Andersen Windows: No way to market to women
When I called Andersen Windows today to make an appointment to get an estimate for replacement windows the sales representative asked me if my husband would be home for the appointment. “I don’t know. But one of us will juggle our work schedules to be home at that time.”
“So your husband will be there?” she asked, pushing it. “We’ll give you a $100 discount if your husband is there with you.”
What?! I’m so offended by Andersen’s approach. Am I the weak little Missus with no buying and decision power? (On the other hand, it might be that we women ask the good questions and bargain tough — and Andersen’s market research has found that the guys are pushovers.)
Nonetheless, the sales angle has backfired. I’ve shared this story with several people today, and now with you. Word of mouth at work.
I went through crazy hoops buying my first house as a young single woman 26 years ago. ( A network television affiliate even came out to do a spot because I was such a novelty.) House decision sexism was bad then. Today it’s unforgivable — especially as part of the sales process of a well known brand like Andersen.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I almost certainly think it was due to the fear from the women that ask too many questions. Too many men will get around some other men working with tools and just bond, and that is enough to skew your decision making process. It’s just a guy thing.
I know in many houses including mine, the woman has to be happy, for the man to be happy. She is the counterweight for when I’m about to do something stupid a lot of the times.
Anthony
April 24th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I’ve been in the home improvement business for 24 years. I can tell you specifically it is a standard practice to NOT make a sales presentation to 1/2 of a couple. Period end of story. The suggestion would have been made had the husband said the woman wouldnt be home.
Here’s why: I can’t “close” a sale without both of you home. 99.999% of the time when I ask for your signature and a deposit, the first words out of your mouth will be..”I’ll need to discuss this with my wife/husband and get back to you”……….he or she was there for the presentation, has no “vested” interest in deciding favorably for us.
I assure you this is one hundred percent standard practice.
There is no sexism involved. THe sexism comes in the form of the advertisements….they are almost exclusively dedicated to the female demographic. TV is slanted female, print and mail are slanted female. We do almost NO marketing to men on windows because we know women drive the decisions……but we still need him home or she will never sign, and she needs to be home or he will never sign.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I agree with Paul.
I’ve pitched alot of women and can tell you they don’t bargain tough, they bargain very emotionally. That doesnt mean men are any better, they usually do worse. Lois Kelly thinks she’s smart….but she isnt. We know most women are offended by the question, but we sell the couples forty percent of the time and we sell singles less than two percent of the time. Be offended if you want……but you don’t buy because you are weak and can’t make a decision without consulting your partner. Change that and the practice will change.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Most states require both the husband and wife to sign order for products attached to the house. One of the reasons is if you don’t pay for them the supplier can lien the property and if all the owners of the property did not sign it can make it more difficult to process the lien. They also don’t want to make multilpe trips to close the sale so they want everyone involved to be there. Most likely they would have asked your husband if you would be there.
In the window business everyone knows that women make 80% of the buying decisions so we want to involve you from day one.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Hey guys,
Thanks for enlightening me. Maybe I would have felt better if the sales rep had told me what you have told me: If the husband were calling to make an appointment, you’d also ask for the wife to be at the appointment because experience has found that in the end both people have to weigh in; it’s more efficient to have both present from the get go.
In sales you don’t want to offend anyone at the beginning of the pitch and, as Gerry says, he knows the requests offends women. A little more explanation would go a long way.
Lois
BTW: We are going with Andersen.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I cannot believe my eyes in the comments here. At least they are reading blogs…a good first step
It’s not just sexist, it’s just bad salesmanship. Seems like the whole home building/improvement industry did not get the cluetrain memo yet. The minute a company will enter the market with less aggressive direct sales tactics - a company who will “attract” and “assist” it’s buyers instead of “intercepting” and “insulating” them - marketshare will flow to that company in spades.
It’s too bad that a company with a solid brand like Andersen does not realize this. In a market full of distrustful companies (and I can take a few pictures of people who did crappy jobs at my place) you would think that Andersen could easily grow its marketshare by a few points just by being a trustful adviser - not just a sales transaction company. And when a company like Anderson is already financially healthy - increased marketshare points go directly to the bottom line.