From Rolexes to Building Value for customers

Lisa Oakshott, a UK&I Sales Director at Ping Identity, delves into her extensive career, starting with a 19-year tenure at IBM where she was notably one of the first female managers. After leaving IBM, Lisa transitioned to Concur (acquired by SAP) and later to Ping Identity, realizing a shift from global ambition to finding her niche as a sales leader. She emphasizes that her time at IBM instilled a crucial 'sales rigor,' providing foundational sales training, methodologies akin to MEDDIC/Medpick, and structured evaluation tools that she continues to adapt and reuse.

In today's sales landscape, Lisa highlights significant changes towards a more serious and professional business. The era of flashy cars and overt displays of wealth has faded, replaced by a focus on collaborative team players. She stresses that sales leaders now prioritize developing their teams, understanding individual needs, and leveraging diverse strengths. For remote teams, self-starters who are self-sufficient, creative, curious, and hungry to learn are essential. She advocates for the Challenger sales approach, which empowers sales professionals to bring insights and intelligence to customers, moving beyond simply selling 'wares.'

Lisa also discusses the ongoing challenge of gender diversity in tech, noting that while progress has been made, women still face significant underrepresentation, particularly in leadership roles. She passionately believes in highlighting tech career possibilities to young girls, emphasizing that programming isn't the only path. Current market challenges for her sales team include intense competition, pricing pressures due to cloud solutions and the global economy, and the need to effectively communicate value over competitors. Additionally, the fast-evolving cybersecurity landscape, especially in identity and access management, keeps their work dynamic and ensures high customer relevance. AI is increasingly used for research, communication, and lead generation, providing valuable tools, but Lisa insists on the critical need for human oversight and validation to ensure accuracy and maintain genuine customer relationships.