The conversation about building a diverse sales team is an important one, and in this episode, Donald Kelly hosts a roundtable discussion about why a diverse team should be built.  The importance of a diverse team Without a diverse team, you are missing out on the insight that you need to work with the diverse buyers out there.  There’s not just one type of buyer; there are diverse types of buyers especially in the technology space. A company with just one type of person misses out on the connection with so many different people.  Driving for maximum outcomes means capturing the perspective of diverse buyers and relating to them.  Without diversity in your organization, you are limiting the creativity, flexibility, and performance of the team.  The same is true for sports managers who aren’t open to diverse talents, backgrounds, ethnicities, and more.  Diversity allows everyone to learn from each other. Women, for example, are socialized differently.  It’s necessary to have an open mindset and to believe that there’s more than one way to have success.  It all comes down to leadership. They must be proactive and intentional in the plans of building diversity. When you are in a leadership position, you have the power to bring someone up or bring someone in that can produce at a high level.  Recruiting people is important, and the same is true for retaining them. You need to make sure that you support the new people in your team and that you provide them with a nurturing environment.  Changing the policies If you see that there’s a lack of diversity within the organization, don’t hesitate to talk about it and point it out. It’s okay to mention that there’s a person in the team who could contribute to the diversity of the organization.  You need to be transparent and ask the members of your team about the things you can do to improve diversity. Even if you’re not a leader, you can still make changes.  Ask insightful questions to help the customers think about their strategy and their processes.  Do not be afraid of asking the hard questions of your customers. The same should hold true in not being afraid of asking the hard questions to the leaders in your organization.  Change is difficult for everyone so leaders need to care. Anita Nielsen advocates using high-impact questions with customers to get to their emotions quickly.  People like people who are like them. Likeability is an important part of persuasion. Diversity is life or death. The whole concept of diversity is very important. Diversity is more than just business. It goes beyond it, especially in this day and age. “Diversity: ROUND TABLE - Why You Should Consider Building a Diverse Sales Team” episode resources Follow Anita Anita Nielsen on LinkedIn. Get a copy of her book Beat the Bots: How Your Humanity Can Future-Proof Your Tech Sales Career here. Follow Larry Long on LinkedIn.  Dre Smith’s LinkedIn is here.  Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns.  This episode is also partly brought to you by Wingman. Wingman uses AI-software to empower remote sales teams with conversation intelligence, actionable insights on successful playbooks and delivers real-time coaching. Are you sick of crickets? The pain of sales reps continually reaching out with phone calls and emails and not receiving a response is real. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation. All text messaging is not equal. Customers respond to people, NOT BOTS. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in conversions. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. It will help them elevate their sales game. Sign up now and get the first two modules fre