The Confidence Question: How Education and Experience Filter a Woman s Buying Mind

The Confidence Question: How Education and Experience Filter a Woman 's Buying Mind

As marketers we have to be prepared for the wide range of comfort levels about different industries that might filter the buying minds of women. For example, purchasing toothpaste may seem easy, but what about the buyer's confidence in purchasing baby equipment (when there is so much new emotion attached) or in knowing how to buy life insurance? There is a danger of alienating more tentative buyers by not providing foundational information necessary to make a purchase, especially for the first time. On the other end of the spectrum, those companies that take a more elementary approach to their markets may find that more confident consumers skip over their brands, feeling their sales people, products or services are not sophisticated enough.

This lack of understanding about how to address both tentative and confident customers has elevated those companies that do get it right above the crowd and positioned them for success.

Because people can vary so widely in the knowledge and experience they bring to the table, it is important to explore the ways to address them wherever they are in the learning and buying process. For industries that traditionally require a high learning curvelike financial services, home improvement, electronics or even something that should sound fun, like snowboardingthe fear of the unknown may be the greatest barrier to drawing in a woman as a customer.

To best prepare for all confidence levels, you should provide a variety of entry points to your sales process and keep the learning environment comfortable and supportive. In the end, the newly empowered female customer you've shepherded through to a purchase will likely have become your biggest fan and most passionate evangelist.