It can be difficult getting to know a new prospect. Salespeople walk a fine line between learning about prospects and communicating about their offerings. Starting a conversation with a woman prospect is different than with men.
Selling to Women Tip #1: Ask about Her First
Start the conversation by asking your woman prospect about herself. Don’t introduce yourself first. Women often become very interested in learning about others. If you start the conversation about yourself, she may spend the entire conversation asking questions about you. Then you’d never learn anything about her– and how can you sell to a stranger?
And don’t worry, you’ll have an opportunity to talk about yourself soon enough! Reciprocity is built into women’s natures. She will certainly ask about you and what you do.
Selling to Women Tip #2: Your First Question Sets the Tone
Asking a woman about herself can be tricky. Avoid making assumptions about your prospect’s life situation. Don’t assume she is a career women or a stay-at-home mom. You set the stage for a friendly conversation when your first question to her is neutral.
To avoid awkward situations, try these opening questions:
- What keeps you busy these days?
- What gets you up in the morning?
Selling to Women Tip #3: Listen for These 3 Key Things
It may be true that women have a lot to say, but if you listen for these three topics, you’ll be well on your way to a successful sales conversation:
- Information about her family and lifestyle that help you understand how your offerings could help her.
- Interests you share in common that can start to build a friendly acquaintanceship.
- Something you can follow-up on later to show her you were listening and care about the conversation you shared.
This is very helpful for men like me. But even asking “what keeps you busy these days?” could be awkward in a professional situation.
Maybe, “Tell me about the work you are doing now, and what like best about it” would be better.
Thanks for this simple but thought-provoking post!
Allen – How nice to hear from you! And I agree with you that any questions asked should be sensitive to each individual’s situation. My point was only that one might want to avoid the word “work” in the question because so often that implies “paid work” and women who choose not to have a job can be sensitive about how their choice is viewed. This might come up more often for Financial Services professionals who are looking to work with wealthier clients, as most HNW/UHNW women are older (Boomers and Seniors); and many older women don’t work outside the home either because they come from a generation when it was less common for women to have jobs, because they have retired or just because they don’t want or need to. Your phrasing of the question does a nice job softening the meaning of “work” so that it might include any purposeful activity, whether paid or unpaid (e.g., volunteering), and I like the way you also ask about her feelings about her work. Thanks for commenting!