One-leggers

Okay, so I was talking with a colleague this afternoon and the minute she told me this story, I knew I’d write about it here. It made my eyebrows go up. Okay, just the right eyebrow went up so I had that look of complete disbelief.

Tara is a successful business owner, and recently decided that she wanted a sunroom. Between her and her husband, she’s the point person on these kinds of decisions and also the main breadwinner.
So, she narrowed down her list and started making some phone calls. Her first phone call was to Temo, and she asked that someone come to her home and give her an estimate. So here’s Tara, ready to spend big bucks, and here’s what the Temo rep told her.

“I can’t come out to your home unless your husband will be there, too.”

Tara explained that he’s not really the main decision-maker and that this was her project. The rep didn’t budge. Tara explained that she’s the main breadwinner. The rep didn’t budge. She asked why. The rep responded that it’s company policy not to go on “one-leggers” and that if she had any questions, she could call the company’s sales director.

So Tara got on the phone with the Sales Director. He confirmed it and Tara told him that he can count on never having her business and that she was going to let other people know about their archaic policy toward selling to women. I believe she used the word “idiot” at least once.

And there you have it. An example of why this blog exists. To eradicate behavior like Temo’s. To educate companies about the new power of the women’s market. To illuminate the differences between selling to men and selling to women. To help companies be more in touch with their consumers.

And today, we’re writing about it for the 100th time, a nice milestone to mark with a good story. Thanks for reading and thanks for creating more Womentum!

Comments

[Andrea Learned]

Ah yes.. it never ceases to amaze, does it, Karen? I heard a similar story a few years back from a female marketing executive for a large boating manufacturer. She watched as one of her own company's salesmen, at a big national boatshow, started talking with a couple about a particular boat. The next thing she saw was how he literally focused all his attention and body language on the husband, giving the man's wife the cold shoulder. Now, is that the 102nd story like this?... I'm hoping there has been some salesperson training in the meantime.

[Faith]

One-legging exists in home construction today in large part because the house at issue is owned by the husand and wife as tenants by entirety, a single ownership unit that cannot be divided up and sold to satisfy a judgment unless both husband and wife are responsible for the judgment as co-debtors. Any lien that a contractor can put on the house if there is a default in payment is much less effective if only one of the spouses is on the contract. So the larger the cost, the greater effort is put into making sure the sales pitch closes a deal on both husband and wife. That might explain TEMO's policy. The breadwinner mentioned in your post might have a discrimination claim if she had demonstrated that she owned the house in her name alone and was still refused an opportunity to contract. In any event, the fact that none of this was explained, that she was made to feel inadequate, and that this would, of course, be any of our own defaults had it happened to us, is still a sad reality. And, who knows. Maybe TEMO and companies like it just don't care about ownership; they will only sell to the man in the house. If you sense that someone is discriminating, be sure to ask for an explanation for the policy that leads to a woman's exclusion. It can lead to more constructive results in the fight against discrimination.

As for the boat show exhibition example, I think I am more bothered by the fact that the wife didn't turn to her husband and say, "I get a sense he is ignoring me. Do you get that sense, honey?"

The lesson here is twofold: To gain integrity, we cannot be passive; but it is as equally damaging to the perception of our worth to act without first gaining as much knowledge as possible on the situation.

[Steve Nordquist]

Thanks for the explanation, Faith. TEMO's policy of distrust (and idiocy) has to be some kind of venn-diagram -gem- in Economics corpora; ready to loaf at home and go Chap.13...may as well get a sunroom while the chance is hot!

How many legs for just a lesbian sunroom then? Can you just close and get lien waivers in two phone calls if you play it like that?

5 words: Maid staff carry live steel. *sigh*

[Edward Clayton]

I can vouch for the Temo Rep in this case. I mean really wouldn't you expect the husband to have some input on the design and size of this room. They are very expensive and even if the female is the bread/winner/decisionmaker/ I would think that if they had a functional marriage they would both want to discuss and have input on the room design. It says the rep the trouble and expense of having to come out twice to show the samples/models of the product.

[Jesse Grimke]

I have been a Sales Rep in the Remodeling Business for 8 years and can say without hesitation that it is not in a company's best interest to run "one leggers". I am also well aware that the Woman is almost always "The Boss" when it comes to remodeling projects, and should be respected as such. These decisions however, are almost never made by one spouse alone. There are exceptions and some relationships have different dynamics then others, but it is not the norm. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, but as a business owner you need to look at trends and statistics when you're establishing your business model. With that said, a business still needs to remain flexible and ultimately do what it takes to make the customer happy. I don't blame this Woman for choosing not to do business with this company; they should have tried to reach a compromise, or offered her some incentive for complying to their procedures.

[Joe]

I'm a sales rep and I'm tired of the new generation wasting my evenings while I get fit in around soccer practice.....and whatever else this selfish group decides. When you pay your own gasoline and take 2-3 hours out of your life to go to a home....people could at least have the courtesy to have everyone there for the appointment. I've seen the change over 30 years. I guess my problen is I don't know how important all these yuppies are.

[mike]

I am in the home improvement business....Taras experience was not caused by sexual bias, but by a calculated business decision which does not descriminate by gender. Had Taras husband called, and requested the visit without Tar, he would have gotten the same response...Its not always gender bias when somebody tells a woman "NO" to her demands..sometimes those demands are simply unreasonable.