Gender differences raise sales issues

Whether you're in her office explaining why your company's widgets offer the best value, or she's buying paint at your hardware store or a sofa in your furniture store, women buy differently than men. Understanding that difference, says Bridget Brennan, can be the difference in your sales efforts.

That's especially true in retail, where Brennan says women buy 80 percent of consumer products, but knowing the difference can be equally important in the B2B sector, where women increasingly make decisions regarding products and services.

Brennan is CEO of Female Factor Corp., a Chicago-based business strategy firm that not surprisingly focuses on gender buying - and, therefore, selling - issues.

How much you should care depends on the gender mix in your customer base. Even if your customer and prospect lists are dominated by men, it's probably a good idea to at least consider Brennan's ideas - especially if your best prospects or fastest-growing customers have women who make the buying decisions.

Selling is tough enough. So don't miss sales because you misread your intended buyer. Brennan makes these points in an interview and in her book "Why She Buys":

• Understand the difference. "Women and men approach the same product with a different set of eyes. One way is not better than the other," Brennan says. "They're just different."

• Service matters, a lot. "Women have high expectations when it comes to service," Brennan says, "but great customer service is such a novelty.

"Why is that? There's a huge opportunity. We talk about our sales experiences. If a woman has a great sales experience, she's more apt to tell everyone she knows."

• It's easy to spot a phony. "Don't dress up your product in pink," Brennan says. "Women are suspicious when it looks like a company is trying to pander to them."

• Talk to your female customers. It will help if you already have a good rapport with them, but ask one or two how your business' approach to women buyers comes across.

Women, Brennan says, are "very attuned to whether they're being treated fairly. We teach our kids to say 'please' and 'thank you' and expect the same level of consideration from businesses."

Perhaps Brennan's best example of gender buying differences involves a new TV. "Men will focus on the high definition qualities and the fact they can get four different programs at the same time, even though they know they won't use that feature," she says.

"Women assume the TV works, but they're concerned that the TV is so large it will change the look of the living room. They wonder if the kids will be able to work the remote and if they'll have to draw a how-to-use-the-remote design for the sitter."

• Questions, comments to Jim Kendall, JKendall@121MarketingResources.com.

© 2010 121 Marketing Resources, Inc.