MichaelSullivan
Sales Specialist
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Nov 3, 2009, 11:30 AM
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Selling Retirement Housing to Single Older Women
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By Michael P. Sullivan
50-Plus Communications Consulting: www.graymoney.biz
Older women as buyers have been neglected and overlooked. It’s a real opportunity for you to build your retirement housing business. The single older woman portion of the population is sizable and growing due to a significant difference of the life expectancy ratio between males and females. And, older women control an increasingly larger share of personal wealth.
More than 90 per cent of women will be entirely responsible for their own financial and housing affairs at some point in their lives--most often through divorce or the death of a partner, according to the Bureau of the Census. By age 65, 60% of women live alone, and of those 48% are widowed, 7% separated or divorced and 5% never married.
Selling to women may require a different mindset. Men often communicate in an effort to reach conclusions and solutions quickly. Women commonly communicate to share an idea or emotion with others. Women have a much stronger need than men to be understood and "connected" to a salesperson before they make a buying decision. This may explain the overwhelmingly negative response women have to pressure from salespeople.
Women are very interested in trust-based, long term relationships. They may also be more apt to be intimidated by a salesperson. For this reason it is important to spend more time listening to her needs than you would a man.
Older women often talk because it is emotionally satisfying. It’s important to let a woman tell you when she wants to get down to business. Wait for her to ask you for advice before you give it.
They often complain that men don’t act like they are listening, sound like they are listening or look like they are listening. When women are “connectedly” listening, they show frequent facial emotion. They also converse back and forth in a type of seamless conversation flow. Men often don’t even make eye contact when they listen, a concern for many women.
Studies have shown that once a woman trusts you, she is even more willing to be educated about retirement housing opportunities than men. While a man may try to tell you how much he knows, a woman may explain how much she wants to learn from you before she buys.
She may also show her humility by admitting what she doesn’t know, as long as she feels her show of vulnerability won’t be taken advantage of. The catch is that she won’t buy from you until she tests the relationship. She may do this by divulging personal feelings. But she won’t confide unless she feels emotionally safe with you.
While women are very different, they do have a lot in common as a gender. It is important to recognize their commonalities as well as their differences. Here are just a few of the characteristics that women typically share:
Women are relational – not transactional. They want to be educated, not sold. They are more likely to be motivated by their family and caregiving responsibilities when discussing retirement community options.
Women, much more than men, are natural-born networkers. If you pay attention to them and satisfy their housing needs, they may lead you to their friends and others who might be interested in retirement housing property nearby.
By Michael P. Sullivan, President, 50-Plus Communications Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina, (704) 554-7863. Mike consults and trains staff at retirement facilities, home care living firms, financial services and health care organizations. His book, “101 Easy Ways to Increase Business with Boomerplus Clients” is available on his website, www.graymoney.biz. Contact him at mps50plus@aol.com.
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(This post was edited by MichaelSullivan on Nov 3, 2009, 11:49 AM)
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