Page 82 - Social Media Marketing

62 Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

• Be impeccably dressed and well-groomed. A man may over-
look some characteristics of an unkempt salesperson, but a
woman will notice.

• Be prepared and well organized. You don't want to seem in a
rush or looking for misplaced documents.

• Keep talking, but choose your words carefully. Women tend
to be better listeners and multitaskers, so keep talking as you
show them details about the product or service. As you talk,
however, carefully word your statements; a man is more likely
than a woman to overlook a poor choice of words.

• Express some emotion, but don't fake it. Women tend to be
drawn more to presentations that appeal to the emotions, but
can quickly pick up on phoniness.

• When possible, show a female client the actual product rather
than simply illustrating it or showing a picture or brochure.
Men tend to be better at visualizing products in 3D, while
women prefer seeing the product.

If you are a saleswoman selling to a man, keep the following
general guidelines in mind:

• Stay focused on one thing at a time. Men tend to focus more on
a single activity, so if a male customer is carefully examining
the product, scale back your talking to avoid confusion.

• Give your client time to process the information. Saleswomen
tend to present too much information too quickly to male
clients, giving them little time to process the information.

These general guidelines do not apply to everyone. Every indi-
vidual is unique, so observe a new prospective client carefully to
get a better feel for how the person prefers to communicate and
the sort of information the person needs to make a good purchase
decision.