Remote and Redefined: What Women Want From Their Sales Career Now

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a generation-defining event. Over the course of two years, we’ve adapted to new ways of handling myriad everyday activities, from grocery shopping to educating our children to being productive in our jobs without the benefit of face-to-face interaction. Even as we gradually return to pre-pandemic routines, some of those activities have likely changed forever.

Of special interest to us, the sales landscape changed dramatically during the pandemic. Many of the hallmarks of the selling (and buying) experience - business lunches, meetings crowded with decision makers, even simple handshakes - were wiped away, almost overnight. Professional salespeople had to find new ways to connect and close in a largely remote work environment. In addition to - and perhaps as a result of - such visible, tangible shifts in behavior, attitudes also changed.

We’ve been studying what motivates salespeople for years. That work didn’t stop because of the virus. And now that we’re moving into the post-pandemic era, we can see the shape of those changes among those engaged in selling.

In a study [1] to be presented at the 2022 Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, we looked at the self-professed motivators of more than 10,000 men and women in sales between 2015 and 2021, which includes a subset of responses gathered at the height of the pandemic. According to study co-author Michael T. Parker, PhD, Associate Professor at Viterbo University, “We expected to detect the influence of the virus in our data. What we found was a significant evolution in what motivates a specific group within the profession.”

The data showed a clear shift in the attitudes of women with regard to what they want out of a career in sales - a shift that largely didn’t occur among male salespeople. Previously reported motivators such as “being your own boss,” “personal growth,” “upward advancement,” and “personal pride” all declined among women to a greater extent compared to men. Meanwhile, the potential for higher income and for performance-based compensation rose in importance for women - but not for men.

What are the reasons behind these changed expectations?

Fellow presenter Suzanne C. Dudley, CEO of Behavioral Sciences Research Press, says, “There’s a convincing argument that the burdens associated with transitioning to a remote work environment disproportionately affected women. Household management tasks that continue to be primarily the responsibility of women - even working women - were magnified by the pandemic, particularly when it came to working moms.”

Indeed, having to monitor remote schoolwork, provide 24/7 childcare, and still be productive at their own jobs created unique new forms of stress for many.

The seismic shift in normal routines seems to have sharply refocused women’s priorities. Professional motivators that centered on more abstract goals such as self-fulfillment or empowerment lost their luster. Instead, the need to be financially compensated for hard work moved to the forefront. Simply put, women are in survival mode.

Is this new bottom-line focus permanent?

Only time will tell. With relaxed restrictions and improved economic conditions, attitudes may well return to a pre-pandemic baseline. Women in sales may re-discover the non-monetary rewards of their career choice. But for organizations looking to retain or rebuild their sales teams, it’s worth understanding the wide-ranging impacts of Covid-19 on individual expectations, now and in the months and years to come

[1] Parker, Michael, PhD, Bryant, Trelitha, Dudley, Suzanne, 2022, The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sales career motives: The moderating role of gender and job-related fears