How to Talk and Sell to Men
So yesterday, my posting was about marketing to women. Today, I signed up for an free email newsletter called RetailWire.com. This website is an online news analysis and discussion forum based upon news stories about retail businesses. And the first article I read was about marketing to men!
The article, “How To Talk and Sell to Men” by George Anderson, is a discussion that included several marketing research professionals. Comments by one of the participants, Doug Fleener, offered a very interesting perspective about what men want from their shopping experiences.
Following are some of Doug’s comments: “Retailers need to remember that (men) are quite impatient and easily distracted when shopping…. When shopping for guy stuff like cars, grills, sporting goods,….we enjoy chatting with knowledgeable salespeople….Buying non-guy things is completely different. We have one goal: get it bought….We don’t like small talk; we want to be told what to buy. We don’t want choices; we want suggestions. Retailers….should teach their employees to promptly assess the guy’s shopping needs and make product recommendations. The faster the buying process is, the happier the guy will be. Add-on sales are easy and appreciated. Guys shopping for non-guy items are practically wearing a sign that says ‘Sell Me More’! Our job as retailers is to do just that.”
So when your male customers are shopping, be direct, be precise, make suggestions and move the sale along! According to this article, you’ll have a loyal customer!
Go to RetailWire.com for more information about how to sign up for their free newsletter. There’s lot of great information about merchandising, marketing and more that you can use in your gift basket business.
Add comment March 20th, 2006
