Women; All the Rave about the New Buyer to Sell to in Retail Automotive

[dramonte]

Appropriately refined strategies for selling to women have become the rave of all retail, and the odds are good that Retail Automotive will be as influenced as any other sector in 2006 and beyond by this gender appeal.

Though Elizabeth Blackwell would probably be pretty proud of the steps forward pretty feet have made in corporate, social, and other arenas throughout antiquity, she might would call upon generations future to be led by the likes of Elena Ford and other well found women like her who can impact the world of automotive related industries in this ripe season of opportunity.

Many readers of this thread may not understand the same code that erupted the male-dominated practice of medicine during the 19th century when Miss Blackwell was permitted to study and become an MD at New York's Geneva Medical College (seemingly by accident) is one that similarly applies in modern automotive industries. The doors are closed to all but an exclusive few at the industry's top ranks, and the lack of diversity that has diseased the elite at our automotive "BIGS" has also infected their respective marketing and sales campaigns. It is a prejudice that has attacked the life-lines of brands and clogged the revenue arteries of the makers at home.

Is a day soon coming when the major makers of domestic autos will recognize women buy differently because they perceive differently? Will there be a hoax in the industry that opens the doors of gender diversification by accident, as is presumed to have been the case in many historians' accounts of the fine Miss Blackwell? Surely the industry is to take a turn very soon, for the precursors are all in place for major innovation in every aspect of the sector. Short of a woman scientist discovering a revelation that solves the woes and worries of few answers for alternative fuel solutions to, as U.S. President George Bush so pointedly diagnosed, America's oil addiction, there will be a major shift coming in the marketing and sales strategies auto manufacturers and retailers use to draw customers to their products. Purely stated, notice the move that will be made to market directly to the mom, professional business lady, and neo-Elizabeth Blackwell very soon.

[mchastek]

I find it very interesting that you posted this topic here. I think women are going to make a huge impact in the automotive industry in the years to come.

I had planned on starting a discussion very closely related to this. A good friend of mine (female) is in the process of writing a book aimed toward women to educate them about the car-buying process. It seems that the practice of buying and selling cars falls mainly in the hands of men. I think there is much potential for a book like this, and was interested in getting some feedback.

Thanks!

[elawless]

I know Volvo had a concept car for women, but do you know of any other manufacturers that have started designing cars to target women specifically?

[Lhansen]

Most manufacturers understand that females are involved in about 80% of the retail buying/leasing decisions. Many have courses geared to selling to and servicing for the female client. A dealership I was with over 15 years ago recognized this and we started training sessions geared towards educating the mostly male sales staff on how to related to the new wave a female clients.
Regarding "elawless's" comments, manufacturers often hold targeted market research sessions for just that purpose. Just as in retail, if you listen to your customers, they'll tell you exactly what they want.
I enjoy the forums...keep the postings coming!

Linda
Linda Graham Hansen
Auto Dealer Focus
www.autodealerfocus.com

[mchastek]

Most manufacturers understand that females are involved in about 80% of the retail buying/leasing decisions. Many have courses geared to selling to and servicing for the female client. A dealership I was with over 15 years ago recognized this and we started training sessions geared towards educating the mostly male sales staff on how to related to the new wave a female clients.
Regarding "elawless's" comments, manufacturers often hold targeted market research sessions for just that purpose. Just as in retail, if you listen to your customers, they'll tell you exactly what they want.
I enjoy the forums...keep the postings coming!

Linda
Linda Graham Hansen
Auto Dealer Focus
www.autodealerfocus.com (http://www.autodealerfocus.com)

Wow - glad to hear this! Question: did the training sessions for the male salespeople help? Did you find that more women were purchasing vehicles, or that more vehicles were being purchased in general?

And I totally agree - if you listen to your customers they'll tell you exactly what they want. Often times I find myself dissatisfied with a business, and I think to myself "wow, if only they'd ask me how my experience was, I'd tell them and their business would probably improve because of it."

Thanks for the kind words about the forum! It's great to have you here.

-Mark

[Lhansen]

Thanks Mark:
Yes , the sessions did help. A lot of the male sales consultants never realized what they were doing. Addressing the decisions to only the male, asking things like.."When do you want to come back with your husband?", eye contact issues, etc.
Sales did increase and the SSI scores followed. From time to time, we all need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and make sure we are follwing the Golden Rule.
I also encourage dealers to include all their front line employees in this type of training or review. Service Advisors, parts advisors, even the receptionists.
On a personal note, judging from the time stamp on your reply, we both spend too much time on the web. Just kidding!

