Prepare For Growth

You know the feeling you get after climbing out of your favorite amusement park thrill ride?  Not the one that turns your stomach upside down, but the one that makes you feel exhilarated, full of joy, and smiling from ear to ear.

That’s how participants described Thursday’s fast-paced Sistas In Sales (SIS) Masterclass. The workshop facilitator could have started the session with the following announcement:

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Attention: To ensure a great learning experience, remain seated with your seatbelt fastened, keep your hands on your pens, be quick on your feet, and get ready for an energetic, engaging, and empowering learning experience. Thank you—prepare for growth!

Thursday’s inspiring learning experience began by launching attendees into a series of role-plays that gave participants the opportunity to try out their new skills in a safe environment. Role-playing was followed by hands-on rapid research where participants rolled up their sleeves and worked in teams to parse financial statements and analysts’ reports to find hidden and unique new business opportunities. The women ended the evening with immediate, hands-on application of their new insights.

The twenty-two women were challenged and coached in a group of like-minded women of color entrepreneurs and sales professionals from Google, Johnson & Johnson, LinkedIn, Yelp, and the Council on Foundations—just to name a few of the companies represented.

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Key takeaways from the SIS Masterclass included the following:

·  It Is all About insight: How to immerse yourself in the customer’s world and become a student of your client, their business, and their industry

·  How to leverage the power of 1 percent improvement for both personal growth and to help your clients be bigger, better, faster, and stronger 

·  Corporate finance as a sales tool; client financial results drive strategic decisions 

·  A powerful value story (not a Pixar story) changes everything; your value story is the most important tool in your sales tool kit

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On Thursday, October 17, 2019, SIS, in conjunction with LinkedIn Black Inclusion Group (BIG) and Women@LinkedIn, hosted a masterclass at LinkedIn offices in Washington, DC. The masterclass was designed to help attendees discover ideas for quick solutions to their biggest challenges as women-of-color sales professionals and entrepreneurs.

Key learning outcomes of the event included the following:

·  Building financial fluency to advance your career and close bigger deals

·  Practicing challenging client conversations to build confidence and get results

·  Getting serious to finish the year-end with ease

·  Thriving when you’re the only woman of color (WOC)

In the Masterclasses mindsets were changed. Participants were instructed and inspired to action, and offered insight on how to be successful and effective in sales while also managing the adversities faced with being a woman of color. Learning experiences incorporated knowledge transfer and coaching into each element of the process.

SIS is a community for women-of-color sales professionals to network, advance their careers, and, most important, find sisterhood. SIS year-round events expose members to new topics, ideas, and training.

Register at www.sistasinsales.com to get involved with the newly formed Washington, DC, SIS chapter and to participate in programs, masterclasses, and networking events. You will also receive information and updates about the NYC SIS chapter events, programs, and resources.

May your journey to sales mastery be joyful and rewarding.

See you at the next SIS event!

Here’s to selling Mastery. 

-Cherilynn

Head of Education and Growth, Sistas In Sales

Executive Coach/Managing Partner, CGI

Cherilynn Castleman, Executive Coach/Sales Trainer, has been a sales executive for 20+ years. With a natural talent for teaching and a drive to sell, Cherilynn uses her skills to coach and train other executives and sales professionals.

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“We are the women who marched from cotton fields into fields of medicine, entertainment, and the white house.” – Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith is an American actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and businesswoman.