When it comes to shopping for clothing, household items and
cars, studies have shown women wield a tremendous amount of
influence. But a December 1999 survey released by the National
Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) has found that women
entrepreneurs are just as dominant when making decisions about
goods like telephone, cable and Internet service, as well as
insurance policies.
In fact, 86 percent of women business owners use the same
products at home that they purchase for their companies.
The power of women entrepreneurs as consumers has some important
implications for corporate marketing to this group. "More
corporations are starting to understand the impact" women
entrepreneurs make on the marketplace, says Andrea Donaghy,
director of marketing, individual insurance division of the
Principal Financial Group. "But the difficulty is knowing how
to retool processes that have worked for years. It's very
difficult to know what to change to speak to this market."
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NFWBO executive director Sharon Hadary hesitates to quantify how
many companies get the difference, but she says more firms are
becoming aware of the need. AT&T, IBM and Principal Financial
Group have long recognized the economic clout women business owners
hold. This knowledge has influenced both what and how they market
to this group.
"When NFWBO started releasing their studies, everyone was
surprised to see that [so many] women ran their own businesses and
were buying their own products and services," says Donna
Chancellor, corporate affairs director of AT&T. "It was a
huge, untapped market."
About 10 years ago, AT&T began to re-educate its sales
force, says Chancellor. The company didn't create new products;
rather, it changed its selling approach to consider the distinctive
way women make purchases. They don't make instant decisions,
preferring instead to develop business relationships over time. And
once they sign on, they're loyal customers.
IBM, on the other hand, set up its Women Business Owner Segment
to specifically address the needs of women entrepreneurs in the
global marketplace. "Many businesses have awakened to the
realization that a fourth to a third of businesses worldwide are
owned by women," says Leslie Jaap, segment executive in
IBM's global small business division.
This study, which Hadary says initially began as a look at the
difference between women business owners and working women, has
inspired more and more corporations to ask, "What do
entrepreneurial women want?"
Of course, who's better qualified to answer that burning
question than you? Belonging to an officially "hot
market" puts you in a unique position to demand what you want
from the corporations you patronize. You should either network with
organizations that have connections to these corporations or
contact the companies directly. Here are a few starting points:
- IBM's Small Business Advisory Council allows entrepreneurs
to offer input on emerging technology.
- Principal Life doesn't have "a formal process for
feedback, but I would love to have women provide [some]," says
Donaghy.
- AT&T has a Web site http://www.att.com which, in addition
to providing information about the company's products, allows
women to network with one another and send the company information
on what they need and want.
Contact Sources
National Foundation for Women Business Owners,
(301) 495-4975
Principal Financial Group, (515) 362-1762, http://www.Principal.com.