Linda

[dramonte]

Truly Linda;

We recognize the instances in which the buying process is just the same for women as men in this Retail Automotive marketplace, and I would even venture to suggest that most dealership settings are ideal for the woman shopper in all the general aspects.

Do your studies and training criteria reveal any specific factors that go into women consumers' decisions to buy, respectively, from a particular dealer as opposed to the competition?

[Rennsport Calgary]

Good salespeople will always sell to women at the same percentage as they sell to men.

There are no material differences between the sexes IMHO as to how you define them as "buyers".........a couple of US automakers learned that back in the 50's with their "women's cars" that bombed magnificently in their showrooms.

The only issue to me anyways, is that most male salespeople don't give the appropriate amount of respect to the female client, and lose the sale. If they only realised it is truly that simple, they'd close more deals. We don't need to be taught how to sell to women.......just to respect them.

[mchastek]

I think you hit the nail on the head, Keith. I hadn't thought about it that way before. There are plenty of women that like SUVs, and plenty of men that like cars generally thought of as "women's cars", so I would put a lot of emphasis on the value of respecting women buyers. I've seen with my own two eyes women being treated with very little respect in the presence of a man at a car dealership.

I'm very happy to say that my significant other took the car-buying process into her own hands. I went to dealerships with her, but she did all of the talking and made it happen. She ended up spending her money at a dealership that treated her with the utmost respect. In fact, she test drove the car and made a deal over her lunch hour, and went back the same night with a check in hand. There is a lot to learn here.

[dramonte]

Keith, Mark;

Indeed the essentials of car making are not necessarily as affected by women in this age of automotive design, but I would beg to differ with you both as to the prominence of need in the market place for particular marketing approaches as it regards women auto consumers.

The studies from NRF (National Retail Federation) indicate that women absolutely purchase differently, and that they also arrive at their purchasing decisions much differently than do men. And, though car making is inherently different than any other industry as it regards gender preferences, retailing to women is essential and an art practiced across all industry sectors. Certainly, there is no excuse for women auto consumers to be discriminated against, and ill-afforded a respectful experience when in the automotive marketplace. However, there is more science to the equation than to simply handle the deal as you would for any male auto consumer.

First, and foremost, women are not equally represented in the industry. This means that while a male in the market for his automobile is dealing with his peers in more instances than not, that a female in the same market is mostly dealing with his peers, also. How would you feel going out to buy a purse right about, now?

Secondly, women influence nine-tenths of all retail automotive purchasing in the US. Why, then, is greater than 70% of all marketing and presentation of automobiles geared towards the male buyer? Why haven't innovative auto makers pursued, relentlessly, more relationships with woman-run businesses and corporations like Mary Kay to put into place iconic marketing strategies that have proven to work well and provide GM (in this case, with its pink Cadillacs) with handsome returns? The traditional Retail Automotive industry is dominated by EGO, that is why.

So, while marketing and technology will advance in light of the diverseness of information and knowledge made readily attainable to all sectors of almost every market place, the ATTITUDES about learning and implementing these advancements will determine the success of businesses in "The Future of the Largest Automotive Market Place..."

P.S. It goes without saying that the extraordinary among Retail Automotive Sales Professionals are generally ahead of the fold, and able to overcome the obstacles of sales success on all levels. So, to your point Keith, Good Sales People Will Sell WELL regardless of industry climate, gender, geography, etc.

[kristi]

Dramonte:
Can you share with us the particulars of the NRF study that indicates how women purchase differently? I'm very curious about their findings.

And regarding your recommendation for car manufacturers to market towards women, I have wondered the same thing myself. However, having worked in the advertising and marketing field, I can share with you the commonly accepted philosophy about gender marketing:
-Market to men, and women will listen also.
-Market to women, and men will head for the hills (and not with your product under their arm).

Perhaps it's a "safer" bet for manufacturers to market to the male population, because by default, marketing to the "asexual to male" end of the spectrum still seems to pull in the dollars of the female consumer?

However, you're SO right about retailing to women being an "essential...art practiced across all industry sectors." Who will be the first in the auto industry to try it?

P.S. Great thread!

[GM2help]

I couldnt agree more. The sterotypical salesman personaa that a product advisor has re: selling to women has to be changed. We have implemented many female specific strategies amongst all our stores and it has resulted in a tremendous amount of grwoth. Our most popular change is a clinic we hold Wednesday nights for women to learn the trade, their vehicle, operating tips etc, and we have huge turn outs.

Great post.

