Women’s Wednesday #25: Boost Women’s Confidence to Boost Your Sales

Posted: April 29, 2015 by Anne Fleming, Car Buying Advocate

The Good News? Women account for 50% of car purchases, and influence more than 80% of the deals.

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The Downside? One in three women report feeling apprehensive or overwhelmed when they shop and buy a car. Only 38% of women feel confident about the process.

Women have different buying criteria and behaviors than men. Women rank trust and respect at the top of their list when it comes to choosing a sales advisor and are 50% more likely to read dealer reviews. They prefer to read reviews written by her peers.

Did You Know?

1.25 million women will buy a car in the next 3 months. Taking the time to incorporate programs to boost the confidence of prospects means your store becomes a trusted destination at the top of her list. The benefits don’t end when she buys her car, rather, she will own her car for 5-8 years and share her happy experience with family + friends.

Reading dealer reviews, bringing someone with her to the dealership — these actions show women are seeking ways to be confident about their purchase. Here are tips to boost women’s confidence and impact your sales revenue:

1. Convey trust and respect. At the core of building trust and respect is the ability to listen and respond to what a woman is saying. Listen, don’t lead, and pursue a goal of truly understanding. After all, she is in your store and she is there for a reason, even if she isn’t purchasing today.

2. Support the decision making process. When it’s time to buy, just 1 in 10 women know exactly which one they want. What this means is she has a list of needs and desires in a car, and wants to find the best fit for that list. This isn’t indecision, it is a smart and more open way to shop. A savvy sales advisor will create a “decision tree” that helps reduce the list of cars to the best choice. Following a logical decision-making process will help a woman feel she bought the right car.

3. Create a powerful evidence-driven reputation digital-to-showroom story. Encouraged happy female clients. Why? Their scores rate higher than men, and they acknowledge their dealership and sales person with rave posts. Use your reviews and reputation in your advertising so this buying segment puts you at the top of the list.

What’s in it for Your Dealership?
A confident, delighted buyer who has written a positive review of her experience can influence countless others to follow her lead. When that buyer decides to purchase or lease again, the loyalty created during her engagement with your dealership will bring her back.

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.