Aubrey Hankins

Company: CRMSuite Corporation

Aubrey Hankins

CRMSuite Corporation

Jul 7, 2016

Selling To Women vs. Selling To Men

Selling to women has been a topic in dealership training for years. But this technique of differentiating women from men as decision makers, as unpopular as it may seem, is flawed. Gone are the days when a wife would make the introduction, choose her favorite vehicle, and the salesperson would then turn their focus on how to convince the husband that this vehicle was perfect for "him" too. There are a plethora articles, websites, and even companies focusing on "selling to women" as a different means to success. Some even go as far to state, regarding women consumers, "They’re going to make money, they’re going to make their own decisions, and they can be very loyal consumers.” The issue here, again unpopular, is that this is true for so many woman AND men, and not just women alone. It can actually harm your dealership in the long run if you focus on women being a separate entity rather than a Consumer in general.

There is a large discrepancy with the way dealerships sell to women. It is historically tied to an era in which there were factors that did indeed make it possible to succeed in this separation technique. Examples being a much lower divorce rate, less single parents, and a much less wealthy women workforce. Currently, about 51 percent, or $14 Trillion, of American personal .... The world of independent women has changed society, and the automotive industry is, in many cases, creating a discrimination by selling to women separately. To succeed in the dealership marketplace, there's changes that must be made. Should you be selling to women differently? Yes, differently than you have been. As you would with men, dealerships must sell and inform the "decision maker", no matter the gender.

When selling a car, the first step is obviously identifying what the consumers' needs are that you could provide, and identifying the path to provide this. The chief difference in the way that we treat women versus the way that we treat men is, with men, we do not make assumptions about what men need and/or what they need from us. There's an assumption that there's a diversity and complexities that aren't attributed to the female buyer. And this isn't a character problem, nor is it even a moral problem, it's rooted from a historical reality. However the problem is, this is no longer the case. The diversity that's represented in the male car buying population is represented almost entirely in the female car buying population.

The women consumer used to be have a singular list of needs, which in turn created a singular path to selling. Today, these needs have an almost identical representation as men. There may be sometrue\ range difference, but by no means is this singular any longer. No longer are there a few females dominating with wealth. The american archetype of the woman car shopper is no longer reflected in the car buying process. The argument is going to be, as always, "Women are different than Men." In many ways, this is true. However, in car buying today, it's no longer the case. Yes, the female car buyer has small differences in what they're looking for. However, the change that has happened has created an increase in the diversity of needs represented by the female buyer. This diversity has to be a factor that motivates how we sell to women; that being the same way as we would sell to men. Practically speaking, we no longer know what the female car buyer is looking for. We have to ask, and as with the male car buyer, we have to assume that they know better than we do about what their needs are. Do we need to sell to women differently? As stated above, YES. Differently than we have been.

Aubrey Hankins

CRMSuite Corporation

Director of Dealer Communication

9362

6 Comments

Anne Shaneen

DrivingSales

Jul 7, 2016  

A great read, Aubrey. I can't tell you how frustrated I get when I don't get taken seriously at dealerships! Thanks for the share. 

Dennis Wisco

Wisco Agency

Jul 7, 2016  

But @Anne, I really do think that the mini van is better for you...Oh I see now...

Big Tom LaPointe

Preston Automotive Group MD/DE

Jul 7, 2016  

there are several companies in automotive vendor space that promote DIFFERENCES between men and women, but i have to agree that for the most part, a good salesperson / dealership who is committed to being good at consultative selling with value can be very effective selling into the female buyer segment. dealer staff MUST understand that because of the negative history, women may have even more anxiety about dealing with a store. 
In service, i found women owners to be more open to performing (appropriate) maintenance on their car if i took the time to explain the importance of particular procedures. the irony being that men often have a very inaccurate impression that they are genetically predisposed to know about cars and thus 'know what they need'. ironic because 99 out of 100 times you see a dead car in the parking lot with guys looking under the hood, 'my' experience is that they have NO CLUE what they are looking at. I do, and that still means call the tow truck lol. 

Dale Hamelin

Mazda Gabriel

Jul 7, 2016  

I must say , I am new in the industry and never sold to women differently than men . When I have a couple , I include the woman in the discussion . They are usually thrilled that I did not leave them out , this sets me apart from the rest of the crowd :)

Joni Boatright

I95 Toyota of Brunswick

Jul 7, 2016  

I was told years ago to be sure to address the female as much, if not more than the male. Statistics show that 85% (?) of the decision makers are women. 

I'm a firm believer that really LISTENING is all you have to do. As for me; who to talk to, etc....just comes naturally after that. Just plain ole' respect is knowing not to ignore anyone in front of you.... even if it's their neighbor's ex brother in law's sister....twice removed. ;-)

Michael Smith

Bob Pulte Chevrolet

Jul 7, 2016  

Joni great point.  Ive always found the key to find out who is the decison maker and go from there. 

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