Selling To Women - Selling To Men - It Isnt the Same

Selling To Women - Selling To Men - It Isn't the Same

Now let's not fall into the old style car salesman's trap ofbelieving that men are interested in what goes on under thebonnet and women are only interested in what colours youcan get and whether it has a vanity mirror.

Believe me,and Ispeak as an ex mechanical engineer, I couldn't give a tootwhat goes on under the bonnet. I'm much more interested indriving a car that matches the rest of my accessories. Youknow-silver car - silver watch - silver hair. Mind you, Idraw the line at one of those little four-wheel drive jobswith the yellow wheels and pink upholstery. I've seen a lotof men driving these fluffy little things and don't tell methey all belong to the wife or girlfriend. "Four-wheel driveoff roaders"-they probably couldn't pull you out of bed.

Anyway we all have male and female customers and clients andthey do need different handling. If you want to besuccessful at selling or negotiating with someone of theopposite sex then please be aware of the differences.Firstly, be you male or female, you've got to look the part.Women will look you all over, men won't. Women will noticewhether you have shiny shoes and clean fingernails, menwon't notice if you have on one brown shoe and one black orif your fingernails are bitten up to the elbow.

I once interviewed a lady for a job and I didn't notice shehad different shoes on. Turns out that, in her rush to getto the interview she slipped on two black but certainlydifferent shoes. However my female colleague noticed rightaway and thought the whole thing quite amusing.

If you are a man negotiating with a woman, be very aware ofwhat you say because women listen much better than men, theypick up on emotions. They will pick up much better onwhether you really believe what you are saying. Also, makesure you keep talking, don't stop just because the womanstarts examining the product or reading the literature.Women can multi-track, they'll be listening to you evenalthough they're taking the product apart or writingsomething in their diary.

A warning to a woman selling or negotiating with a man, hecan't multi-track. If the manstarts doing something else, stop speaking until he'sfinished. If you don't believe any of this then justconsider a time when you've watched TV with your partner.Men stare at the television giving their whole concentrationto the programme while women read a book, paint theirtoenails and watch the programme. Men haven't the foggiestidea how women can do this.

It can be difficult for a woman negotiating with a manbecause men don't listen well. They listen like statues andit's difficult to tell whether you're getting through. Theyprobably are listening; it's just that they don't show it.Women on the other hand tend to display their emotions soyou have much more chance of understanding whether they arehappy with what you're saying or not.

Salesmen need to be careful when describing something to awoman. Men are more able to visualise something in threedimensions. Women are more likely to visualise in twodimensions. Far better to show a woman the actual productrather than a drawing or a plan.

Women when they see the product are more likely to beinfluenced by its colour and its smell. The reason for thisis simply because women can distinguish colours better; theyalso have a better sense of smell and taste than a man.Justwatch a woman in a supermarket buying wash up liquid. She'llvery likely take the top off the bottle and sniff it. Mensee no reason to do that at all; lemon, pine or fruity,what's the difference when you're only washing dishes? Withtheir better sense of taste women are much better at tastingwine and food than men.

Can I also suggest that the male sales person complimenttheir lady customers? And just before the ladies startgetting irate, I mean a genuine compliment. As I mentionedearlier, women will pick up on your emotions much quicker,so no false compliments guys and don't patronise the ladiesor you're dead. On the other hand, a woman can give allsorts of compliments to a man and he'll just love it. Itdoesn't matter whether you mean it or not 'cause he can'ttell the difference.

Selling and negotiating to men and women isn't the same -ignore this at your peril.

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Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Saleswithout Selling" This book is packed with practical thingsthat you can do to - get customers to come to you. Click here nowhttp://www.howtogetmoresales.com/Without%20Selling.htm