The ConsumHERist

Posted on | April 16, 2008 |

by Delia Passi, Founder of WomenCertified

Marketing to women is really a no-brainer. If you want women to buy your product, you must simply create a message that is directed to women. More and more companies are accepting this idea, and it’s truly a step in the right direction. It only stands to reason that if you want to sell an athletic product, then you have to speak to athletes; if you’re marketing to pilots, you have to try to get into the heads of your pilots; and if your products are directed at purple frogs, your message should resonate with purple frogs.

It sounds easy, but it doesn’t end there. One day a purple frog will hop into your store or business, interested in one of your products they heard about through your marketing. What happens when your salesperson has no idea how to relate to a purple frog? If that salesperson treats the purple frog like they would an athlete, a woman or a pilot, the purple frog may feel uncomfortable and may not buy. Even worse, they might leave thinking that your brand promise is invalid and go off and spread the word to the rest of purple frogs that your place is not the place for them.

Of course your customers are not purple frogs, but a lot of them—probably most of them—are women, and if your salespeople aren’t attuned to the communication styles that work best with women customers, then you risk disappointing and alienating those same women you worked so hard to market to. That’s why simply marketing to women is not enough. Your sales team has to unite your marketing efforts and your sales experience by learning to speak her language. In my book Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women, I call this technique “code switching.” The bottom line: if you learn how to speak the distinct language each type of customer, you’ll be able to sell anything to anybody!

In my next several posts, I’ll go into detail on the key differences between men and women in the buying process as I share a great study WomenCertified recently conducted with The Wharton School called “Men Buy, Women Shop.” While the findings themselves are compelling, I’ll give you my two cents on what this really means for your customers! (Here’s a hint: Men want turnkey, while women want options!)

Have a question or want my take? Email me and visit my sites www.deliapassi.com, www.womencertified.com

Next: Hit and Run Shoppers

Comments