SOS - Save Our Sales rep

Do we, as women, need to take responsibility for the fact that we earn on average 80 cents for every dollar that men earn?

An article at MSNBC today talks about the pay gap and very interesting research about women professionals, in this case veterinarians.  It seems women are more likely to make accomodations based on ability to pay, and desire to create or strengthen relationships.  Men in the same study offered the same fee no matter what the circumstances.  One thing the article didn’t report on was whether this was a successful strategy for the women professionals - did they have longer relationships, greater client retention than their male peers? 

This article struck a strong chord because women sales reps are frequently making the same decision, based on our experience.  Like the women in the study, are you leaving 15-20% more money on the table than your male counterparts?

Bottom Line Question:  Are you giving away margin to secure or enhance a relationship that doesn’t exist?  Are you lowering your fees and prices in an effort to be liked or to help out a client in trouble?  How is that working for sustained business growth? 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/WomenCreatingPayGap.aspx?vv=400&GT1=8473

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 10:55 am and is filed under Advice, Gender Selling Differences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.