As a woman, there are many ways to keep me from doing business with you. One is to send me email spam; like most people, I don’t like that. Another way is to send teenagers to knock on my door to sell your product; if I don’t recognize the person knocking, I won’t answer. These are typical annoyances for most people, however, the #1 way to keep me from doing business with you may not be.
I personally have a very low threshold for people who waste my time. My time is precious, and if you are wasting it, you are done.
Recently, I was looking for a particular hard-to-find product. Luckily, I found it on the internet and then went on to find a company that sold it dirt cheap. So I called this company to make sure they had it in stock.
I was told by the customer service person that, yes, indeed, they did have the product and it would ship out within 24 hours. How exciting! Not only did I find it, but I could have it within 4 or 5 days if I paid more to have it shipped express, so I did. This was going to work out perfectly because we were leaving town for two months and I wouldn’t have to deal with it from another state.
Well, a whole week went by and the product was still not here. So, I sent the company an email asking when they shipped it. The email that I got back from them said that this item was discontinued and I would not be receiving it, but would I still like to pay for it?
What???
I called to make sure they had it in stock and they said they did. So now they are saying they don’t? How could that have happened?
Why didn’t they tell me it wouldn’t be shipping? Wouldn’t they have known within 24 hours if they wouldn’t be shipping it? That’s what they said – they would be shipping it within 24 hours.
I called and talked with the customer service person and asked her all these questions. She admitted that she did not have access to tell me whether they had that product in stock. She lied to me.
Boy, was I mad. First of all, they wasted a whole week of my time, and then they lied to me. Two strikes against them – big strikes. The third strike came when they asked if I would still like to pay for it. Of course not!!
I sent them an email telling them that I would not be doing business with that company any more and that it’s companies like theirs that make internet businesses look bad.
Now, I realize that most people would not be pleased after going through an experience like this. My point here is that as a woman, a mother, a wife, a business owner, and in my home – the event organizer, the nurse, the coach, the cleaning lady, the gardener, the bill-payer, the dish washer, the laundry lady, the shopper, the cook, etc., (you get the picture), I do not have time to be dealing with businesses who do not take care of their customers. I do not have time to deal with anyone who wastes my time. Period.
I sometimes go to a great extent to make sure I am doing business with a company I can trust. They have to prove to me that they will help me get my jobs done on time. They have to help me save time, not waste it. They also have to be truthful and work out of integrity. This is so important.
Now, I have been around people who give businesses second and third chances. They aren’t as intense about timeliness, integrity, and truthfulness as I am. As a woman, that’s how I am. I have a whole list of things I need to get done every day and I don’t have the time or the patience to horse around.
So, for anyone who owns a business and wants to market to women the biggest tip I can give you is (please) make sure you don’t waste our time. Because if you do, you’re done.
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Wendi Moore-Buysse is a professional speaker who works with businesses that want to market to women. She speaks professionally to, coaches, teaches, and consults with women who want to develop problem-solving skills and leadership skills using intuition, self-talk, and the belief system. Her books from the Lifes Little Cheat Sheets Series, including Shifting Gears: Get Moving in the Right Direction, are available through her website and events. Shifting Gears includes ways to shift your focus from what you dont want to what you do want. Visit www.wendimoore.com for more information and to read her Life’s Little Cheat Sheets blog.
