What Women Want
A Selling Spiral
Whether buying for themselves or for the businesses they own or
manage, women make final purchasing decisions based on the
relationship with the seller, not on statistics and quantitative
data, says Peters. Given a choice between two nearly identical
products, women are likely to choose based on customer service and
the ongoing relationship with the vendor, while men focus on
statistics, such as the breakdown rate of the equipment. "Men want [to buy] the product then leave. Women want to
know 'How will it work?'" says Andy Andre, owner of
Prescott True Value Hardware in Prescott, Arizona. By having enough
staff to guide customers through installing shelves or hanging a
picture, Prescott True Value has developed a loyal following of
older women running households on their own for the first time due
to divorce or widowhood. They have a lot in common with women who
have just purchased their first homes and want to get down and
dirty with drills and brushes. Every time Prescott True Value adds a product line in response
to the requests of women customers, it has a winner. Andre says the
store doesn't need to focus its advertising specifically on
women; all it takes is one visit to hook them. "Customer
service is all about respect," he says. "It's taking
the time to explain things to a customer and not talk down to
them." Content Continues Below
There is no shortage of cosmetics companies, but Sandi Hwang
Adam, 32, felt that major cosmetics companies were limiting the
color spectrum of their products. Maven Cosmetics, which she
founded with Noreen Abbasi in 2002, markets makeup for women of all
skin types, including very dark and very light. The Chicago-based
company's sales are expected to grow by about 75 percent
between 2003 and 2004, thanks to newly signed contracts with the
likes of department store Marshall Field's. Customers are enthusiastic because the company constantly tests
and retests its shades by literally pulling women off the streets
to give them makeovers, says Adam. She and Abbasi, 31, ditched
their high-paying corporate consulting jobs to work at department
store makeup counters for six months before launching their line.
That experience has helped them present Maven products with a
"we're on your side" attitude instead of the
"we're the expert" tone many cosmetics conglomerates
adopt. Entrepreneurs assume marketing to women is all about discounts
and giveaways, but creativity and care are what really attract
women, says Martha Barletta, president of Winnetka, Illinios,
consulting firm The TrendSight Group and author of Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach,
and Increase Your Share of the Largest Market Segment. When
women find a business that speaks their language, they'll talk
about it with their friends. While men make decisions by
"stripping away extraneous information, women add information
to the process," says Barletta. "We notice the small
things. If a man is ignored by a sales clerk, he thinks 'What a
jerk.' A woman will think 'I hate this company.' The
small things, good and bad, make more of an impact." What About Dad? James Chung is happy to announce the demise of the soccer
mom. With more dads adjusting their work hours to pitch in with the
kids, the president of marketing consulting firm Reach Advisors
has discovered a new niche: dads who identify with the
home-with-the-kids lifestyle. Whether they're working part
time, telecommuting or working flexible hours, dads are tackling
more child-rearing responsibilities. They're going to the
grocery store, schlepping kids to and from violin lessons, and
showing up for parent-teacher conferences. And because they're
taking a more active role in domestic management, these
"engaged dads" are starting to have more say in how the
household budget is spent. In fact, Irene Dickey, a lecturer with
the department of management and marketing at the University of
Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, estimates that men now control upwards of
24 percent of household spending. They're at home to spend it,
too.
"There's a dramatic shift in generational perception of
a dad's role," says Chung, who works partly from his home
office and shares family responsibilities with his wife. The
recently folded Women's United Soccer Association, for
instance, made the mistake of trying to appeal primarily to moms,
says Chung, who researched the league's marketing strategy. In
fact, dads were the ones who bought tickets to attend with their
daughters. "If your services are purchased by families,"
Chung says, " you need to question the old wisdom that mom
controls everything that goes on inside the house."
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