If men are from mars and women are from venus...how do we do business?
Best selling author and relationship counsellor John Gray is on to something, or at least the 7 million people who bought his book think so. The self-help book that proclaims that 'men are from mars, and women are from venus' has an analogy that by many accounts seems to run true.
If you think about the relationships you have in life and the difference between female and male relationships, it's easy to ascertain why there is often a miscommunication or misunderstanding based on the gender of the person you are communicating with.
If you think about the relationships you have in life and the difference between female and male relationships, it's easy to ascertain why there is often a miscommunication or misunderstanding based on the gender of the person you are communicating with.
My friends are forever saying one thing to their partners and are often left miffed that they did not understand what they said, the hint that they gave or why they did something. It's just like when a woman says to a man "You don't have to buy me flowers" when really they mean "I would love for you to buy me flowers". My particular favourite is when women ask "do I look fat in this" and the man answers "yes, actually you do!". Disaster! Then men wonder why the woman doesn't talk to them for the rest of the night.
Relationships with clients are the same. My relationship with female clients is all about understanding what makes them trigger, what they like and what they do not. Sometimes with women in particular, you have to read past what they have said verbally, to decipher that by reading between the lines, is the only way you would be able to get the real message that is being communicated.
Men are different and I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Men often say how it is, so in business if you try and use the same technique that you have used on a woman by reading between the lines, you end up doing and saying the wrong thing, then you wonder why they come back at you and say "I said xyz, and I meant xyz".
If you separate your male clients to your female clients and test your communications skills and its effectiveness, you may find that by altering your communication and listening capabilities between the two sexes will mean that you deliver a better customer experience and become more in-tune with your customers needs.
Try it! Start a messaging guide for your staff that includes how to communicate with female clients and how to communicate with male clients.
If you are sending a press release to a journalist and they are female, try tailoring your introduction to what will make them think that it is a good story to report on. A male perspective may be very different to how a female may look at the same press release. Makes sense doesn't it?
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