My guest in this Conversations with Women in Sales interview is Christel Mauffet-Smith a sales director at Cadence Design Systems Inc., a global leader in enabling semiconductor companies to create innovative products that transform the way people live, work, and play.
As we kicked off the interview, you’ll hear who Christel moved from a technical role into executive sales. She gave me some background on how she made that transition and told me about her current role at Cadence Design Systems and what EDA (Electronic Design Automation) is all about.
Questions we covered:
How Christel sees (Saas) sales evolving and how this influences the need to have more women in an effective and successful sales force. We discussed benefits such as:
o Customer advocacy.
o The importance of being able to speak the language of your customer.
o Knowing WHY you sell something not just what it is that you are selling.
o Why diverse sales teams matter.
Christel told me that she is often asked what it takes to become successful in sales as a woman, so I asked her to share her perspective on the topic. Three core elements according to Christel are:
o Creating a roadmap that sets you up for a successful sales career.
o Unconscious competence vs skills you need to learn.
o Mentors/Coaches/Sponsors and how they can help you on your career journey.
As we were closing out the interview, I asked Christel to share one last piece of advice for women who are in sales or considering moving to sales. Find out what Christel said when you listen to the interview!
Enjoy the interview!
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Resources mentioned:
About Christel
Christel Mauffet-Smith is a sales director at Cadence Design Systems Inc., a global leader in enabling semiconductor companies to create innovative products that transform the way people live, work, and play.
After starting her career as a designer working for Philips Semiconductor in England, she moved to California to follow her passion for sales, where she switched from her technical path to a career in executive sales and has never looked back.
In her current role, she is responsible for top tier semiconductor companies.
Christel has a French engineering degree from the “Ecole Polytechnique of Nantes”, from France
She has 2 teenage boys and is currently training for her first triathlon.
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