PERFORMANCE

YOU SELL LIKE A GIRL!

…And Other Compliments

By Mark Rodgers

Think back to your childhood on the school playground. When you put together a team to play baseball, who did you pick? There was the jock – he was always picked first. Then there was the attractive person, who wasn’t very good, but, well, we know why they were picked. The class clown was chosen, not to help you win, but if you lost, it would be more fun. And finally, the last person to be picked was the person who everyone knew “throws like a girl.”

A show called Sports Science ran on Fox Sports for years. The show’s objective: dissect sports myths. In a popular episode, Jennie Finch, pitcher to the U.S. Olympic Women’s Softball team was pitted against a male baseball pitcher. The question posed: “Which ball is harder to hit?”

First up, the baseball pitcher threw a 95 MPH fastball landing with 2,311 pounds of force. Then it was Jennie’s turn. While her speed was clocked at 70 MPH, her pitch contacted and shattered the scientific equipment used to measure the force! Further studies supported this test. The conclusion: It is harder to hit a fastpitch softball.

Who knew the phrase, “you throw like a girl” could be such a compliment?

Explosive Differences

Like fireworks on the fourth of July, if you want to see some explosions, just bring up the topic of gender differences. The moment you take an absolutist stand on gender differences you’ll find yourself in a proverbial gender La Brea Tar Pit.

Every individual has unique education, experiences, and frames of references. That said, this is real science behind the differences between men and women when it comes to decision making, persuasion skills, and sales strengths. Consider these:

Men often overstate their abilities; women understate them.

“In studies, men overestimate their abilities and performance, and women underestimate both. Their performances do not differ in quality,” Wrote Katty Kay and Claire Shipman in a lengthy article for The Atlantic magazine in 2014.

The authors of Womenomics and authorities on gender differences in business found that women working at Hewlett-Packard applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100% of the job qualifications. On the other hand, men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60% of the job requirements.

The sales implication: Women may more naturally and more effectively under promise and overdeliver delighting customers.

Sensitive to the vibe.

Emotional intelligence is really an awareness of self, and an awareness of others. This enables sales professionals to interpret behavioral ques and be more responsive to prospective buyers. In one study noted by Forbes, women outperformed men in 11 of the 12 emotional intelligence skills tested.

A four-letter word for men: help.

In her book, Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Customers, gender expert Bridget Brennan claims women love asking for and receiving help. For men, “help” is a four-letter word.

The sales implication here is that a female salesperson may be more apt to say things like, “Help me understand what sort of luggage requirements you have.” Or “Help me understand your monthly payment needs.” This exploratory approach to prospective buyers’ wants and needs may open up previous unconsidered solutions, products, and offerings.

Also, because men don’t like help, both genders may be better off if they were to say to male motorcycle purchasers something like, “I found a review on the motorcycle you’re looking at; I’ll send it to you to see what you think.”

Shopping behavior mirrors gender differences throughout many aspects of life. Women consider shopping an interpersonal activity, according to Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch. Men treat is as something that must be done. All sales professionals should pair this idea with personality behaviors to give you strong indications of how fast or slow you should move with your request. Like calibrating your speed to both the posted speed limit and the flow of traffic, so too, should you flow with your prospective buyer.

Perfectionism is a confidence killer. Collaboration is key.

“Women feel confident only when they are perfect,” Kay and Shipman wrote for The Atlantic. “Study after study confirms that [this] is largely a female issue, one that extends through women’s entire lives.” They go on to say:

“We don’t answer questions until we are totally sure of the answer, we don’t submit a report until we’ve edited it ad nauseam, and we don’t sign up for that triathlon unless we know we are faster and fitter than is required. We watch our male colleagues take risks, while we hold back until we’re sure we are perfectly ready and perfectly qualified.”

This can be a mental governor holding back prospecting efforts, closing attempts, and referral asks. So, here’s what you need to understand. Your brain is a protection device. It’s trying to protect your ego from getting bruised. You have to convince yourself making the occasional error in judgement or product statistic is not fatal. In fact, failure is key to growth.

You can blunt the trauma by taking a page out of latenight American Television icon Johnny Carson, who in these situations used to say, “I did not know that.” To which most people immediately give the person a break because, no one knows everything!

Gender behavior is based on brain structure and body chemistry.

In 2006, neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine released The Female Brain, a book that generated major debate by claiming that women’s brains “are so deeply affected by hormones that their influence can be said to create a woman’s reality. They can shape a woman’s values and desires, and tell her, day to day, what’s important.”

Brizendine then released The Male Brain in 2011, in which she states that “a man will use his analytical brain structures, not his emotional ones, to find a solution.” She also notes that the male brain thrives on competition and is obsessed with rank and hierarchy.” Differences in estrogen, testosterone, and oxytocin affect moods, behaviors, and decisions. Everything is situational, especially this guidance. Identify the mercurial targets from the more static and approach accordingly.

Women are hard wired to be better listeners.

We often think selling is about being gifted verbally. It isn’t. It’s really about being a good listener. The portion of human’s brains which is linked with listening (at least auditory processing) is called the Heschl’s gyrus. It is larger in women’s brains than men’s, meaning they may be wired to be better listeners.

Today’s powersports sales professional, can’t be the lone wolf of days gone by. Now, collaboration is what will propel future powersports’ dealers’ sales success. Sales professionals need to be able to seamlessly integrate the customers experience working with the BDC, marketing, finance, accessories, gear, and service people ensuring the customer has an unforgettably positive powersports experience.

In a paper titled, “Are Women More Attracted to Cooperation than Men?” the authors finding was yes. To improve group strength and relative competence, and to compensate for “inequality aversion” women tended to naturally gravitate towards collaboration.

One quick aside: when researchers adjusted compensation to encourage group collaboration, men quickly adapted to collaborative efforts.

Creating Your Winning Team

Much like a major league baseball GM acquiring talent. You have to consider all aspects of the team you’re building. Not everyone should have the same skills sets. You want a right fielder with a cannon for an arm and bat the size of a sequoia. You may want to strongly consider a lefty at first, because they have a better throwing angle to other infielders. You’ll want a closer with blinding speed, awe inspiring power, but you only need them for maybe six outs.

So, too will you want a variety in your dealership sales team. Whether they are selling on the floor, in F&I, on the counter, in merchandise or in service, each person brings gender specifics, personality, background and education. And now you know that, saying, “you sell like a girl” might just be the best thing you could say about someone.

Be sure to tune into: SALES SUCCESS IN 60 SECONDS OR LESS as sales expert and award-winning Dealernews columnist Mark Rodgers shares how to accsellerate® your sales. Watch Mark explain the guiding principle of how to succeed in the motorcycle business even in these stormy times. (FYI, Mark only counts the content after the whizbang video open in his time limit, so start your stopwatches then!) Mark Rodgers is an award-winning speaker, best-selling author, and sought-after consultant, who has spent 33 years working in the Harley-Davidson industry. Check out his 60-second sales tips twice a week at Dealernews social media channels or contact him via e-mail: Mark@RodgersPC.com March 2021 59