I’m catching up on some reading and came across Selling Power’s recent Sales Management Newsletter which had this article, If You Sell to Women, You Better Clear the Clutter.
Some interesting information about selling to women.
According to a cruise ship survey women could recall details as small as the design on the rugs and the subject matter of each painting on the walls. In contrast, most men couldn’t even remember the color of those walls.
Women account for more than 80 percent of all purchases in the U.S., $3.7 trillion as consumers and $1.5 trillion as business owners.
And third and foremost in my mind was the authors final point in the article regarding personal appearance.
Always look neat, clean and well put together. This is sales 101, but it’s so important with female clients that it bears repeating. A neat, clean appearance means a neat haircut; no wrinkles in your clothes, missing buttons, or spots on your tie; shined shoes, and trimmed fingernails.
She ends with if a woman can recall the details on a cruise ship rug she’ll notice everything. Funny. I recently experienced this very truth with a candidate who did fine in the interview but did look somewhat disheveled. His appearance was one of the first items noticed by our female customer. A good tip for salespeople and sales candidates – best to overdress and be pressed. Muhammad Ali would appreciate that line.