Women do business their own way.

A study by Conning & Co., a Hartford, Conn., research and asset management firm, shows that one-third of all businesses in the U.S. are owned by women and account for 25% of all sales receipts. Moreover, they are growing at twice the rate of all other American businesses, both in numbers and revenues. According to Claude Fongemie, the study's author, the implications of this trend are enormous, particularly for companies selling goods and services, such as commercial insurance, to these businesses.

"If you're trying to segment the world of businesses to sell to, the study tells you first that the gender of the owner is a powerful differentiator," he indicates. "It also tells you that women are a large, rapidly growing, and successful group of business owners who make decisions based on similar needs and expectations. A company that customizes its products, services, and marketing around their needs and expectations will develop brand identification, gain pricing power, and at the same time achieve enormous distribution efficiencies. While we were primarily interested in women-owned businesses as a market...