When You’re Selling to Women, You’d Better Know Your Stuff
Women ask a lot of questions. Women take longer to make a buying decision. It’s not because she’s fickle, and it’s not because she can’t make up her mind. It’s because women have a different decision-making process from men.
This difference between men and women is the key to motivating women to buy from you. And understanding women’s decision-making process will take the hassle out of selling to women.
Men are focused on their top criteria. As soon as they find a product that meets their criteria, they buy it.
Women are more detail-oriented. They identity all the important things– and all the other important things, as well. Women have a longer list of criteria, and they want everything. To show what I mean, let’s consider an example.
How Women and Men Book Hotels Differently
Everyone, women and men alike, have two main criteria for booking a hotel room:
- Location
- Price
So, let’s say you want a hotel in mid-town Manhattan for about $450/night. There are plenty of options. If you’re a man, you’ll book the first one you find. Mission accomplished. Job well done.
Women will almost never book the first option. She’ll want to assess the four or five best candidates to make the perfect choice. One might have a free cocktail hour, while another includes parking. Or perhaps a third offers a world-class spa. If she looks at the details, she will learn which hotel she prefers.
When Westin introduced their “Heavenly Bed,” they found it spiked their sales 21% in the first year. What does a heavenly bed even mean? Do you need one for a good night’s sleep? What makes it so wonderful? Curiosity drove women to give it a try. All other options being equal, you might as well choose the heavenly bed!
Here’s great news about selling to women: they care about the things that differentiate you from your competitors! And that’s why they ask so many questions.
We are a women’s tour company with mainly professional clients. Women choose hotels based on their brand and ability to attain status at that brand. Westin is mentioned; however the bigger chains Hilton and its Honours Program, for instance, offer a club-y atmosphere with a drinks floor, snacks and sometimes festive food over major holidays. This appeals to women especially the growing number of women traveling solo. Neighborhood is also key as women will want to shop, walk, and generally have some down time. We recommend using google street view maps for an idea of the area. Thank you for writing about women and our hotel preferences.
Maybe we can do something together!
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This was a great blog post. My wife/partner is always asking WHY at this time during the pandemic our prices are lower. Owning an Affordable Tree Service business during these tough Covid 19 days makes it hard for some to understand why income is down. Everyone is doing what it takes to stay in business.
Thanks for the insight.