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Today Tuesday 8 March is International Women’s Day this day marks the equal rights of women - helping to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women world-wide.

As a business owner it is also very important that companies work to celebrate the value women bring into the market place. From a business perspective women are very influential and are the primary decision makers in families. Women are also making a strong presence into the business world - the Bureau of Statistics has found that of the 1,179,300 small businesses operated in Australia 529,800 (45 per cent) were equally or individually operated by females (June 2003).

According to general statistics, women tend to make a large percentage of household decisions in comparison to men. Have you thought about how you’re marketing to this demographic?

• Women take their time when shopping they ask a lot of questions and gather a lot of information before making their purchase decision. They note details. They grab the brochures; they take them home and show the family.

Given this attention to detail the more information you can provide to satisfy her purchase the better. Have attention to detail in product design and service.

• Women respect emotion and sensitivity more than men. Use more emotion in your communication and work to build a strong bond with your female customers.
• Be it finance or cars, white goods or stereos, women make almost all major purchases. They get the information, decide what to buy, and then talk the male into going off and getting it.

Women talk with their friends. They share their information with the rest of their peer group. Good or bad information spreads very fast amongst women.

A study that was just completed in the United States found that women handle 75% of family finances and influence 80% of consumer purchases. Let’s face it women hold all the power.

What does all this mean to a business owner? Women want the right choices, attention to detail, and they want to be afforded the time to make sure they clearly understand the services they’re buying.

Get the little stuff right and the big stuff will take care of itself. Women develop a collage of impressions about a business from a hundred small factors. Men tend to make judgments based on first impressions and key interactions. Women never stop gathering information.

Women make final purchasing decisions based on the relationship with the seller. Given a choice between nearly identical products, women are likely to choose based on customer service and the ongoing relationship with the vendor, while men focus on statistics.

If you earn a woman’s trust, she will be a loyal, life-long client and will provide referrals exponentially. Ignore this valuable market at your own peril.