I've got a question for you ladies. I'm a guy. I've been out of work for a year and recently picked up a part time job I've never done before, selling guns, which I've been doing for the past week, all to guys. I've had plenty of women (wives, girlfriends) come in and look, but no buyers yet. In selling firearms to women, is there anything special you would want me to know as a salesman that would increase your chance of buying a gun from me? What makes women choose one gun over another? Obviously I think how it fits in the hand or to the shoulder and how the trigger and action feels would be factors. Anything I'm missing?

glock 48 is your answer

not a lady but that's your answer

Why?

Dear lord.

I sold guns for seven years in a very large lgs and sold tons to women , and I’m not a girl I was always in the top two sales each month.

Don’t be a creep
Don’t say dumb shit
Don’t push them into your favorite.
Please God don’t push them to.38 revolver cause it’s chics gun.

Let them try a number of things and point out the features and let them decide. Too many guys get all gun snoby and people shut down.

I could go on but you get the drift.

Good luck.

That's good advice. Thank you

Not a woman as far as I know..................but here it is.

Don't condescend.
Be respectful.
Ask them questions about past shooting experience.
Ask if they are going to carry concealed.
If no range at your place, don't be afraid to recommend they try some guns out first.
Let THEM answer your questions, not the bf/so etc.
Work WITH THEM for the sale, not AT THEM.
Don't stare at their tits.

Basic Sales 101.

Not a Female, but have been gun shopping with some before, don't just push them toward "girls guns" like the snub 38...
Just because they don't have a Y chromosome doesn't mean they have to have certain firearms...

Steering them towards a firearm that they feel comfortable and capable with that they can compently operate trumps all the gun culture bullshit.
Including making dam sure you show them a revolver.  The simple fact is that many women really struggle with semi autos and have no intention of ever spending the time or energy to become as proficient as one should. Mentally or physically.
A revolver makes a good, safer choice under those circumstances.

You do not have a crystal ball but you can ask simple questions that may help guide what you place in her hands for her to evaluate.
Operational complexity is also an issue. Revolver vs semi auto.

If she is there with husband or Boytoy then all you can do is go with the flow and pull out 3-4 you think might work for her.
If the person can not compently operate the firearm in the dark, half asleep, then they should start with a different one that they can operate and are comfortable with. Obviously some of that is training related.
If they put in the time and become more in tune with firearms operation they can change to something else later.
The object is to place something in their hand they have the best chance of operating correctly while they are learning. How ever long that may be..?

Sales 101.    Wity.   What important to you?

And that's a question to them, not you..

When they walk up, put a gun in their hand.  If they put that one down, put that back up, put another gun in their hand.

Hand women guns that are easy to rack, and explain why that one is easy to rack, and the snubby .40 over there is more difficult.

I've sold a HiPoint to a gal who was prepared to use it on her ex-husband if he kicked the door in, and that was all she could afford.  I sold a faux-ivory gripped SIG P238 to a gal for her 30th anniversary, on the excuse that was the "gun" anniversary.  

Never assume a woman doesn't know anything. Done get hyperfocused on "low recoil". Be respectful and ask questions, listen to their answers. Women are significantly more relationship focused on a purchase, but don't be creepy. They will come by 3-4 or more times to look and touch.

My SO's favorite gun is a S&W 69. 4" ported barrel. She carries a G20 hiking and fishing, because 15 is better than 5 in bear country. She doesn't like shotguns, but liked the AT "pistol".

Do not steer me toward the pink gun (or tiffany blue or wtf-ever is the current girly color) just because I have tits.  At best I  will walk out of the store and never come back. At worst you'll be collecting your guts.

easy to operate and 100% reliable and fits a women's hand perfectly, 10 round magazine and  affordable, easy parts availability and servicing and resale value.  other than that not much  

Sounds good man. A woman I know bought a Glock 48 based on my showing her one.

my recommendation is if you will own only one gun its G 19 for men and G 48 for women.  Now if you can commit to owning multiple guns that may change. But for first and only gun that's it.

Female here... first and foremost give them the attention you would any other customer you intend on helping. As a woman coming into a gun store if the sales people treat me like I don’t exist or help all the men out before me then I typically walk right out and won’t shop there again or recommend it to anyone.

Understand that some women coming in know nothing and that others like me, with a safe full of guns of which some I built, tuned, and even cerakoted myself, know a fair bit about guns. So just like anyone else ask them how you can help and allow them to reveal what you might need to show them or help them.

Just because they are female does not mean they need a female gun. I know allot of women petiete alike they carry Glock 19’s, 17’s, and one even that carries a 34. My main carry gun is a 26 with an RMR. I carry a 17 in the winter sometimes too. If they are new to carry and you are able to, pull some holster options out and let them try some different guns in different carry methods. Grip comfort is good but so is carry comfort. If explaining purse carry and that it’s not the best option but it is an option and do it in a nice way to just bring up that it really in some ways requires more training and awareness when you’re not carrying on the body.

That’s all assuming it’s a carry gun as some might be coming in for a full size for whatever reason and don’t intend much to carry it.

So really just be nice and positive as you would any customer and help them make up their own mind and not make it for them.

Everyone is looking for something different and have different levels of experience so treat them as you would want to be treated to a certain respect.

