Sales Scripts that Sell, Second Edition

Gender Matters

Using inclusive language can facilitate selling. Altering your sales presentation to reflect how men and women, in general, prefer to be perceived and treated enables you to practice adaptive selling. For example, from the salesperson’s perspective, not stereotyping women as weak and emotional and men as strong and rational is a prerequisite for sales success. From the client’s perspective, female sales reps who use assertive speech patterns associated with masculinity are likely to be perceived as arrogant or rude, while male sales reps who use emotional language associated with femininity are apt to be seen as wimpy.

Because of the way they have been socialized, men are likely to respond to sales presentations that are direct ...