2011 Top 10 Certified Women-Drivers Friendly™ Dealers in the US

Posted: March 12, 2012 by Anne Fleming, Car Buying Advocate

PITTSBURGH, PA – Women-Drivers.com

Who made the cut for the top car dealerships in the US? The female consumer has spoken and out of 1300 dealerships in the United States receiving reviews, the Top 10 Certified Women-Drivers Friendly™ Dealers are in. The Certificate acknowledges the positive, consistent and respectful experiences women had at these dealerships in 2011. The company presented the following dealerships and personnel with the Certified Women-Drivers Friendly™ Dealer of the Year awards last month.

On the site, dealerships’ scores range from 1.0 (the lowest rating) to 5.0 (the highest). Dealers with a Women Satisfaction Index or WSI^® scores between 3.8 – 5.0 are recognized and marketed as Certified Women‐Drivers Friendly^™.

Wright Nissan –Tom Hull, GM
Sheboygan Auto – Jared Romanoski, GM
Rohrich Toyota – Mark Podrosky, GM
North Hills Toyota – Carlos Echevarria, GM
Monroeville Chrysler Jeep – Vic Olive, GM and Jeffrey Mountain, IM
Kelly Mitsubishi – Chris Saraceno, Owner and Tom Carey, GM
Day Ford – Debbie Day, Owner and Peter Flaherty, GM
Day Chevrolet – Debbie Day, Owner and Dave Steward, GM
Baierl Chevrolet – Mike Paolucci, GM
Haasz Chrysler – Tyler Kline, GM

Certified Women-Drivers Friendly™ Dealers are leading the trend towards higher consumer satisfaction via the rising purchasing power of women; these particular dealers are getting more sales, leads and referrals. The higher a dealership’s WSI® score (Women’s Satisfaction Index), the higher their CSI score.

Our “Certified” Difference Dealerships that are Certified get several no-cost perks that other national dealer review sites charge hundreds of dollars for each month. For starters, positive reviews are integrated into their Facebook Fan Page to assist in building an affirmative reputation and to grow their fans. The reviews from these dealers are also optimized in major search engines as well as these dealerships come up first in the company’s database.

“The site is all about connecting a powerful group of buyers with sellers that are respectful and customer-centric”, said President, Anne Fleming. “We do not have dealers pay to become certified. Our model is about authenticity and if there is payment exchanged between the dealer and the company that is ‘certifying’, how do consumers trust the integrity of the dealership’s standing, reviews and ranking? At our company, customers are the ones ‘certifying’ a dealership – not an independent company that is being paid by the dealership”.

What Are the Criteria for Being a Certified Dealership? A dealership must have a minimum of ten reviews to qualify. For each review written, a rating is posted with scores ranging from a 5.0 (Excellent) to a 1.0 (Marginal). Each review falls under one of three categories: Browsing, Purchasing or Servicing. A Certified Women-Drivers Friendly™ rating of 3.8 or higher indicates that a dealership has earned the trust and reputation of being service‐oriented towards women. To retain this status and receive its Benefits, dealers must get reviews continuously.

About Women Drivers
Women-Drivers.com provides car dealers with distinct, web-based marketing solutions that build trust and transparency, resulting in greater sales and servicing from women. Women-Drivers connects women to Certified Women-Drivers Friendly^™ Dealers and publishes a platform of services to qualifying dealerships to distinguish and market themselves. The innovative Facebook Integration of women+family content results in dealerships building larger social communities, longer time spent on the dealerships site, and more sales conversions.

Contact 412.327.2604 to schedule Anne Fleming for an interview. Learn more at Women-Drivers.com

Connect with More Women Drivers:

Communicate tangible value-adds in your advertising.

If your store provides overnight loaner cars, include this in your messaging. It’s the #1 concierge item requested by women.

A confident, pleased buyer who writes a great review of her experience can influence countless other women to follow her lead.

Ask, track, and always respond to reviews.

Reviews are 3 times more influential than advertising when women buy a car.

Women want to read others’ experiences to help verify what dealerships to visit. Showcase these valuable testimonials on your home page or their own navigation section to build trust and credibility – don’t hide them in ‘About Us.’

One Size Does Not Fit All.

Step back and ask, who does your advertising really speak to?

Women are looking for connections with car dealerships.

Enhance your advertising by investing part of your ad dollars into what’s in it for her. Include dealer reviews and ‘Dealer of the Year’ awards. Remember to also sell your dealership, not only cars.

Never miss a simple action to upsell your store.

Offer a 3-minute tour, share about extended service center hours, mention that you offer overnight loaner cars, and give a free car wash coupon. Always look to surprise and delight.

Develop relationships with online guests.

Provide informative, helpful content in your BDC email response as well as link to reviews highlighting authentic consumer experiences.

76% of women rated their dealership’s website 3 out of 5 stars.

As the first point of engagement for customers, be sure your website represents your brand well, conveys trust, is welcoming, and contains educational content that adds value.

The #1 digital resource women use when buying a car is the dealership’s website.

Include images of women throughout your digital assets and online marketing campaigns.

It takes more than having a female spokesperson to market to women.

The #1 reason women choose to buy is TRUST which requires implementing new behaviors, attitudes, processes, and messaging.

Make your dealerships a welcome destination for all customers.

Always greet your customer through active listening, use empathy and understanding, and taking an interest in what they need or want – even if it’s outside the car purchase.

Include informative, engaging content on your website.

It helps build trust and ensures guests get value from your brand.

Behavior Economics demands tracking when your customers fall off.

Dealers with outdated behaviors and attitudes are losing traction with women in this competitive industry.

Measure and track the number of women leads and buyers each month.

You can’t grow what you don’t know.

Create the right conditions for the sale on the first visit.

Ask questions, listen, and get to know the customer. Never interrupt and don’t assume. Consider there won’t be a second visit.

Dealers need to shift the paradigm to effectively engage, market and optimize sales to women.

What is your Trust Dashboard with this market?

53% of millennial car buyers are women. Almost 4 in 10 women are the breadwinners in their family.

How is your current and future customer demographic represented in your front line team?

Crack the code by turning reviews into real-time data to make yours the go-to store.

Our platform collects unprecedented pre- and post-purchase analytics about what your #1 buyers want and prefer from participating dealers.

Transform your messaging and make the showroom more customer-centric.

92% of reviewers choose to opt into a 25-question survey summarizing their visit. This unbiased data is available in predictive analytics WSI (R) Dealer Data reports chronicling what these buyers want and experience.

Game-Changing Predictive Analytics.

What women want at the dealership has predominantly been an absent dialog; those statistics and conversations have generally been national. Dealers now have access to their own proprietary data through our platform. This provides leaders at each business the ability to have honest insights allowing for predictive awareness of behaviors, preferences, and experiences.