Keynote and Speeches
Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Consumers (Keynote)
Women are the engine of the global economy and buy nearly 80% of all consumer products. They hold the purse strings, and when they’ve got a tight grip on them as they do now, companies must be shrewder than ever to win them over. Just when executives have mastered becoming technology literate, they find there’s another skill they need: becoming female literate. This isn't always easy. In a lively presentation based on her acclaimed book (called “essential reading” by The Wall Street Journal), Brennan educates audiences on the fundamentals of gender psychology, and the global trends driving women’s purchasing decisions. She provides a roadmap for businesses on how to evaluate sales, marketing, branding and product design from a female perspective. Topics include:
- How women grow up within a culture of their own gender that impacts how they perceive the world and everything in it
- How women's brains differ from men's, and why they may notice aspects of your products, marketing campaigns or sales environment that you might have overlooked
- The six most important trends driving the global female population that are key to determining their wants and needs
- How to see the world through a female lens
Cracking the Code: Seeing the World through a Female Filter
Gender is the most powerful determinant of how a person views the world and everything in it. While there are mountains of research done every year segmenting consumers and analyzing why they buy, more often than not it doesn’t factor in the one piece of information that trumps them all: the sex of the buyer. Understanding that women are females first and consumers second is crucial to bridging the gender divide and capturing the business of the world’s most powerful consumers. Topics include:
- Techniques for studying women with the same intensity that a foreign market requires
- Best-in-class case studies: how the brightest companies have cracked the female code (and horror stories about those that haven’t)
- The female fundamentals that never change, no matter how often the media does
- The blueprint that helps determine whether your products and programs are female friendly
How She Buys: Sales Techniques for Tough Economic Times
No matter how many times a woman sees an ad, or how much research she’s conducted online, the critical purchasing moment often comes down to that “last three feet of the sale.” This is when she’s standing in front of a shelf or talking directly to a salesperson, trying to decide what to buy. It’s in this moment that mistakes are frequently made and sales are lost, simply because women have different expectations of the sales process than men do. In this session, Brennan teaches audiences how women make purchasing decisions and respond to sales pitches and retail environments. Participants learn female-focused techniques to help increase closing rates. This presentation is also available in a business-to-business module. Topics include:
- How women view the sales process differently from men, and what this means to your sales pitch
- How to develop appropriate body language and eye contact techniques
- Follow-up methods that resonate with women buyers
- How to leverage service as your most powerful advantage
Pink is Not a Strategy: Marketing to Women
Marketing, and especially advertising, it’s most glamorous representation, is where a company’s insights about women are most vividly on display. In this engaging educational session, Brennan explores how gender differences impact brand preferences and marketing responses. She teaches audiences how to generate the kind of powerful insights that make a difference to campaigns targeting women. Audiences are taught that no matter how complex the marketing function becomes, or how cluttered the media environment is, there are still only two sexes on the receiving end of a marketing message. Understanding the one that does most of the buying is critical. Topics include:
- The fundamental difference between sex appeal and gender appeal, and how to leverage these insights when conducting research
- How to craft a marketing strategy through a female lens
- The key to appealing to women without alienating men
- Why your budget can be small if you’re willing to think big
Delivering Customer Service with Female Appeal
Customer service is often forgotten in the thrill of the hunt for customers. Once a customer is snagged, the wooing is over and the relationship – in the form of customer loyalty – often fizzles out. Rants about poor customer service fill conversations everywhere, and the Web has helped make these feelings public. The fact that customer service is a consumer hot button also makes it a major opportunity for differentiation. In their role as “Chief Purchasing Officers” of the home, women interact with customer-service personnel more than anyone else. In this lively session, participants will learn how to implement customer-service policies and techniques with female appeal. Topics covered include:
- How women’s notions of fairness impact their view of the customer-service experience
- The psychology behind the white-hot rage generated by automation and voice-recognition systems
- Why it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it
- Why customer service is simply marketing in disguise
He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
Gender Communication in the Workplace (Diversity Issue)
In this enlightening presentation, Brennan discusses the most common differences in male and female communication styles at work. Audiences will learn valuable techniques for making themselves better understood to co-workers, bosses and subordinates of the opposite gender. The goal of the session is to help bridge the gender gap at the office and achieve better workplace harmony. A special emphasis is placed on the language of performance reviews. These sessions achieve the best results when both men and women are in attendance. Topics covered include:
- When NOT to say you’re sorry
- Simple techniques for using more direct speech
- Why the ability to accept compliments is critical to a career
- Why it’s okay to say “I” instead of “We”
