Have you noticed all the great things that women in promotional products sales are up to these days? From heading multi-national Top 40 Promo Companies to creating podcasts, to starting businesses in record numbers and creating amazing marketing campaigns, women in promotional products sales rock! This blog post is dedicated to them.
For the past few years, I've had the pleasure of presenting sessions just for women in promotional products sales at EXPO. One of my most well attended and popular sessions is The Women's Selling Advantage. In honor of all the great women in promo sales, I'd like to share some reasons why I believe most women in promotional products sales excel!
Does this mean that men can't be good at promotional products sales? Absolutely not! Most men are great promotional products sales professionals, however many of the qualities listed here seem to come easier to women.
Here are some of what I believe are women's selling advantages:
Most women are great communicators. As we all know, good communication is vital to establishing successful selling relationships. Women tend to excel with emotional intelligence, the ability to display empathy and create strong connections.
Most women, by their nature, are more detailed oriented. Women tend to have an easier time writing orders and paying attention to the little things that make our clients happy.
More marketing campaigns are geared toward women. Women have more economic clout than ever before and are responsible for 85 percent of all consumer purchase decisions. Who better than a woman to advise on promotional marketing strategies to attract women buyers?
Women have great intuition. When we trust our intuition, we make great decisions about whom to do and not to do business with.
Corporations and government organizations are seeking diversity. Many large corporations and government organizations have entire departments set up to actively look for women and minority business vendors. Women can find out more from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
Women control many of the buying decisions for promotional products purchases. Many women enjoy doing business with other women.
Women tend to collaborate, rather than compete. Collaboration, rather than competition, is the business model that is winning more sales in today's world. When women join forces to help each other, everyone succeeds!
Of course, just having these advantages won't get a woman more sales. Whether you're a man or a woman, you need to be prepared, to understand your customer's business challenges, to make excellent promotional recommendations and to provide value beyond the products you sell to succeed in today's promotional products marketplace. And above all, you need to know your value. Even though tremendous strides have been made in the past few years, gender and pay discrimination still exist. There will still be times when a woman has to work harder to prove herself.
What do you think? I'd like to hear your opinion. Do you believe women in promotional products sales have a selling advantage? Leave a comment below.
Rosalie Marcus, The Promo Biz Coach, is a promotional products business expert, coach, and speaker. Combining her skills and years of experience in promotional sales, she helps her clients sell more at higher margins to better clients. Get a free special report: 10 Proven Ways to Thrive in Promotional Products Sales… in Any Economy at www.promobizcoach.com. Contact her at Rosalie@promobizcoach.com.