Hope that helps.

@BigEasySnow - I didn't say it...

A few years ago, I was in a local gun shop with my daughter, just poking around.  A very attractive 35ish woman came in to look for a gun.  She was armed with a short list of guns that a friend had prepared.  The salesman was good, he was pointing out the positives and negatives of the various guns.  She decided that she liked the S&W 38 Bodyguard.   Before she pulled the metaphorical trigger, she called her husband and he told her that he'd be right there.

Five minutes later hubby runs into the store wanting to see what his wife wants to buy.  His first question, "Is it a .357 Magnum?"  The salesman says that it isn't and that a .357 snubbie is punishing and would be unshootable for the smallish woman.  The husband says, "I want her to get a .357 so that I can shoot it."  Huh?  The salesman asks, "Why can't you shoot a .38?"  The husband blathers some stuff about it not being any fun to shoot a .38.  The wife said, "It's my gun. ..  ." but hubby was insisting on a .357.

Around that time I had to leave and as we walked out, my daughter said, "That guy is an asshole."

I was back in the shop about a week later and I asked the salesman what the outcome had been.  He said that she got the .38 and opined that hubby was an ass.

You have some issues, don't you?

Don't treat them any differently than you do the men. Show them the same guns you would show anyone else. I think what shuts women down faster than anything is treating them like y chromosome deficiency is a disease.

Just go through the checklist. First ask them what they want it for, if they've shot a gun before, if they plan on taking classes, what their total budget is, etc.

Eh, not much point in showing most women the biggest .44 Mag you've got.  If she wants to see it, by all means, but the majority of women aren't looking for hunting revolvers.  Neither are most of the older guys.

Only because too many times has the assumption been that because I lack a Y chromosome, I must want the pink gun.  Fuck the pink gun.

@6GUNZ dingdingding - Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Don't assume she wants a gun for self-defense.  Don't assume that she wants something in pink.  In fact, as with sales to anyone, don't assume anything.  Ask questions, but don't condescend.  I get turned off if I say that I'm just checking out what they have and they keep badgering me with questions.  If she says that, just politely say, "Cool, let me know if you have any questions or if you want to handle anything."

Not a female but I was partner in a firearms training company that focused on female shooters for five years.  We had all kinds of guns including a G19 for the women to try.  It was very rare for the women to choose the Glock.  Most of the time they liked the 1911 in 9mm, Kahr K9, and the M&P 1.0 Compact 9mm.  I always brought along a DA/SA auto and one woman fell in love with my Beretta 92 Centurion. She went out and bought one and carries it regularly.

A popular gun for those that had their own when they came to the class was the Springfield XDSC, Bersa 380, and M&P 1.0 Compact.  They all ran really well.

A few had been sold on revolvers and tiny 380 autos like the LCP and found them to be difficult to shoot.  One woman brought a G23 and couldn't understand why her cop son-in-law recommended it. She hated that thing by the end of the class.

Keep putting guns in her hand until one clicks.  I knew it was mine as soon as my hand closed around it.

Also, keep in mind that revolver handles may not fit hands.  I have a 38 special that I will never shoot because
the grip doesn't fit my hand.  Putting a larger one on would fix it,  but I'm a Sig girl anyway.

Not a woman but have sold firearms to them!

Don't say Glock,Sig or any other brand is the it band! Help them and let them know how it feels in your hands is most important if they can't shoot it!

Treat them like you would a male buyer! Talk to them the same! Don't go to the pink firearms off hand let them choose! Treat the lady like how you would like your wife, girlfriend, mother or daughter to be treated!

Best advice I can give! Don't take advantage of one who knows nothing about firearms just to make a sale! My wife was sold a XDM full size 9mm to my wife who is 5'2 110 lbs and baby hands for a CCW weapon. If that company did not go out of business I would slam them so bad!

You should make sure you shout at them!

Almost every salesman that's tried to "sell" me on a gun (especially at gun shows) either hand me things that are pastel (pink, purple, etc.) colored or "Feel how light this is! It barely weighs anything."  

Concur w/great308. We're all different. Listen. Don't make assumptions. Don't condescend. Recommend training to those who seem clueless. I'm used to putting up with crap and being an anomaly in a gun store and on the range, but it gets old.

For me it's purpose, quality, accuracy, function, hand fit and what I can get my hands on in California. I might buy just about anything. I ended up selling handguns that were hard to rack or rifles that were heavy. Guns I own or owned:
numerous S&W .44 and .357 revolvers, K6S, P320C, P320SC, P365, P938, P238, Beretta 92F, Glock 19 and 27, S&W Shield, Sig 1911, various semi-auto, pump and OU shotguns, Mini-14, Colt M4, Ares SCR, several SU-16CA rifles, lots of 10/22 rifles, Savage HMR-17, custom AR build. Probably forgetting a few. What I may soon buy via PPT because California won't let me buy one new: P320-M17, Glock 43X.
My favorites today?
- P320C with X-compact grip and TLR-8G for bedside
- P365 for CCW
- Ruger 10/22 backpacker w/fiber optic sights and another 10/22 with Magpul X-22 stock and Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II scope for pesky squirrels
- Custom AR build for fun and home defense
- Remington 870 for home defense