Selling to women is very different than selling to men. Women want to feel positive emotions during the shopping process. Simply stated, they want to feel happy and intelligent about both how the purchase is made and making the purchase.
This can be very frustrating to sales people because buying is less about a simple transaction that solves a problem, and more about the experience of making a purchase.
Applying positive psychology to your sales approach is wise when selling to women. It creates and fosters positive feelings to ward off any negative feelings that can turn a sale sour. Here are three simple ways you can use positive psychology to support your sales techniques:
1. BE POSITIVE
Sales people should have a positive mindset and be determined to achieve and even surpass their goals. When you approach situations with positivity, the women you are connecting with and selling to feel that. They sense that you are there to help them, not sell to them…and that is a HUGE plus.
You can learn to be positive which starts with shifting how you think about selling. I once heard this great acronym that helps interrupt negative thinking when it relates to sales. Perhaps it will work for you too!
SWSWSWSW = Some Will. Some Won’t. So What. Someone’s Waiting.
This helps you to really understand the sales process simply. Not everyone will buy from you and that is OK because someone out there is looking for you right now. The key is to know someone is waiting. The right someone. Once you think this way, you can accomplish any sales goal, all you have to do is keep going.
2. BE MINDFUL
All women are not created equal. Every woman has a unique set of circumstances that drive her during the sales process. People often think of selling to women as “one size fits all.” I’m here to tell you that everything would be made this way were that the case. Let’s look at just how diverse women are as a group and be mindful of these differences during the sales process. Here are a few judgments to eliminate and take into consideration when selling to women:
- Women are not educated. Women are now surpassing men in degrees earned.*
- They don’t have great jobs. Women hold large percentages in the highest paying jobs.*
- They all have children. 47.6% of women between ages 15-44 have never had children. (U.S. Census Bureau Population Survey, 2014.)
- They all are married. 56.4% of the unmarried population are women while 49.9% of the married population are women. (U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2005.)
- They don’t have money to spend. Women spend more than men on shopping trips.
*Data from Catalyst.org’s report on the Buying Power of Women
3. BE RESLILIENT
By observing your sales process and making positive tweaks to improve your outcomes. Resilience is a learned skill while recovering from a setback. This is a critical moment where you recognize what isn’t working and start shaping a path to reach the desired outcome or to quit. It is the golden opportunity to step back and observe what isn’t working and implement change. Some questions you may ask are:
- Are my actions in sync with her buying needs?
- Am I being too forceful in my sales approach?
- Am I delivering my unique values that differentiate my product or service to potential clients?
- How can I build my sales conversation to build more trust, get her emotionally engaged and want to buy from me?
Building a sales conversation with intention will help you feel better about selling and increase your closing rate. Using positive psychology to your advantage strengthens the sales process.
Does positive psychology fire you up? It a relevant topic that makes massive shifts in the workplace. It works with all generations and can be the secret sauce of making the changes necessary to improve your sales. Her talk, “Conversations That Close” uses sales techniques that work when selling to women and is infused with positive psychology techniques. It has been one of her most popular topics she’s delivered around the country.