The 90s arrived, and with them, the technology boom. Princess Diana commanded press attention, Hillary Clinton made news as the wife of Bill Clinton, but Ferraro and strong women like her were no longer on the radar. Women, as a gender, settled back into second place, behind the dot-com visionaries.
When the dot-bomb crash came, it cost those dot-com visionaries a good deal of credibility. But, the new millennium has successfully pushed the crash into myth and memory. Companies are comfortable with the Internet now. It has proven itself as a vital e-commerce tool, changing the way we work, think and communicate, much as the railroad and telegraph did in their day. And, in the background of this new economy, watching, waiting, and studying the landscape, women like Ferraro and Clinton have been quietly gathering the knowledge they need to level the playing field and compete with the likes of Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, and Michael Dell.

Power in Pink
An interesting tidbit for thought: pink was originally a color meant for boys. Despite that, you would be hard pressed to find anyone today who doesn’t consider it a feminine color. Breast cancer, ballerinas, blushing, purity, and babies are all items or topics that bring to mind the color pink and promote its attachment to women.
It would do you well, as a strong, new millennium salesperson, to embrace the color pink. As representative of women pink is neither fluffy nor frivolous. Instead, today’s color pink denotes leadership and professionalism. Think Meg Whitman (President and CEO of eBay); Carly Fiorina (Chairman and CEO of Hewlett Packard); Condoleezza Rice (national security advisor to President Bush); and Anne Mulchay (Chairman and CEO of Xerox). Acknowledging their accomplishments make it easy to grasp the concept that the new world order is propelling women to the forefront.
Entrepreneur magazine in its February issue rephrased that age-old question, “What do women want?” to say, “What Women Want” and then proceeded to tell its readers the answer. The blurb to the article says it best, “Women’s growing purchasing power is one of the biggest economic trends of the decade. But if you market to women the same way you market to men, you’re blowing your chance to win their loyalty.”
Beyond the C-level professionals, or the political stature of the women mentioned above, you will find hundreds of women in technology who have the power to approve or actually purchase your products. Selling to them can be easy, or it can be hard. If you make it your duty to recognize the inherent strength women bring to the table, the not-so-obvious differences between a female IT director and a male IT director, and the fact that women rely on intuition the way most men rely on “just the facts, ma’am” as Joe Friday used to say in the TV show Dragnet, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition in making sales to those women who hold corporate positions.

The Hand that Rocks Technology
The phrase “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” comes from a mid-17th century poem written by William Ross Wallace and still stands today, as testament to the power of Moms, most of who are female, wouldn’t you agree?
Moms are still rocking cradles, but so are Dads. In households where Dads are the stay-at-home parent, Mom is out rocking technology to its core. Understand that women IT directors or CFOs, the C-level managers you are most likely to deal with in your sales process, are NOT the same as your Mom, your sister, or your girl-friend/wife.
These women have put in a lot of overtime and energy in their struggle to be recognized. When they finally make the grade, they expect the same respect as any male counterpart. If you minimize their hard work because they wear a skirt or earrings, you will lose before you ever get started. And yet, they want to be treated differently, also. There is dichotomy here that could be a slippery slope, if you aren’t careful.
When statistics show that young women are closing the gap in acquiring MDs and PhDs, and that they are moving into law to become a majority of the student body, you can bet you will be dealing with them more and more, on a weekly, if not daily, basis. If you look beyond that and into marketing, you see more evidence that women are taking charge.
In this country, women purchase 50% of the automobiles, and own more than 46% of the homes. Guess which gender invented the bulletproof vest, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers? Women. Does that sound like a demographic you can afford to ignore or patronize? Sounds like a hand that’s rocking technology in a big way, to me.