[GM2help]

Our implemetations came from focus studies we did with our clients, this data for myself to manage our stores is most important rather than national statistics as our demographic may be different from others surveyed.

What we were told by our female clients was that they were tired of sales reps not selling to them the same way they would to male clients. I honestly have overheard particular adversions where our reps would skip certain items in the sales process as they assumed the female would not follow which I was not happy about, nor were our female clients. We simply tweaked our management and sals process based on the focus group studies to ensure our reps could present to a female client clearly, and in the same manner or procedure they would a male. The result has been increased sales, and requests from females to have their own clinics where they learn in a forum together where they can ask questions, the in's and out's of their vehicle service etc.

[Rennsport Calgary]

"What we were told by our female clients was that they were tired of sales reps not selling to them the same way they would to male clients"

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This was exactly my point.........all you have to do is treat them the same..........give them the same respect on the floor you'd show to a male and you'll usually get the sale.

I sell high end sports cars for a living........the women who buy them are not overtly concerned about the pretty colors or shiny aluminium trim....but the same stuff a male gearhead wants to talk about. All this talk of selling to woman and their differences is pure and utter BS produced solely by a highly paid self serving bunch of gender challenged focus group leaders who probably found out the same thing I did.....but decided to package it differently to justify their fees they were paid.

[turbodan]

EJ Lawless, Dodge tried marketing to females with the LaFemme model in the late 1950's which bombed. You could write a book on why. I do know the modern Chevrolet Corvette has different levels of trim, color, and suspension packages which are offered due to the research on female owner preferences. This is why most Corvettes are not optioned to be hairy chested fire-breathing monsters to satisfy magazine writers and vicarious male ego bragging rights. But the Corvette can be optioned to be so. I may be wrong, but the majority of Corvette owners are females, or at least it was once true.

[funnylionking]

Good salespeople will always sell to women at the same percentage as they sell to men.

There are no material differences between the sexes IMHO as to how you define them as "buyers".........a couple of US automakers learned that back in the 50's with their "women's cars" that bombed magnificently in their showrooms.

The only issue to me anyways, is that most male salespeople don't give the appropriate amount of respect to the female client, and lose the sale. If they only realised it is truly that simple, they'd close more deals. We don't need to be taught how to sell to women.......just to respect them.

:rolleyes: You are right on.

I am a finance manager and when I receive a Couple or a woman in my office, I treat her with great respect and I would say also that women listen to me more than man. Man they think they know everything about finance and warranty and insurance and cars.
Women listen and ask questions and then take a decision. Probably a more inteligent decision.
Have you ever heard the story of the guy too proud to ask for the road and kept driving for two hours....as for the lady don't mind asking for directions and arriving quite earlier than man. ;) :confused: :rolleyes: That is my opinion.
Women are a more and more important part of a decision ( if not the only part) I myself always ask my wife for her opinion. Not that I cannot take a decision but more because she knows as much as me in a different way and that sometimes man makes decisions too quickly.

[funnylionking]

Here is a nice link I found that cares about women and automotive industry. It is for Women customer and women in the automotive industry. Hope it helps. :rolleyes:
http://www.awareforwomen.org/

[mchastek]

I thought you all might be interested in this article posted on Auto Remarketing:

http://www.autoremarketing.com/ar/news/story.html?id=4999

The article is titled "CarMax: Buying Vehicles Still a Hassle for Women".

[Lhansen]

Thanks for posting the link, Mark. I think you'll see more and more similar articles in the future.
To funnylionking, thanks for the comments aout AWARE. I am a member and appreciate your support.

Linda

Linda Graham Hansen
Auto Dealer Focus
www.autodealerfocus.com

[mbrandon]

Great thread.

One thing struck me in reading the posts here. We need to not make any pre-judgements with our prospective customers. If anything has taught us this, it has been the menu selling process in finance. When implemented properly every customer is treated exactly the same and more often than not that means more revenue.

The discussion here has all been about the front end sale. However, with service contributing 58% of the dealers profits on average. What is everyones thoughts with regards to selling to women on the service drive?

[Lhansen]

Hi mbrandon:

I agree with you about not pre-judging anyone. As in the F&I menu selling example, I always advise Service Departments to perform vehicle walk arounds with every customer and present their complete findings. It is our responsibility to advise the customer of any out of line conditions on their vehicles, as well as point out what is fine. This is all about builidng a relationship and a trust factor with the client.
Most manufacturers now have training modules designed specifiaclly on welling to the woman customer. Most are pretty good, but it all comes down to respecting every customer.
Thanks!

Linda

Linda Graham Hansen
www.autodealerfocus.com