What women want: the growing economic power of women consumers is transforming today's marketplace. Find out how to tap into the desires of women—and watch your business take off

Entrepreneur,  Feb, 2004  by Joanne Cleaver

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Freud famously wondered, "What does a woman want?" He never figured it out, but many business owners have--and are making money in the process. What women want right now is attention to detail in product design and service; the right choices, not endless choices; and a nuanced, longer selling process that respects their desire to understand what they're buying before they take it home. This prevailing wisdom doesn't just apply to the obvious categories like clothes, kids' stuff and cosmetics. Marketers of any product or service can adopt a service philosophy that delivers what women want. Once you translate these expectations to your market niche, you'll win the hearts and pocketbooks of women.

That pocketbook is big and carries plenty of case Trend watchers say the escalating economic power of women is emerging as one of the biggest business stories of this decade.

Management guru Tom Peters discovered the importance of women in 1996 when a colleague dragged him to a meeting of high-powered women Listening to their stories of how businesses brushed aside their requests was a shock "The more I talked, the more people brought me stories," says Peters "I thought, How weird is [it] that nobody talks about this?" Peters made the economic power of women a central point in his new book Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age (DK Publishing).

Women have been ignored because they're in plain sight. It's standard marketing wisdom that women control 80 percent of all household purchases. That's why marketers of household supplies, kids' gear, food, cosmetics and clothes are good at reaching women. But women buy gender-neutral stuff, too: cars, auto services, technology--the list includes everything but Viagra.

Women's earning power is escalating: They comprise over half of all college students and about 38 percent of small-business owners, according to 2002 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A February 2002 study by Prudential Financial found that, of the 400 American women surveyed, 37 percent live in households with incomes of $500,000 to $100,000 and 12 percent live in households with more than $100,000 in annual income. Nearly half of adult women are solely responsible for saving money for their households.

Margaret Gardner of marketing consulting firm Yankelovich reports that 60 percent of women 16 and older are working. In nearly two, birds of households, women are the primary shoppers, but 72 percent of married women who work full time are the primary shoppers. No business owner can afford to ignore women, and few would admit to doing so. But not ignoring them is not the same as attracting them, and attracting them is not the same as winning their loyalty.

SWEAT THE DETAILS

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. Everything from its cleanliness to the design of the shopping bag gets a woman's attention. While men tend to make judgments based on first impressions and key interactions, women never stop gathering information Smart business owners turn this to their advantage by investing in small amenities women can appreciate.

Nancy Poisson, area director for 333 Curves franchises in northern New England, always looks for ways to draw new customers to the fitness centers. While each new franchise advertises locally when it first opens and offers free trials, customers renew memberships based on experiences at the training centers. Poisson has new franchisees plant free membership bags in waiting rooms of businesses ranging from pediatricians' offices to quick-lube shops. That gets potential members to come by the clubs for a week's worth of free sessions.

Then it's up to franchisees to keep the excitement going. New Curves owner Tammy Latvis of Hanover, New Hampshire, got 500 leads when she opened her second location in spring 2003. She ensures that workout leaders never flag in their encouragement of women clients who are self-conscious about how they look in workout clothes. Women turn into the centers' best missionaries when they invite friends to join them for free sessions. Latvis is always cooking up rewards for women who recruit new members. "It's like the 'free with purchase' mentality," she says. "It works!"

THE RIGHT CHOICES

Women have so many work and family responsibilities, they don't have time to research and ponder every buying decision. Offering carefully selected choices will win business over an overwhelming A-to-Z plethora. "One way to get women excited is to have fewer but better choices," says Carrie McCament, managing director of the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, consultancy Frank About Women (www.frankaboutwomen.com). This is a strategy adopted by designer Eileen Fisher, who offers simple clothes in a limited palette; and some furniture stores, such as Storehouse Furniture in Atlanta, that have pared their selections to an "everything goes with everything else" array.