The Big Deal
So, what’s the big deal? Women have been striving for equality since the 1960s, so why shouldn’t you walk into that next sale to Ms. IT Director with the same attitude you would have for Mr. IT Director? Because you will lose the sale if you do.
Women like Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, and Anne Mulchay are women who carefully reviewed the playing field, cultivated their strengths (whether that was a strong math background, a strong science background, or an interest in engineering), and were invited to their senior level positions, all without losing their femininity.
You will meet many other women exactly like these dynamos. Women who won’t buy from you if you fail to take the time to build a good relationship with them. Women who will give you loyalty only if you give them something substantial in return. Women who pay attention to eye contact, body language, and overall demeanor. If they catch a whiff of disrespect in your voice or a sneer lurking in your smile – and they will be on the look-out for it, make no doubt about that; too many men and even some women have come to them with it too many times before – you will never make the sale, no matter how great your presentation, your product, or your brand name.
It’s a big deal for women to be taken seriously. Once you pass that hurdle, you need to offer choices that don’t overwhelm. If your server solution comes with seventy-leven add-ons, introduce the core product and service first. Show her how it’s going to make her life easier, and how it will improve department efficiency. Give her the immediate benefit, and gradually build up to the extras.
Your best bet is to let her lead you by the hand. Don’t be in a rush to give up all the bells and whistles. She’ll get around to asking about them when she’s ready. Men often want all of this information up front in order to process it as quickly as possible–in part, to be one step ahead of you. Women aren’t worried about competing with you. Women want to be able to make an intelligent, thoughtful decision based on what they see as necessary for their office or department. While men will try to second-guess you, women want to know they can trust you. When you walk them through the sales process at a pace they dictate, then allow them time to think it over, you are sowing the seeds of trust. Trust will build to loyalty, given time and attention.
Understand that women, just like their male counterparts, will have already done their homework, perhaps even “shopped around.” By giving value-added sales attention (information that supports their position in the company, or spending a few extra minutes answering questions without being judgmental about the questions themselves), you are building a relationship that will stand the test of time.

There is no ‘I’ in Women
Do women feel the heat of competition? Yes. Do they let it rule their thought processes? Not usually. We all know that women like to win an argument—just the other day a male friend made a humorous remark about some friends who had just become engaged to be married. His advice to the man was: “Learn to grovel.” And, “Only one of you can be perfect. It won’t be you.”
The humor is evident. But, the underlying truth is that women are so used to fighting to be heard that sometimes they come across as the Wicked Witch of the West.
If we go back to the 1800s, we can see that even then, women held more influence than they were given credit for. Harriet Beecher Stowe was known to have said, “Women are the real architects of society.”
As architects, women don’t think as much in “I” mode. Their goal is to provide answers that will make their bosses happy, give their employees support, and still get them home in time for dinner. Your server solution is just what they need. Just don’t sell it to them as if you’re marketing a sporting event, or a faster car. Sell it to them as if having it will improve not only productivity and efficiency, but will help them manage their work and their employees in the usual 8-10 hour day.

Server News Headlines
Sun Systems is getting it right. In a report on eChannelingDaily News, Scott McNealy, Sun Chairman, president and CEO, reported, “One hundred per cent binary compatibility with innovation means customers can upgrade all at once or in stages.” Options most women not only appreciate, but also welcome. As Sun refreshes its server line, it is also giving women a reason to look closely at what it has to offer.
The article goes on to state the need to keep up with changing business demands. One of those changes involves learning how to market more successfully to women. Count on it.
Our friends at Dell are also keeping pace with hardware and software that women will find useful— perhaps even necessary. A March 9th report on Serverwatch.com noted that, “New configurations of PowerEdge servers and Dell/EMC storage will be used to allow single physical servers to act as two or more ‘virtual’ systems.” Virtual means being able to operate from locations other than the office.
A woman IT Director will find that compelling. Yes, men like to work from home also, but women are still the primary caretakers of hearth and home, so given the opportunity to work in a ‘virtual’ environment is more and more appealing to them.
A look at Cisco gives another view of how to be successful with C-level women professionals. Cisco’s VP, Edison Peres, is quoted in a February article on eChanneling, saying, “Customers are now looking at buying products and investing in technologies that will work as business solutions. They’re also seeking fewer vendors. They need trusted advisors.”

The Dirty Little Secret
Tech Data, which provides high-quality services to help their customers and vendor partners cost-effectively sell, deploy and support world-class technology solutions, says this about the coming year, “We believe that the three year technology downturn has ended. It’s time to focus on customer and vendor needs.”
Women are a big part of your customer base, whether they are in C-level positions, or in the front office. (that gate keeper can be a tough nut to crack; never doubt her power to get you in front of the right person.)
I the October 2003, Fortune Magazine’s cover story focused entirely on women in power. The most useful advice in the entire article can be summed up in one sentence, uttered by Jamie Gorelick, formerly vice-chairman of Fannie Mae, now a member of the law firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering: “The dirty little secret is that women demand a lot more satisfaction in their lives than men do.”
Satisfaction guaranteed if you take the time to remember they’re women first and IT Directors, CEOs or CFOs second. Never forget what the quarterback says on camera at halftime; he waves and, with a big smile, says, “Hi, Mom!”