Separating truth from fiction can be difficult at times. While the myths surrounding marketing and selling to women are numerous, they are also easy to dispel.
My favorite is the Pink Myth. This myth hinges on the fact that manufacturers and retailers have selected pink as their marketing strategy when targeting women. Pink, while a lovely color, is just that–a color. It is not a marketing vehicle. In fact, it is often a roadblock to success. For example, the 1950s pink Dodge Le Femme lasted a mere two years and sold less than 1,000 units. Likewise, the Cadillac Baroness and the Pontiac Parisian were low sellers.
Automotive manufacturers weren't the only marketers who tried to capture the female market by "coloring it pink." As more women traveled for business, hotel rooms turned pastel. In the late 1950s, Royal made a pink typewriter. Tires, running shoes, tool sets and gun grips have all tried pink.
Today's female consumer is savvy. She is interested in far more than color. She wants to be respected and appreciated as a customer, not stereotyped and patronized.
Myth: You will lose male customers if you target women.
Reality: Manufacturers, brand managers, retailers and business owners have wasted a lot of energy worrying about losing their male customers if they are successful with female ones. The facts just don't bear this out. Consider for instance:
1. Companies that have listened to women have increased their sales to them without a loss of male customers. For example, in the early 1980s when Jockey International decided to make a line of women's wear, their bottom line almost doubled as a result of creating products for 100% of the adult population, rather than less than 50%.
2. Women spend $.85 of every dollar. Who is your most important consumer—the one who spends 85% or the one who spends 15% of the money?
Myth: Little things aren't as important to women as big things.
Reality: Little things are big things to women. How a woman is treated can be as critical to the sale as the product or price. In fact, most of the time, it is more important. Women are value-added consumers. They will pay more for something if they perceive value in it. Conversely, they will terminate the sales process if they feel they are being talked down to or ignored.
Myth: There is no difference between men and women, so salespeople need no special training or information.
Reality: Wrong. To understand a woman's motivation to buy, salespeople need to understand a woman's thought process and the life experiences she brings with her. By trying to feel as she feels and think as she thinks, you will be in a better position to complete the sale.
You might start by:
• Reading magazines she reads
• Thinking of the dangers she faces while traveling
• Asking your wife, sister, daughter or coworker how it feels to be ignored in an electronic store
• Thinking about how you would feel if you paid more for your dry cleaning, alterations and hair cuts
• Watching TV exposès about women paying more for cars than their male counterpart, getting worse tee times, and being paid $.72 for every dollar a man makes with the same education, experience and capabilities.
These are the facts; the realities a woman faces daily.
Myth: Given the identical set of circumstances, men and women will generally react the same and come to the same conclusions.
Reality: Men and women have different physical characteristics, brain construction, hormones and life experiences. This allows us to be very unique individuals with distinct personalities and traits. Many reflect our gender. Others are innate or developed in response to the norms of society.
The important thing to realize is when you are selling to a woman, or a man, think of him/her as a unique individual. Focus on his/her specific needs. Realize that gender plays a role in who we are, but that we are all individuals and should be treated as such.
To be successful, you may need to dispel some myths you have heard and believed for a long time. Accept the reality of our differences and use them to your advantage. Create a win-win selling situation and watch your business prosper.
Women - The Myths The Realities Things Successful Entrepreneurs Should Know - To learn more about this author, visit Gerry Myers's Website.
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Gerry Myers
(Visit Gerry's Website)
Gerry Myers is CEO/founder of Advisory
Link (AL). AL helps corporations in
marketing and selling to women, as well as
recruiting, retaining and promoting women
in the organization. In addition to
development and overseeing the innovative
Women’s Advisory Boards program, she
creates and facilitates Exec-U-Links,
which are peer coaching groups. One
example is the Women Executives and
Business Owners. AL’s website is www.advis
orylink-dfw.com Myers has written for
or been featured in The New York Times,
The Financial Post, The Dallas Business
Journal, Honolulu Weekly, Toronto Star and
Working Woman, to name a few. Myers is
author of Targeting the New Professional
Woman: How to Market and Sell to Today's
57 Million Working Women. She is co-author
with Jack Canfield, Dr. Warren Bennis and
others in the upcoming book, Leading the
Way to Success. Myers is past president of
the DFW National Association of Women
Business Owners and of the D/FW AWN and
has served on the advisory boards of UNT
Dept of Marketing & Logistics, Women's
Leadership Exchange, Women's Resource
Center of the Dallas Metropolitan YWCA,
Girls Inc., etc. She is an alumnus of
Leadership America, Class of 2003.
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