Tips for Selling to Women Business Owners

Gerry Myers, President of the Myers Group, a consulting firm specializing in women owned businesses, led a discussion [1] in this week's AccountingWEB Workshop on tips for selling to women owned businesses.

Some interesting ideas and trends that she provided about selling to women should be reviewed carefully:

• 90% of all women will be responsible for managing their own finances at some point in their lives.
• Given their traditional investing and savings patterns, women retiring in the next 20 years will have less than one-third the income they need to live comfortably.
• Only 6% of women are confident they will live their golden years in comfort.
• Women do more research on financial matters than men and generally handle the day-to-day household finances, while men buy investments more impulsively and generally do the family taxes.
• Men view money as status, a game, and a way to keep score. Women see money as security for their future
• As investors, men assume they know more than they do; women assume they know less. When successful in their financial endeavors, men credit their own cleverness; women attribute it to smart advisor or luck.
• When they lose money, men blame the incompetence of their advisors, women blame themselves.
• Women share much more information with many more people than men do.
• Women value extraordinary treatment and professional service. They want a relationship with the people they do business with. They want someone with integrity and product knowledge that they can trust.
• It is important to realize that little things matter to women. How they are treated, if you take them seriously, if you value them as a client and let them know, etc.
• Women are interested in learning more and working with knowledgeable professionals, and in general are more loyal and provide more referrals than men.

Gerry offered a number of ways to market to female owned businesses, and what is important when soliciting their business. For more information and details on selling to women-owned businesses, go to the transcripts [1] now.