How to Talk to a Woman

Kim Klaver:

1. Recruiting.

One thing all companies do is train people to recruit new reps. The way they talk and train, it’s clear that the recruiting style taught and prized is this:

“Go for the kill (= close) on the first date.”

Everyone over 18 has discovered one obvious and big difference between boys and girls when it comes to making life and making sales: boys like to score as often as they can. Women seek to select as much as possible. Maybe because we’re the ones who get the 18-year job of nurturing and raising a child that results from, well the score. So far nothing new. Now – cut to the sales process.

In sales too, the guys like to close, and as quickly and as often as possible. And to encourage that behavior, the men who run the companies offer bonuses for doing that, e.g. the “fast start bonus.” This signals to all how important it is to get someone closed and doing a purchase big enough so the the closer gets the “fast start bonus.”

However, countless women over the years have told me that they do NOT like to be closed on the “first date” or first presentation, any more than they like to jump into the back seat on the first night.