Like you, I'm still waiting for a woman to run, NO I MEAN, be nominated and run, for President. But, that's not the purpose for this blog. There are a lot of lessons that women entrepreneurs can learn from the recent Presidential election and there is no better time than now to get started.

Running for President is like any other sales job in the U.S.A. One must dress the part, look the part, act the part, speak the part and think the part 24/7.

As women, this can be a little difficult as the traditional dress, look, and action needed tend not to fit the perceived concept of the super salesperson. Yes, I said salesperson. A few days ago you cast your vote for the salesman that won your decision.

Most women are terrific at building relationships and building relationships is critical to making the sale. The old adage that people do business with people they know, like and trust is still accurate today regardless of the popularity of social media sites....and don't allow anyone to tell you differently. This does not mean that making connections any way you can through Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and many other social media sites does not give you an advantage, but the savvy women entrepreneur/salesperson knows that creating a connection with a client deepens the customer relationship.

But being an excellent relationship builder still isn't the key element in making the sale to enough potential customers that you will win the business...in the case of November 6, 2012, the Presidential election. So what is?

.....knowing your target market and executing a sales plan that captures each segment of that target market with exactly the right product and service. One of the Presidential candidates did this exactly right ------------- President Barack Obama.

Every successful salesman must understand who the target market is before determining the message (sales approach) to win it. In this case, the target markets were clear: young people ages 18-29 (60%); black people (93%); Latinos (91%); Asian (73%); and women (54%).

Ask anyone in one of these target markets what garnered their vote and you'll hear a clear message that won the President the sale.

So what did the competition do wrong from a sales prospective?

First, the old-school politics of selling a vision just isn't working anymore. For example, as women entrepreneurs, we must ask ourselves what do my customers want from me right now? The WIIFM (what's in it for me) theme has never been stronger than it is right now. The American public is moving away from brands (being part of something larger than themselves) and towards instant gratification. Let's face it - quality is yesterday. Disposable is in. Bigger, better, more and NOW are words that sell.

But, back to understanding and defining your target market. One of my first questions to my women entrepreneur clients is "Who are your customers?" This simple question is rarely answered with much clarity. Every salesperson must know who their customer is, where their customer lives, what their customer buys, who they associate with, what they believe in, what do they care about etc. etc. If you can't answer these simple questions about your customers you have not defined your target market.

Back to the Presidential election. One candidate carefully, and successfully, changed his demeanor, walk, talk and message each time he made a presentation to a unique target audience. The other candidate, may have changed his words, but they didn't ring true for any demographic that he hadn't already won with his vision.

Understand NOW, you must identify a specific customer group and become a specialist. You cannot be all things to all people. Your product and/or service must be designed carefully to appeal to your specific target market. The most successful entrepreneurs are those that develop a niche. Selling to a niche market means attracting them by being better than your competition at solving their problems, proving them with what they want and making them feel good (and special) for doing business with you.

Back to our Presidential election analogy...compare the audience of the Democratic and Republican conventions...hmmm...now do you understand target markets?

This has not been a political message for either candidate for election. It's over!

This a lesson on what women entrepreneurs need to do to better define their target markets and successfully sell their product and/or service to their unique demographic. Allow the analogy of what you have just witnessed as an American voter be a lesson learned for your business. I can think of no better example!