Women's primary concern as a customer is being taken seriously. Survey after survey reports that women still don't feel treated with respect as a consumer, particularly in industries that are traditionally male. Generally, men and women are looking for entirely different experiences when they come to a dealership to buy a car. Women want to be treated as a valued, intelligent and financially capable and astute customer. The following tips are suggested ways to demonstrate the treatment that many women want.
Build a Relationship - Although most sales books, written by men for men, emphasize establishing a relationship with the customer, the specifics with women are different than with men. For many women, the relationship may well be more important than product or price. Work at building rapport, establishing trust and identifying her needs and wants well before you even begin to talk about the vehicle. If she's alone, assume that she's the purchaser, driver and decision-maker rather than asking who else will be involved in making the decision. She won't be offended by your approach even if there is in fact another decision maker.
Go Slow - When women are about to spend a lot of money on a car, they often proceed in a slower manner than men. They often want more information and detail, one chunk at a time, they want to shop more and make comparisons, and they have a lower risk-taking propensity relative to money. In a survey of 600 male and female consumers that we recently completed, a majority of women said they disliked male sales professionals' pushiness and aggressiveness to close the sale. Expecting and respecting women's difference in pace and not pushing, works like a charm.
Listen - Men are tired of hearing from women that they don't listen well, but women continue to perceive that men are inattentive to what women are saying in personal, workplace, sales and service situations. Shake hands with your female customer. Look her in the eye, nod your head occasionally, avoid interrupting, acknowledge what she says and use active listening techniques such as paraphrasing and reflection of feelings.
Paraphrasing is saying back to the customer what she said to you in slightly different words. "So what's most important to you in this purchase is the dependability of your car. You want it on the road and running reliably." Reflection of feeling is mirroring back to her some of the emotions she appears to be experiencing. For example, "You seem really enthusiastic about buying a truck this time, instead of a car." This type of communication increases the likelihood that the customer will feel understood by the salesperson. When women feel listened to and understood, they feel taken seriously and respected by salespeople.
Ask More, Tell Less - As a sales or service person, giving advice and suggestions is an important part of the job. But overloading women with facts, unsolicited advice, opinions, beliefs, numbers and data, particularly at a rapid pace often elicits a negative response. Asking more questions to determine the female customer's needs and wants and allowing her to come to her own conclusions generally works better than bombarding her with data and advice. Women may not have the same knowledge of car parts, functions, measures of speed or power so explain and educate without coming across as patronizing. For example, "As you may know," or "The amount of torque, which just refers to," or "With all the changes in automotive technology, it's hard to keep up with all the new words, terms and lingo."
Every customer is unique, therefore assume that difference rather than similarity works best, particularly when referring to gender.