5 Ways to Deliver a Competitive Edge

Today, our Women’s Wednesday focuses on the road to ultimate business success. This is powered by a growing customer base, increasing loyalty and customer retention. Here are some innovative marketing ideas to increase your competitive edge by delivering more value to women customers.

1. Buy A Car In Less Than 2 Hours
Do you know it currently takes a woman an average of 3 hours and 20 minutes to buy a car? Most women feel "highly inconvenienced" by this, especially because time is one of women’s most prized commodities. Implement a marketing approach where buyers can seal the deal in 2 hours or less.

2. Test Drives On-Call
Half of the buyers at a dealership are women – but most women work. With professional females and moms on the go, a way to distinguish your dealership is having “test-drives-on-call.” Bring a new vehicle to her place of business or home to test drive; this concierge service is attractive to women as again, it is time saving.

3. Access To Technology Experts
Car buying is a costly purchase. Women buyers, especially, take a lot of time to research the dealership and learn about the vehicles before they make their final decision. In the car itself, there are so many buttons and touch points on a dashboard. Who can remember all the things said during a test drive? Most buyers spend no more than 5 minutes learning about their NAV or tech packages and leave the dealership unfamiliar with these aspects of their new vehicle. Have classes for consumers to attend - post purchase - about the cars’ technology and perhaps some one page cheat sheets for them. Having access via email, text, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to your dealership’s technology expert is a must.

4. Build A Strong Brand Dealer Reputation
Women rely on car dealer reviews 50% more than men. It makes sense, they want to get their car buying right! They really want to buy from well-reputed and trusted dealers. To build strong brand reputation and attract more women buyers, dealers can get reviews from women shoppers and train their sales team to deliver the ultimate car buying experience to every customer who walks in the store. This low cost model is a win-win.

5. Acknowledge Mistakes And Show Customers They Are Valued
It is difficult for businesses to acknowledge their mistakes. When it comes to client retention, “holding up your hand” in business, is paramount. For example, when it comes to Reviews – keep it real and be transparent. Ask to have a one-on-one discussion with the consumer via telephone. Market your dealership in such a way so that all customers feel included and a valued part of the process.

Positioning your dealership in this way – and clearly communicating these services - makes clients and potential customers feel that your business is working in the clients’ best interest rather than just "selling cars and making money."

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Comment by Anne Fleming on December 7, 2014 at 5:22pm: Tom -- thanks for your feeback and breakdown of the "perfect" scenario which we are always striving for and sometime fulfilling. It is fabulous to have the process breakdown as you have, so that the team members can work towards that attainment.

I do want to address your statement about good marketing practices with respect to women and all customers. You are 100% correct. That being said, there are thousands of other dealerships where this doesn't happen all the time. That's why dealerships employ our company because they are aware of some of the disconnects that unintentionally happen during the sales engagement.

In any event, women now rate their dealership HIGHER than men on car dealer review sites. They also have have had very strong improvements in shopping and buying at dealerships as evidences by the

2014 Women's Car Buying Report. Thanks again, Tom -- appreciate your input and engagement. Kind regards.

Comment by Big Tom LaPointe on December 7, 2014 at 3:57pm

A few things to look at here, but 'marketing to women' in general gets under my skin, because it's basically good business practice selling to ANYONE.

As for the time to buy a car, I've had a purchase take more than 2 hours and I WORKED FOR THE STORE. Let's look at the process...and thank criminals and lawyers for much of the timeline

Intro and establish needs: 10-20 min.
Vehicle presentation: 15-25 min
Test drive (including collecting driver license) answering questions: 20-40 min
Numbers discussion: 10-60 minutes (not necessarily 'negotiation', but settling payments, running credit, finding alternate vehicles, etc.)
Preparation of documents 15-30 minutes (more if F&I backed up)
Signing documents (20+ forms thanks to lawyers): 20-60 minutes
SHOWING the vehicle functions / buttons 20-60 minutes

So if it all goes PERFECT, we're looking at 2 hours. Everything else adds time - backup in finance, choosing a different vehicle, locating a vehicle, longer financial debate, loan approval. Often, the delay is as simple as waiting for the car to get through the detail department. Pre-negotiation over the phone or online can expedite some of the process, but JUST finance and delivering the vehicle can often take two hours.

I have NEVER met a salesperson or manager who was happy about a buying customer being delayed at the store - especially with CSI questionnaires pending, but it takes time to help someone through the second largest purchase they are likely to make. When you compare it to the process for buying a house, it's actually pretty quick.

Comment by Anne Fleming on December 3, 2014 at 8:32am: Chris -- my pleasure. Its the little things the make the biggest difference. There is nothing cliche about it -- in life or in business.

Comment by Chris Saraceno on December 2, 2014 at 11:06pm: Thank you Anne for sharing with the dE team

Comment by Anne Fleming on November 14, 2014 at 12:05pm: Marsh - thats terrific. Here are our past Women's Wednesdays that are full of education nuggets adn on the floor suggestions to make a real, quantified difference: http://women-drivers.com/womenswednesday/

My best.

Comment by Marsh Buice on November 14, 2014 at 11:08am: You offer some great ideas Anne- I really like the idea of one page cheat sheets for our customers. Thank you for sharing your valuable insight.