are some topics you would like us to discuss? ⬇️ #WomenInSales #WomenInTech #Women #Diversity #Inspire #Tech #Sales

“You’re in control of your own career, know your worth.” Yesterday we hosted a Making Moves event with 6sense about career progression and having confident conversations 🚀 What an evening! Not only did we have 4 incredible panelists sharing their advice for achieving your worth, but we also hosted 2 breakout rooms where our audience got to share their experiences and get actionable advice…whilst sitting in a rainforest 🌴 Some of our key learnings were… 👅 Physically bite your tongue- If you don’t then you’ll chat your way out of what you’ve just asked for. You go into justification mode. Bite your tongue, and let it marinate. 🤝 Advocacy - Everyone is focusing on their own jobs, so you need to shout about your successes and get an advocate to blow your trumpet. ⏰ Create SMART goals - Specific, measurable, achievable/ambitious, relevant, timely 📈 Create a matrix - Fully understand what competencies are required for that role, and create a thorough document/matrix outlining how you have achieved those. 👍 Your first job is probably not the job you want- Just say yes to opportunities even if it’s not the job you want as it will open doors. Be comfortable thinking “what I want might not be what I’m best at.” ✍️ Put everything in writing - Once you’ve agreed something with your manager, follow up with an email so you have a paper trail and there is no ambiguity on what was agreed. Rebecca Feiten Miriam Troostwijk Melanie Lawn Shyam Dattani Thank you again to our panelists and 6Sense for partnering with us on this event. Comment below if you’d like access to the recording of the panel ⬇️ #WomenInSales #WomenInTech #Career #Event #Progression

Turning a negative into a positive 🔁 Kathleen Hartigan, Group VP of International Sales at Clari joined us on the Sales Unfiltered YouTube channel to discuss maintaining high performing teams during a difficult climate 🙌 Check out the full episode to hear more on... 👀 How to redefine the expectations of success 🙏 Focusing on fundamental skills during a tricky period 🔥 Having an edge against your competitors Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eDeSj9sD

Inbound to BDE at Funding Circle UK, let’s get to know Jess Kurtaj “We have a panel of brokers who we work with to manage our customer relationships. Asking questions, keeping them updated, and working closely with the BDM to build rapport is key.” What’s your advice for building solid relationships? 🤝 “You really have to know everything to be ready for any questions they may have. Whilst also having clear communication with the customer, but also the brokers. Be honest with time frames, expectations, or any mistakes.” Funding Circle currently has a Women in Sales ERG group where they often meet to discuss tactics to level up their sales skills and self-development, where they also offer a self-development budget. 🔥 And more broadly in the Women at Funding Circle group they run regular discussion sessions for example most recently having a female lawyer come in to speak more about her career and motherhood which was a session open to both men and women. 🙏 “There’s a lot of women in leadership at Funding Circle which I find really inspiring and my advice for women looking to join the industry is to just go for it. There are countless opportunities here.” Within the broker team, Rachael Raymond as Head of Broker Sales is heavily involved with the team having the opportunity to sync regularly and absorb her insights from her experience 🏆 Looking to the future, Jess aims to move into the BDM position moving to the more face-to-face side of things and working more closely with the brokers We can’t wait to see you continue to smash it Jess! 🚀 Interested in learning more about working at Funding Circle? Drop a message 📧

Did you know that the top reason for women leaving their current company is… Lack of progression 🛑 A stat from our 2024 Making Movements Insights Pack. We want women to have the confidence to speak up, earn their worth and progress as far as they desire. Which is why on Thursday 12th September we’re hosting an event with 6sense to tackle this. 🗓️ Some of the advice the incredible Janice B Gordon - Customer Growth Expert FISP FPSA and Gordon Tobin gave in the pack… 🤝 Seek sponsorship within your organisation and mentorship opportunities within or out. 🥇 Create a portfolio highlighting your (not your team's) successful projects and outcomes. Collect everything: testimonials, wins, feedback. 🚀 Align your achievements with the company's strategic goals. 🧠 When seeking a promotion, make your ambitions known long in advance (at least one year out) and ask the hiring manager what they would need to see to make that decision a no-brainer. 🗺️ Map your accomplishments back to what was agreed upon as part of your professional development plan to get to the next role. Align on where you nailed it with examples and where you have room to improve. Don’t let anyone ever tell you your worth; the only person who decides that is you by the job you choose to accept for your time in return. Join us at Wiser HQ for more insights like this from our incredible lineup of panelists… 🎤 Rebecca Feiten, Director of Enterprise at 6sense 🎤 Miriam Troostwijk, Director of Solutions Consulting at 6sense  🎤 Melanie Lawn, previous CRO at Forecast 🎤 Shyam Dattani, VP Customer Revenue at Papirfly  Secure your spot now: https://lnkd.in/eeksJkCd #WomenInTech #WomenInSales #Event #Career #Progression

