• Forbes CMO Network, Friday, November 13, 2009 10:43 AM

Mary Lou Quinlan, CEO of marketing consultancy Just Ask a Woman and co-author of What She's Not Telling You, Why Women Hide The Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It,  says that marketers not only have to start listening to women better but also must pay attention to what's really being said between the lines. After all, women buy 85% of what is sold in the U.S.

Quinlan writes that marketers who commission focus groups don't pay attention -- not only to what is being said but also to body language. What exactly are they doing behind the glass? Chowing down. Or passing notes to each other. Or sending e-mails. More than 50% take phone calls and 46% leave before the research is finished.

What's to do? Challenge canards and test those half-baked half truths. ("Half truth: 'I'm so busy!' Whole truth: 'But I make time for stuff I like to do.'") Spend more time with your female customers. Immerse yourself in their habits. And "endorse a team of listening police to pay attention to your target consumer's words, to her body language and to what she's not telling you."

Read the whole story at Forbes CMO Network »