Dismissed again! Smart marketers missing the female vote in family travel.

One step forward and five steps back. Sometimes it seems that we aren't quite as far ahead as we thought in understanding and addressing women as serious players when it comes to the household finances. I recently returned from a family vacation in Dominican Republic at my favourite resort in Punta Cana. We had a lovely time barring one major technicality--- we made the mistake of agreeing to be introduced to the resorts new exclusive members program that involved premier service for its best clients. Well, we all know how these things go.

We were taken upstairs to a room that we didn't even know existed and entered what look and felt like the Toronto Stock Exchange floor-- hustle, bustle and hard core sales tactics. Now, I would consider my husband and I to be two quite savvy sales and marketing people, so we certainly knew how to navigate this territory. However, what became immediately apparent is that the sales person did not consider me to be key in this decision making process. Now, you know that these sales people have been trained in North American sales techniques. They also knew that I was a working professional. And still, my concerns and objections were glossed over while the salesperson became more and more focused on my husband -- particularly as my questions became more challenging and he appeared the more friendly ear.

Women are the primary decision maker when it comes to family travel-- whether they work in the home or out of the home. This classic error on the part of the sales person cost him a significant sale and left me with a bad taste in my mouth which unfortunately translated into bad feelings about the resort and brand in general. When I arrived back to Toronto I promptly sent a note to the Senior Executive in charge of Marketing, based out of Spain, to share my experience and offer them support in figuring out the female species.