From being a founder of a start-up at University and scaling it to exit before graduating, it’s safe to say Gloria’s sales expertise excelled early on 🔥 We sat down with Gloria Chan, Account Manager at PitchBook to hear more about her career, life at PitchBook and her top tips for being a high performer… Gloria made the move from Hong Kong to the UK when she joined PitchBook, and actually found the role through her rugby network in North London…🏉 “I love growing my book of business as an Account Manager. It’s a good mixture of new business and account management through really building a strong rapport with the point of contact” Gloria manages 47 UK-based accounts, taking them on their journey with PitchBook whilst upholding a commercial mindset 💪 What are your top tips for being successful? “Be genuinely curious. Understandably you have commercial targets to hit, but if you genuinely care about your customers and help them overcome their challenges with passion and curiosity you’ll excel” Working closely with CSMs, Gloria’s key to a strong cross-collaborative relationship is a clear line of communication, showing appreciation and constructive feedback 🗣️ Gloria was PitchBook’s first hire from Hong Kong with now 3 more hires joining from HK, having found a strong network through her Rugby group and at PitchBook, she’s loved the opportunity to experience life abroad 🙏 “Our team recruits really good people with great communication across the whole office” We can’t wait to see you continue to grow Gloria! 🚀

Let's talk about navigating difficult conversations & identifying your skills gap for progression 🗣️ ⏰ 6sense and Making Moves are coming together for a panel discussion on Thursday 12th September 6:30-9pm... Hearing insights from the experts; Rebecca Feiten, Director of Enterprise at 6sense, Miriam Troostwijk, Director of Solutions Consulting at 6sense and Melanie Lawn, Customer Success Venture Partner at Eight Roads 🙌 We'll be diving into: 💸 Navigating conversations around salaries, progression or any sort of unfairness you may be experiencing 👀 Identifying your skills gap for progression 💪 How to actively make those steps to further your career, either into management or as an IC The format of this event will be a panel discussion before we break out into smaller breakout rooms to dive deeper into the topics and share with each other 🙌 Secure your spot now: https://lnkd.in/eeksJkCd #steppingintoleadership #progressiontips

From Account Manager to Direct Sales Team Manager within just under two years… 🔥 We sat down with Sherry H. from Funding Circle UK Circle to hear more about her transition from IC to manager and her top pieces of advice 🙌 Managing a team of 7 Account Managers, it was a huge learning curve managing direct reports “You really have to learn to empathise with different people. You have to re-establish trust and credibility when moving from colleague to manager. The best way I overcame this is having confidence and belief in my ability” What’s your advice for stepping into management? “It’s always about displaying those qualities before you’re promoted and embodying the behaviours that you expect to see in a manager You have to really vocalise your goals regularly and make it clear what you’re trying to achieve” 💡 At Funding Circle, the smallest or biggest suggestions are recognised and listened to... ”There’s great autonomy over work at Funding Circle and really achievable progression” Stepping into management after one and a half years in the AM role, Sherry raves about the countless opportunities at Funding Circle and how “sales can open so many doors for your career... ...You’re not pigeon holed into a certain role here, there are countless opportunities for you to try with lots of scope to step into leadership” Your top piece of advice for being a high performer? “As a sales person you really need to know your KPIs and what’s important to your business. But also, never be afraid to ask for help. You know what you don’t know, so just ask” Stellar advice Sherry, we can’t wait to see you continue to grow at Funding Circle 🚀 #steppingintomanagement #managementtips