Women represent 52 percent of the population and make or influence 85 percent of the purchasing decisions in America. According to Mary Lou Quinlan, whom The Wall Street Journal has referred to as "the Oprah of Madison Avenue", most marketers have, historically, ignored or misinterpreted the key role of women in the purchase-making process.
Speaking to delegates at the DM Days New York Conference & Expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on June 2, Quinlan, the author of Just Ask a Woman; Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy, advised marketers "to learn how to ask questions differently and how to listen to what women tell you - not what you want those answers to be".
The good news is that women are very open about sharing their views, Quinlan said. "You should know", she told delegates, "that your best customer (i.e., a woman) is also your most talkative and generous customer".
While listening to the customer is particularly important in retail marketing, Quinlan said it is just as important for at-distance direct marketers. While direct and online marketers are focused on the quantitative metrics of the process, she said, "they still must know their customer". And that, she added, must begin with talking to her, asking her questions, and listening closely to what she says.
Quinlan noted that, since the 1950's, marketers have employed focus groups as a key means of ascertaining information about their customers, including women. But she maintained that the classic focus group paradigm is not necessarily the best way to discern what the female customer is thinking, wanting, and doing. "Focus groups are surrogates for listening", she said.
Asked what was a good alternative to the traditional focus group, Quinlan advised marketers to consider "talk shows". Rather than a small room with a small group of participants, she recommended a talk show-like setting with about 30 customers - and, importantly, the marketer and its advertising executives. She pointed out that the marketing and agency executives will be able to learn a lot by stepping into the process rather than observing behind a two-way mirror.
As for what differentiates female from male customers, Quinlan said that women, typically pressed for time by the demands of being a working mom, expect answers provided fast and straightforwardly and from well-informed staff. If you do not respond in such a manner, she said, increasingly women will abandon their purchase.
In fact, Quinlan advised DM Days delegates that, if they cannot fix their sales operations from beginning to end, that they focus on the end. "If you can't fix the whole process, then start at the end - the checkout".
Also, women often employ "boards of directors" when they shop, Quinlan said. Seldom do they enter the process unless they have checked in with their boards of directors - of which they have many, she said. These "boards" include advice and input from friends, family, and even strangers; online research; newspaper and magazine articles; as well as marketing and advertising materials. As a result, traditional marketing tends to be only one part of the mix for women in making purchases.
Quinlan's 20-year career has included key positions at Avon Products, DDBNeedham, and New York advertising agency N.W. Ayer & Partners. Her honors have included Advertising Woman of the Year in 1995 from Advertising Women of New York and the 1997 Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications.
In addition, she has been published in Redbook, Marie Claire, MORE, and Good Housekeeping and has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Business Week, and interviewed on CNBC, CNN, and Lifetime Television.
