In today’s difficult economic environment, customer relationship management becomes more critical than ever before. Connecting, understanding and delivering is no longer enough. These days, it is critical to move the bar even higher – to enthuse the customer, so that every one of their thoughts and desires is delivered without a second thought. The moment that a voice of hesitation creeps in to any customer exchange, then you may actually be opening the door to your competition….
In our experience, this becomes even more important if your customer is female. In both the B2B and B2C spheres, women are becoming the major purchasers of products – ranging from cars, to computers to computing systems. Whilst traditionally these purchases were made by men (and hence this is why car show-rooms are still the most un-attractive places for a woman to walk into), some of the metrics are interesting: 60% of new car purchases are dominated by women in Japan; in Europe women make up about 47% of PC users.
So, what are some of the ways that your organisation can delight your female customers?
Deliver an Interconnected Offering
Neuroscience has dictated that the male and female brains are different. Women have 20 million more neurons than men, largely in the Corpus Collusum, the interconnecting highway between left and right hemispheres. Consequently, on average, of course, women are experts at Integrative Thinking: according to the anthropologist Helen Fisher, “they want to explore multiple interactions, the multidirectional paths, all of the permutations of the puzzle*”. So, when considering your company’s product or service delivery, have you considered the myriad of applications that it may be used for, and how each can be relevant for the user? If something goes wrong, have you considered looking at non-traditional ways of finding the solution? If, for example, you are delivering IT systems and something unexpected goes wrong, did you consult the breadth of the team delivering the service to come up with the solution? This process is part and parcel of what your female stakeholder is likely to be looking for, in order to see that your business is using all the knowledge base available to obtain a (novel) solution.
Seek to understand…. to obtain the ultimate brand ambassadors
The best brands in the world understand that a loyal female customer, is the best customer in the world. Her innate need to communicate (the hormone Oxytocin has been proved to be responsible for her need to connect with others), means that she is very likely to share her positive experience with a friend or colleague. When loyal, women are the best ambassadors to your company or service. So, how do you obtain that loyalty?
You have to prove you understand and care for her as a person, her business, and her world wider world. You have to satisfy this innate sense of personal and community altruism. We are working on a number of projects with our clients in the IT and Financial Services sector whereby client-supplier activities focus on constructing connections on a personal and socially responsible context. How are you expressing your commitment to a stronger client-relationship? How is your organisation making a difference in the worlds where your client may have an interest or presence in?
Flexibility leads to Creativity and Innovation
As an extension on the point above, women embrace flexibility. The worst thing to say to your female customer is to insinuate that there is no other way to solve her problem/or issue with your product or service. Surely, if she is such an important customer as you make her out to be, then being creative in solving any problems is part and parcel of your offering? In fact, you will let her use her innate creativity (remember, point 1 above about Integrative Thinking), and you will let her work with you in identifying the appropriate solution. This is why women make excellent relationship managers – they, on average, tend to utilise this skill in solving problems for their customers. So, ask yourself, how flexible are you and your team being when your disgruntled customer contacts you over a problem? How are you showing her this flexibility?
Genuine Delivery of Promise
One of the most critical value-systems that guide women is that of authenticity. Delivering your service or product with a genuine, authentic desire for her or her company’s success is critical. Make sure your strategy engages her in dialogue – ask her frequently what would make a difference to her, and adapt your product or service accordingly. Remember one important point – deliver what you promise. If you do take the time and make the genuine effort to understand what she requires, then act on it. The female hippocambus, the part of the brain that never forgets a conversation, is larger and more active in women than in men. So if you say you will amend your processes so that she receives the reports with the frequency she wanted, do so. If you don’t, then the disappointment is greater. So, consider how are you communicating and delivering that authenticity? How are you servicing that undeniable claim that you are in business to serve her business?
I suspect you are thinking this makes sense good business sense, as well as being common sense. We ask ourselves why does most of the business world, however, overlook this market and these basic premises?
* The First Sex: The Natural Talents of Women and How They Are Changing the World, Dr Helen Fisher
