Bridget Brennan kicked off Friday Spark & Hustle in Chicago on why and how women buy — including advice on killing birds.  Women own it: Women control the purchasing decisions for everyone and everything from babies to elderly.  Women take care of everybody, which is why we’re so powerful to the economy. How will our purchases impact the other people in our household? Women have a bigger guilt gene than men when we spend money on ourselves.  So the most successful campaigns convince women that when they make a purchase it’ll benefit everyone in their home.  When Nintendo introduced the Wii Fit, to sweeten the deal and get over the price barrier, Nintendo had to convince mom that she could use Wii Fit to workout out home AND that everyone else in the family could use the Nintendo Wii too.  Are you addressing the time-starved? Women are so time-starved and looking for convenience.  Retailers are in jeopardy when they don’t cater to women’s lifestyles.  On Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue or New York’s Fifth Avenue, droves of people are hustling and bustling to get to work between 8 and 9am — walking past every major retailer, all of which are closed.  They open at 10am, but that’s when working people are at work. When workers manage to get out during lunch to go to the bank, post office or anything else, many shops are staffed down because their own employees are at work.  So all of this has driven women to shop online.    How many birds can you kill at once?  Women want to kill two birds with one stone.  Tell women how many birds can be killed with their purchase from you. Women over 50 are the most overlooked population in the world. They’re amazing buyers because they know it’s now their turn.  They’ll convert the kids bedroom into an office.  They’ll take off on vacations.  They’ll upgrade their car. They’ll upgrade their wardrobe.  They’ve got money and nobody’s targeting them. They’re ready to embrace brands that will include them in their messaging.  How are you targeting this group? Face to face vs. shoulder to shoulder?  Bars were designed for men to sit shoulder to shoulder instead of face to face to avoid eye contact.  That’s because sustained eye contact can be an invitation for aggression: “You looking at me?”  That’s why when women are offered a seat at the bar, they decline, opting instead to wait for a table where they can sit face to face.  Is your environment conducive to women?Give women something to talk about. It’s part of our culture for women to pass along information. What kind of messages are you offering women so they can talk about your product or service?When all things are equal…: Women will always give their business to someone who they believe best deserves their business.  Women work so hard for everyone else, so we recognize when others work hard for us.  How hard do you hustle for your customers?Mind your manners:  Women need to hear the please and the thank you.  We notice it when someone doesn’t say it.  (SO TRUE! My kids know how much it bugs me when sales associates at the drug store or the dept store don’t say THANK YOU whether I’m spending $3 or $3,000. What’s so hard about thanking a customer and perhaps even a smile?) One MUST:  If you can only do one thing to target women: FOCUS ON SERVICE.  With women, service is everything.  In most places, the bar for service is so low.  Anyone going above and beyond is amazing because it’s so bad almost everywhere you look. Recommended reading:WHY SHE BUYS, by Bridget BrennanYOU JUST DONT UNDERSTAND, by Deborah Tannen THE FEMALE BRAIN, by Louann Brizendin  Bridget’s site is www.thefemalefactor.com.

Bridget Brennan kicked off Friday Spark & Hustle in Chicago on why and how women buy — including advice on killing birds. 

Women own it: Women control the purchasing decisions for everyone and everything from babies to elderly.  Women take care of everybody, which is why we’re so powerful to the economy.

How will our purchases impact the other people in our household? Women have a bigger guilt gene than men when we spend money on ourselves.  So the most successful campaigns convince women that when they make a purchase it’ll benefit everyone in their home.  When Nintendo introduced the Wii Fit, to sweeten the deal and get over the price barrier, Nintendo had to convince mom that she could use Wii Fit to workout out home AND that everyone else in the family could use the Nintendo Wii too. 

Are you addressing the time-starved? Women are so time-starved and looking for convenience.  Retailers are in jeopardy when they don’t cater to women’s lifestyles.  On Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue or New York’s Fifth Avenue, droves of people are hustling and bustling to get to work between 8 and 9am — walking past every major retailer, all of which are closed.  They open at 10am, but that’s when working people are at work. When workers manage to get out during lunch to go to the bank, post office or anything else, many shops are staffed down because their own employees are at work.  So all of this has driven women to shop online.   

How many birds can you kill at once?  Women want to kill two birds with one stone.  Tell women how many birds can be killed with their purchase from you.

Women over 50 are the most overlooked population in the world. They’re amazing buyers because they know it’s now their turn.  They’ll convert the kids bedroom into an office.  They’ll take off on vacations.  They’ll upgrade their car. They’ll upgrade their wardrobe.  They’ve got money and nobody’s targeting them. They’re ready to embrace brands that will include them in their messaging.  How are you targeting this group?

Face to face vs. shoulder to shoulder?  Bars were designed for men to sit shoulder to shoulder instead of face to face to avoid eye contact.  That’s because sustained eye contact can be an invitation for aggression: “You looking at me?”  That’s why when women are offered a seat at the bar, they decline, opting instead to wait for a table where they can sit face to face.  Is your environment conducive to women?

Give women something to talk about. It’s part of our culture for women to pass along information. What kind of messages are you offering women so they can talk about your product or service?

When all things are equal…: Women will always give their business to someone who they believe best deserves their business.  Women work so hard for everyone else, so we recognize when others work hard for us.  How hard do you hustle for your customers?

Mind your manners:  Women need to hear the please and the thank you.  We notice it when someone doesn’t say it.  (SO TRUE! My kids know how much it bugs me when sales associates at the drug store or the dept store don’t say THANK YOU whether I’m spending $3 or $3,000. What’s so hard about thanking a customer and perhaps even a smile?)

One MUST:  If you can only do one thing to target women: FOCUS ON SERVICE.  With women, service is everything.  In most places, the bar for service is so low.  Anyone going above and beyond is amazing because it’s so bad almost everywhere you look.

Recommended reading:
WHY SHE BUYS, by Bridget Brennan
YOU JUST DONT UNDERSTAND, by Deborah Tannen 
THE FEMALE BRAIN, by Louann Brizendin 

Bridget’s site is www.thefemalefactor.com.

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