Selling The Way Businesswomen Buy

Deloitte & Touche associates are approaching women clients differently than men based on lessons learned from observing women's shopping behavior. Their theory says that just as women consumers shop differently than men, businesswomen shop for professional services differently than businessmen.

TrendSight Group (an Illinois consulting firm) interviewed senior women execs and employees, finding the same discovery process women use when doing personal shopping also applies to purchasing business services. For instance, a woman might go to a store to buy a black pair of pants but then buy something else or change her mind. By contrast, men just focus on the black pants.

Other suggestions from the study:

• Don't get frustrated if spaces change
  Female clients may reevaluate or modify their initial requests because women discover as they shop. On the up-side -- women may be more likely to buy additional services and features they discover
  
• Share some personal details to build trust
  Women clients want to know and trust their consultants personally as well as professionally
  
• Business Lunches vs. Dinners
  Women often prefer business lunches to dinners because they tend to have more responsibilities at home. They'll be more receptive to evening events if given time to make arrangements
  
• Nodding doesn't equal understanding
  In terms of body language, men tend to stare as they listen and nod to signify they understand. Women may nod when they don't yet understand, simply to encourage the speaker to continue talking
  
• Face to face
  While consultants often purposely sit beside a male client as their "right hand man," women are more comfortable seated face to face

Deloitte's new approach comes as women are increasingly taking on more decision making roles at corporations, although the Wall Street Journal found most companies haven't systematically pitched women differently than men outside sponsored conferences and networking events.

The WSJ also points out that the method could easily backfire. Some women may welcome the greater sensitivity behind the approach, but others may find it patronizing.

Meryle Mahrer Kaplan, a vice president at Catalyst (a research and advisory group on women in business,) said "It's a great idea to pay attention to women as a people of influence, but if stereotypes seep in there, that's not helpful."

Why the old way of advertising doesn't work

An Adweek survey released this week serves as a wake-up call from the audience on the other end of your advertising.

The worst of it...

• 84% agree (strongly/somewhat) "Too many things are over-hyped now."
• 72% agree "I get tired of people trying to grab my attention and sell me stuff."
• 52% agree "There's too much advertising -- I would support stricter limits."
• 47% regard "Advertising as background noise."
• 61% do not see advertising as persuasive.
• Advertisers lost to Lawyers in the amount of respect felt their industry (14% vs. 19%)
• Advertisers are still ahead in the respect department (for the moment!) when compared to Politicians (10%) and Car Salesmen (5%).

The best of it...

• 82% indicate they had a positive engagement with media overall
• 41% consume "interactive" media
• 2/3 claimed that "advertising is an important part of the American culture."
  

Want more of the story?

• Copywrite. Ink
• Adotas

Blogs Become Key Marketing Tool for Legal Eagles

This is excerpted from a recent story in the Philadelphia Business Journal:

Lawyers are becoming quick learners in the blogosphere
Saul Ewing partner Robert Louis didn't know what a blog was three months ago. Now it is a key marketing tool for the 60-year-old trusts and estates lawyer.

"I talked to some of the younger people here and after they explained to me what a blog is, it struck me as a good way to get small bits of information to people without burdening them with a five-page memo," Louis said.

So in July, Louis started "Personal Wealth Law News," one of three blogs -- short for weblogs -- that can be accessed through the Saul Ewing Web site, and joined a rapidly growing number of lawyers using the blogosphere for marketing purposes.

Louis' blog updates readers on the latest trends in personal wealth law. A recent entry asks whether the estate of Leona Helmsley, the billionaire hotel owner who died last month, would have to pay federal estate tax for a $12 million trust to take care of her beloved dog (while her four grandchildren were guaranteed nothing). Louis offered a 150-word item asking whether the taxes would be paid from the residue of the Helmsley estate.

Blogs as marketing tools are being taken seriously by the legal, medical, banking, real estate, and other old-school professional categories. Podcasting is coming up fast as a new area of new media they can exploit.

Need a VBR for approaching this category?
You could start by citing the article above. Why not offer the opportunity to become the official source of legal advice on the radio station websites? Of medical knowledge? Financial advice? If they have an existing blog/podcast, we can repurpose the feed on a landing page within our own website. If they do not, we can assist them in producing the content.

While they may state they already have their own blog, nothing matches the power of the Radio as a way of telling the public about its availability, nor the built-in audience our websites can contribute in growing their audience. It's worked for Ask The Beauty Doctor and for Your Micro Minute. There are currently podcast pitches in the field for a "Green" report and a Money Minute.

Who will be next?