2015 US Women’s Car Dealerships Report

Posted: January 18, 2015 by Anne Fleming, Car Buying Advocate

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Top Brands, Trends and Insights Highlighted

PITTSBURGH, PA – Women-Drivers.com, the premier car dealer review company focusing on women and families, highlights in the company’s second annual report that women are having empowering experiences at progressive car dealerships in the United States.

Women are responsible for buying over 13 million cars at new car dealerships; that’s an impressive 36,000 vehicles a day. Dealerships have to literally change gears, advertising, amenities and their sales strategies to attract this powerful buying force. “It’s a very competitive industry” shares Women-Drivers.com President, Anne Fleming. “Women know they can buy a car anywhere in their respective city. It’s in a dealer’s best interest to strategize and market to women. However, it takes more than just having a family female spokesperson.

The research in the 2015 US Women’s Car Dealership Report comes from over 3,450 women’s surveys from the company’s website. From these surveys, the company generates a Women Satisfaction Index® or WSI score. The range is from a 5.0 (the highest) to 1.0 (the lowest).

The survey results are from a controlled environment, meaning the company works with about 400 dealers. These progressive dealers use the company’s platform to understand women’s unmet or unrecognized needs. By evaluating the data, dealers measure women’s satisfaction in key areas to create and maintain high scores. The difference these high scores make significantly impact perception, reputation, walk in’s and conversions.

Unlike other 5-star review sites, Women-Drivers.com offers women the opportunity to write a quick review and then opt-in to a ‘deeper dive’ survey to share more thoroughly about their dealership visit. Over 90% of the reviewers opt-in to the twenty-five question survey.

Fleming goes on to share, “In the past, women haven’t been asked for any real feedback by the industry, with the exception of the dutiful CSI. Through our platform, they are empowered and have the opportunity to share their voice and provide productive opinions. Generally, many of these buyers are having more than “satisfied” visits at car dealerships; they are truly delighted by the respectful and trustworthy manners of their sales advisors. In turn, when asked to write a review, they are generous.”

Dealership groups and manufacturers use the data collected by the company to better understand, improve and shape the customer’s experience. From the analytics, trends and predictive patterns are captured to help take the guesswork out of marketing to women.

Key Findings

  • When shopping for a vehicle, the overall WSI was 4.37, up from 4.25 last year. The top five rated shopping brands by women are Volkswagen, Ford, Chevrolet, Jeep, and Buick.
  • When purchasing a vehicle, the overall WSI was 4.73, up from 4.65 last year. The top five rated purchasing brands by women are Mercedes-Benz (also held the #1 spot in 2014), Lincoln, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler.
  • When leasing (a subset of purchasing), the overall WSI was 4.88, a jump from 4.80 in 2014. An amazing 98% of women would recommend their sales advisor when leasing a car.
  • When servicing a vehicle, the overall WSI was 4.57 a considerable leap from last years’ 4.38. The top five rated servicing brands by women are BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi.
  • Women visit on average 2 dealerships prior to buying a car. Sixty percent of women who leave without purchasing, do not return to that dealership.
  • When shopping, 56% of women go to the dealerships by themselves. 83% of them would recommend their sales advisor.
    • Almost one-third report that the dealerships website is not helpful
  • When buying, 46% of women go the dealership by themselves. 95% of them would recommend their sales advisor.
    • Women report the average time to buy a car is 3 hours and 20 min
  • Top reasons women don’t go to service department at original dealership:
    1. Not satisfied with last visit
    2. Didn’t like how she was treated
    3. Inability to get issue resolved to her satisfaction
    4. Cost of service
    5. Location not convenient
    6. Hours not convenient
    7. Lack of concierge services
  • The top requested item by women who have to leave their car overnight for service? A car to drive home – typically a service reserved for luxury brands.

NOTE: The data generated in the 2015 US Women’s Car Dealership Report comes from over 3,450 surveys from the company’s websites. From these surveys, the company generates Women’s Satisfaction Index or WSI® Data. Some brands are not represented in this report due to small sample size.

About Women‐Drivers.com – Women-Drivers.com is the premier women’s online rating and review service, connecting female auto shoppers to Certified Women-Drivers Friendly© Car Dealers. We encourage extraordinary commercial experiences and lasting relationships between these two groups. The Company provides innovative web‐based marketing solutions that build trust and transparency, resulting in greater sales and servicing from women. Follow us on Twitter @womendrivers.

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.