Business guru Tom Peters tells an amusing story in his 2001 report Women Roar: The New Economy’s Hidden Imperative.
After one of his lectures, Tom was approached by a man in the audience. Turns out, this wasn’t the first time the man had seen Tom speak.
At an earlier event, Tom had insisted that businesses open their eyes to the power of the women’s market and encouraged them to, at the very least to take a good hard look at who was really buying their products and services.
This man took Tom’s advice, and quickly tracked down information on who was ponying up the cash for his large ticket super-macho merchandise.
Turns out the audience member wanted to shake Tom’s hand and thank him for the advice that spurred him into action, because he was shocked to discover that 85% of his product sales were to women! His product? Riding lawn mowers.
So I encourage all of you to do the same. Do some digging. You just may be surprised to find more Allisons, Torys, and Katies on your sales slips than Toms, Dicks, & Harrys.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
You are so right, Leah! It is sad to think how many businesses are leaving huge amounts of cash on the table by not researching their market demographics. Keep spreading the word!