Since joining 6sense, Maura Brady (left) and Amanda Purcell (right) have rocketed up the sales leader board. Maura has earned three promotions since 2017 and now heads the team that’s expanding 6sense’s presence in new verticals. Amanda joined 6sense in 2022 and has already been promoted to a senior account executive for enterprise accounts.
We recently spoke with Maura from her home in Austin, Texas, and Amanda from her home in Bend, Oregon. Read on to learn about their journeys, 6sense’s culture, and their perspectives on the strengths women bring to B2B sales.
Tell us about the journey that brought you to 6sense.
Amanda: I have a business degree, and marketing has always been a love of mine. My career kicked off at Nordstrom, where I sold for 6 years. I got the itch to switch from brick-and-mortar retail and focus my sales skills on digital transformation. Prior to working at 6sense, I worked for a gifting platform that integrates with 6sense. While I was there, we became a 6sense customer, and I became a top performer very quickly upon using the product. I started collaborating with the team at 6sense on mutual deals — and I loved how the team thought about selling. It became my goal to work for 6sense.
Maura: I was an economics and finance major and started out working in Financial Planning & Analysis at Morgan Stanley. I didn’t enjoy the red tape of a big organization, and a recruiter encouraged me to take a sales role, saying the opportunity is endless.
I started as a BDR, like so many sellers at our company. I was lucky that I ended up working with a lot of talented people who are now leaders at 6sense. I had been in an enterprise sales role at another leading SaaS company, and 6sense reached out because they wanted to establish a presence in Austin, where we had some big early adopters.
One of my first conversations when I was considering 6sense was with someone I had been an BDR with eight years earlier, and they said, “If we’d had 6sense when we were BDRs, we’d be retired by now.” I dug into the technology, and I agreed with them.
So, I took a bit of a leap of faith — at that point 6sense didn’t have a dedicated marketing team even though we were selling what, at the time, was exclusively a predictive score for marketers. The product has developed quite a bit since then.
How has your career evolved since you joined?
Maura: I started as an enterprise account executive, and was charged with closing new business, particularly in the East & Central region, and establishing our Austin office. Since then, the company has grown tremendously. The Austin office now has 100+ team members. I was promoted to lead our Central region, which was the third region we carved out. A little over a year ago I was tapped to build out our Vertical go-to-market team, which is growing 6sense outside of our traditional tech market and finding new customers in financial services, logistics, and manufacturing. I just hired the last rep for our manufacturing sales team, which is made entirely of incredibly smart and hungry women, which is pretty cool.
Amanda: I started as an account executive and was promoted to senior account executive. 6sense has the most talented go-to-market team I’ve ever worked with — from individual contributors up to our leadership team. I’m definitely not the smartest person in the room, and I love that.
Popular opinion tends to look at sales as a bit of a ‘bro’ culture. How do you feel about the role of women in sales organizations?
Amanda: I am passionate about creating more diversity in the workplace, especially in sales. When women are on boards and on sales teams, businesses drive stronger outcomes. At 6sense, I am a top performer. I strive to be a physical manifestation of what other women can achieve in this company.
Maura: I agree. Diversity is crucial in driving better business outcomes, period. In Sales specifically, women like Amanda make up a high percentage of top performers despite women typically being a much lower percentage of the field. Women are often better at recruiting other women, which is why I’m pretty passionate that having more women in leadership positions is something every organization should strive to improve on.
What qualities do you think make women excel in sales?
Amanda: Women bring unique strengths. We are organized, good at multitasking, and have a natural inclination towards nurturing and building relationships. These qualities allow us to go the extra mile and drive bigger outcomes. Additionally, women are empathetic and excel at actively listening and shaping solutions tailored to our customers’ needs.
Maura: Absolutely. In addition to what Amanda mentioned, I think women are very good at process and rigor. We are typically very routine-focused, so we have time to sweat the small stuff and focus on the details. Sales is a chaotic job at times, but because women can multi-task and prioritize effectively, they are incredibly effective when it comes to executing under pressure.
Why would you recommend working for 6sense?
Maura: We have made strides in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, but we also recognize that there is a lot more work to do. If you want to make an impact and help drive change, I encourage you to consider 6sense because your voice is important. We have programs like Empowered CMO that aim to create more diversity in the board room , and we are consistently asked for feedback from our executives on positive changes we can make to recruit, retain, and promote diverse talent.
Amanda: I agree with Maura. It’s important to me that our executives are actively working towards creating a more diverse environment.
Also, at 6sense, we work with a transformational product that positions sellers to win. We help companies efficiently generate revenue. Being a part of that change and seeing the impact on our customers is incredibly rewarding.
How do you use the 6sense product in your role?
Amanda: It helps me develop my territory, find new meetings, and identify accounts that are in-market. I use 6sense to be efficient in how I spend my time and prioritize my efforts. I also use the product to progress deals, find more stakeholders, and align with our internal team on strategy.
Then, I work with our customers to help them optimize and find new opportunities within their accounts.
Maura: I leverage the product to build out our go-to-market strategy and marketing motion for our verticals. We use 6sense to target specific audiences and run one-to-one campaigns for our largest customers. It has been exciting to see how the product has evolved and how it helps us drive actual pipeline and revenue growth.
Okay, enough about business. What do you do for fun?
Amanda: I love spending time outdoors. Living in Bend, Oregon, I get to enjoy hiking, camping, and off-roading. I also have three dogs and enjoy exploring nature with them.
Maura: Currently, my main hobby is painting our house, although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to others! It’s been a challenging but rewarding project. I also have three animals and enjoy spending time with them and my husband.
Join the Team
6sense is a fast-growing B2B tech company, and we continue to set (and meet) aggressive growth goals. We’re always looking for more talented sales reps at all levels of experience!
