3 Strategies for Women to Sell to Men

Women who primarily sell to men need to have their selling strategies ready so they can be effective selling.

Think like one, but don’t act like one.

Have you noticed that men talk about working and women talk about helping? I listen to how women describe what they do. I hear them say, “I help people improve their teamwork” or “I help companies improve their bottom line.”

Walk the little old lady across the street if you want to help. Start working if you want to make sales.

Why? Work is a more powerful word. Don’t use words like help. It’s a girl word. Work is a man’s word. You should be saying, “I work with companies to improve their bottom line.”

Just be careful with what you say. Men who use profanity at work don’t face the same level of judgment that women do when they use profanity. Some company cultures accept off-color jokes as part of a way they reduce stress. Ladies, be careful if you think you need to contribute with those types of jokes. You put yourself in jeopardy even if you have a very strong reputation of being a top performer.

Build a knowledge network.

I’ve seen women set themselves up to fail. They think they have to know every answer to a question that a customer might pose. Men don’t think that way. Men would simply ask themselves, “Whom do I need to call to get the answer?”

Ladies, it’s all right not to know the answers to everything. Start building your network of resources so you do have someone you can ask those questions and get answers.

Take credit for your work.

This one came as a surprise to me. I recently learned that men often take credit for women’s work. One woman expressed an idea and within 5 minutes, another man in the meeting stated the idea as his own.

You must address it if someone takes credit for one of your ideas in a meeting. You could say, “I see that John agrees with my idea.” Your credibility is diminished if you allow others to take credit for your ideas. Losing credibility makes it much harder to sell.

There’s a saying that it’s a man’s world. Women who sell to men know that particularly well. That shouldn’t stop women from being successful in a man's world.