By Tom Ryan
Under a new Deloitte & Touche program, associates approach women clients differently than men's based on lessons learned from observing women's shopping behavior. The theory goes: just as women consumers shop differently than men, businesswomen shop for professional services differently than men.
After interviewing senior women execs and employees with TrendSight Group, an Illinois consulting firm, Deloitte found that the same discovery process women use when doing personal shopping applies to purchasing business services. For instance, a woman might go to a store to buy a black pair of pants but then buy something else or change her mind. Men, on the other hand, just focus on the black pants.
"Men think, 'She's so fickle'," Cathy Benko, a Deloitte partner who runs the program, told The Wall Street Journal. But "she's not fickle at all -- she's using this process of discovery."
Among D&T's suggestions to its associates:
- Don't be frustrated if female clients reevaluate or modify their initial requests because women discover as they shop. On the positive side, women may be more receptive to suggestions about other services;
- Sharing personal details can help build trust because women clients want to know and trust their consultants personally as well as professionally;
- Women often prefer business lunches to dinners because they tend to have more responsibilities at home. If given sufficient time to make arrangements, they'll be more receptive to evening social invitations;
- In terms of body language, men tend to stare as they listen and nod to signify they understand. Women may nod when they don't yet understand to encourage the speaker to keep talking. Also, while consultants often purposely sit beside a male client as their "right hand man," women are more comfortable seated face to face.
Ms. Benko says Deloitte doesn't have statistics on whether the approach has won new business, but she said attendees have told her the training has helped them.
Deloitte's new approach comes as women are increasingly taking on more decision making roles at corporations, although the Journal found companies haven't systematically pitched women differently than men outside sponsored conferences and networking events.
The Journal article also points out that the method could easily backfire. While some women are likely to welcome the greater sensitivity behind the approach, others may see it as patronizing.
"It's a great idea to pay attention to women as a people of influence," said Meryle Mahrer Kaplan, a vice president at Catalyst, a research and advisory group on women in business. But "if stereotypes seep in there, that's not helpful."
Discussion Question: What do you think of utilizing shopper tendencies in approaching women decision makers in the business world? What do you think is useful in such an approach? What do you think are its challenges or shortcomings?