6 Tips For Selling Real Estate To Women

(These tips could equally be used to sell other products and services to women):

1. Don't tell everything you know to women or be a know-it-all.

If you close your mind to new ideas, the world and women will Leave you far behind.

2. Women take lifeand you and advertising and everythingPersonally. Once a woman identifies with an advertisement or a product or a sales message, she automatically becomes personally involved. She sees things only in relation to herself. She thinks: "is it right for me," "would it suit my daughter," "does it fit into my home."

That's why it's best to approach women on a personal basis. Talk to each woman as an individuallet her know what your product or service can do for her.

3. A woman naturally identifies with the things around her. She becomes interested in a product or advertisement when she makes this identificationsees something familiar, sees something of herself. If you've ever noticed a woman window shopping, she'll stroll along glancing in the store windows, then suddenly she'll stop and become extremely attentiveshe's noticed her own re flections.

Women are inclined to identify more readily with certain * people than others. Next to her own self, a woman identifies most quickly with another woman. A photograph of a woman in an advertisement will generally catch a woman's eye, gain her attention more quickly than any other person. The more that woman in the picture is like what she would like to be, the more a woman is going to be interested.

Most women today picture themselves as, or would like to be ... active, trim, natural-looking (as opposed to overly glamorous) women.

Famous women, babies and children, couples, famous men follow in just about that order for gaining a woman's interest. Family groups and men are much less effective.

Making identification, becoming interested, naturally has nothing to do with feeling a person is authoritative. There are many times when a woman may feel a man carries more authority than a woman. For instance, she often may feel a male announcer on the television knows more about a washing machine or that the recipes of a famous male chef will be better than something a housewife has concocted in the kitchen.

4. Women like to be participantsnot merely spectators. They want to put something of themselves in every job . . . either for the personal satisfaction they'll get from it or for the thanks and acknowledgment they'll receive from other people.

So, instead of emphasizing what a product can do, it's preferable to play up what a woman can do with the product. By all means make sure that there is something for her to do, so she will have a feeling of creating, participatingsomething which other people will be able to see she has done. A good example of this is found in canned soups. Here was a good product that did it all.

A woman just opened the can, heated it and there was a fine soup. Once the novelty of this wore off, the women of a new era began to want to do more. So the soup people have offered today's women ways of being individual and creative by adding garnishes and mixing different kinds of soups.

In the actual selling job, as well as the product itself, leaving room for a woman to participate is essential. Don't tell her everything. Leave something to her imagination. Start her off in the right direction and leave the details for her to fill in. Letting the woman join in has two valuable functions. One, she will remember a lot longer. Two, she will add the personal touch from her own experience herself (that you can't possibly do with every single person) which is often the difference between making a sale and not making a sale.

5. Women are never happy with the status quo. They always Want to change things, to improve things, to find something new. Newness and change are essential to feminine happiness"let's Rearrange the living room furniture" . . . "perhaps sister needs a new school"... "Why don't you try one of those new English tailored suits?" In buying, women are always on the lookout for something new and different . . . and better. So in selling to women, we can't simply stand pat even with the best product. Next year we have to offer women something newa fashion color, a better package, extra performance. If we don't, women will seek out the producer who does offer them the new, the different.

6. A woman's senses are extremely acute. In buying, she depends on them as her main guide. Each time she considers a purchase all her senses go to work to help her out.

We have to be sure that our product . . . and the atmosphere around our product . . . meet all the requirements of her senses, appeal to her senses. In short, the product and the place of sale must be pleasinglook good and feel right and have a pleasant odor or good taste and nice sound.

In addition, women have preconceived notions about the sensory appeal of certain products. For instance, women expect a certain characteristic odor from baby products. When brightly colored bread was tested on the market, women simply wouldn't buy it or claimed it didn't taste good. Good glassware must have the clear ring of a bell. Cleaning powders, shampoos, etc., must make suds. Before new products are marketed, a check should be made to see what preconceived notions there may be ... and to discover women's readiness to accept something different, and plans should be made for overcoming these notions.