It’s not rocket science nor is it feminism prioritising the female buyer when she’s the one that makes the majority of the buying decisions.
For example, if you wanted to talk to the decision maker in a B2B set up you’d do your research about the likely business function to find the buyer in, you’d find out who heads it up and decide how to contact them with your offer.
Why should it be different when it comes to B2C and ways to find the right consumer to talk to about their family spend? And your research would tell you that in so many cases, it’s the woman who makes the household, family, fashion, leisure and travel decisions; the woman who decides where to buy; the woman who is doing her shopping homework and buying more and more online; and the woman who networks naturally and influences her peers, friends and family on the basis of a favourable or uncomfortable buying experience.
So why not set out to talk to her above all, in industries like the UK motor industry with a reputation as one of the last male bastions and where women drivers often feel like second class citizens, no matter their wealth…
It’s just good business sense, surely?
Not always as easy to do as it seems of course when women can be as different as chalk and cheese when it comes to the many different stages in their consumer lives. Chalk and cheese in terms of their needs and expectations, from novice driver days through motoring and community Mum-dom, to female executive company car drivers and then despite having lots of time and money to spend, so many ‘older’ female consumers feel they are ignored…
And the solution is rarely to ‘colour it pink’ as that suggests a distinct lack of original thinking…
What women want is to know they are dealing with a female friendly business that
- respects them
- understands and addresses their needs
- actively welcomes them
- is honorable and ethical
- can be trusted to put their female and family welfare to the fore
- offers value for money (not necessarily cheap…)
- is well organised
- is easy to do business with…
- is a business they are proud to endorse and recommend
In short female friendly businesses are the ones that go the extra mile to win the female purse in contrast to other businesses that think men and women are the same and genuinely don’t know how to please their female customers without patronising them…
Which flies in the face of elementary segmentation practice in modern day Marketing methods…
Think of it this way….
Why wouldn’t women choose a female friendly business that offers the above rather than one that, quite simply, can’t be bothered to put females on the pedestal they deserve despite knowing that many women feel ill at ease in a male dominated industry like the UK motor industry?
And why don’t UK businesses try harder for women? Because we have yet to vote with our purse.
Which we will do as soon as we know we have a choice… and then businesses that haven’t understood how to do it for females will soon queue up to learn the basic rules…
FOXY Steph
Find out about FOXY Choice’s female friendly garages that have promised never to ‘overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need or want’ when it comes to servicing or repairing their cars…
