Breaking news: Men and women are different!
January 14, 2013 by Matt McCann
As we move forward into 2013, I want to share with you some breaking news. Ready?
Men and women are different.
OK, I see you are thinking to yourself that this isn’t breaking news. In that case, let me ask you why most of us treat men and women the same way? You might say you don’t, but the facts and studies suggest that most people in sales treat male and female customers the same.
Why would we do that? This is especially true when selling long-term care insurance. When you do your interview for LTCI (again, it should be an interview and not a presentation), understanding how men and women look at things is very helpful in developing need and urgency properly and effectively.
Men and women both receive and deliver messages differently. Studies show women to be more skilled at receiving body language and non-verbal messages and then interpreting their meaning. Women are generally much better at noticing even the most subtle non-verbal cues, as well as spotting conflicts between verbal and non-verbal messages.
Studies have also shown that women are much more aware and reactionary to the tone and cadences of the human voice. Many of the top ACSIA agents, as well as others in the industry, are now using webinar interviews with clients. In a webinar, where you can’t see the prospect, the tone and pace of your voice becomes an even bigger issue.
Your female prospects generally will be much more impacted by how you say something. While this is important at the kitchen table or at your office, in a webinar, is the vital.Every study I have ever seen has shown that women are much better listeners than men. They are sitting on your words and how you say those words. Women tend to be drawn to emotion more than the average man. Many times, you will find a woman drawn to a conversation that is emotionally based. Generally, they want to know you care about the things that concern them. You have to ask, show you care and sound like you care. Understanding this fact is helpful as you ask questions and bring up facts during a long-term care interview.
Men, on the other hand, are more simple creatures. They like to be complimented; told that they are smart. Women generally can see through fake compliments much better than men can.
Remember that female brains have stronger connections between the right and left hemispheres, meaning that their language and memory is very much in touch with their emotions. Women also have a larger hippocampus region, which translates to better recall of detailed information. Men have superior spatial ability and problem-solving processes.
When communicating to women, use detail and emotional cues. For men, keep it simple, but show important basics that get to the big picture. Men naturally want to problem solve, so help them do so.
As with all this kind of information, the bottom line is to learn that people are different. Learn to adapt. Be aware of your tone and pace. When meeting prospects in person, be sure to watch for their visual and verbal cues as you listen to what they are telling you. When doing a webinar, you must listen to the verbal cues and connect with your prospects in both a personal and professional way.