Use Direct Sales Tactics with Men

A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article describes the distinctive and successful retailing business model of J. Hilburn. The company is on track to sell 60,000 custom-tailored men’s shirts this year plus accessories, with sales revenue expected to exceed $9 million. None of those sales are being made in a store, though. Instead, one of the 650 J. Hilburn Style Advisors comes to the shopper’s home or office to take measurements. The shirts are delivered to the customer two to three weeks later. J. Hilburn is a direct sales retailer.
     Unlike some other, more famous, direct marketers—such as Avon and Tupperware—J. Hilburn’s target market is men. Home shopping parties are for women, where a major factor in the success is that women shoppers enjoy socializing. A major factor in the success of J. Hilburn is that most men hate shopping for clothing. Even the thought of clothes shopping gets men to become highly goal-directed.
     Stanford University researchers had men and women think about going on a clothes shopping trip. Then each of the study participants was asked to plan another type of trip—driving cross-country. It turned out that thinking about the shopping made the men more likely to plot a route that got the job done most quickly. With the women, thinking about the clothes shopping made them more likely to plot a scenic route.
     What about J. Hilburn’s current direct sales business model can you emulate in serving your male customers?

• Make personalizing straightforward. Both male and female shoppers like their products and services personalized. But as a rule, women are more patient in having the personalizing done. A man’s willing to pay between $80 and $150 for a shirt because the shirt’s built to their individual dimensions and the measurement comes to them.
• Be experts. Like with other direct sales firms, J. Hilburn Style Advisors can increase their income by recruiting others to sell the merchandise. A difference is that J. Hilburn sets a maximum of five direct reports. This rule encourages an emphasis on quality over quantity in the salespeople. When dealing with male customers, recognize their desire for salespeople to have good technical expertise.
• Streamline. Always be looking for ways to speed up the process for the male shopper who chooses not to linger. J. Hilburn is adding more online ordering options, increasing their merchandise line, and trimming delivery times.

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