Woman And Car
 

MORE WOMEN PURCHASE and maintain their vehicles than ever before. Yet, for many women, taking care of their cars can be a daunting task--especially if they don't trust their repairmen. According to Skip Merrick, automotive chairman at Alfred State College, women impact eight out of 10 vehicle sales and nearly half of tire sales. That in itself makes it imperative that automotive service professionals understand how to interact with women to reap the benefits of sales and repeat business with them.

Merrick has created an ethics training program to help participants understand the vulnerability and intimidation that many women experience when buying a car or seeking repair services. The program is part of a required service manager/consultant course where students learn how to effectively run an automotive business. Through role-playing scenarios and real-life experiences from female students and staff, students learn how women perceive the car-buying and repair process.

SOME TRAINING HIGHLIGHTS:

* Understand that a woman relies on her car in different ways than a man. For example, a woman faces a potentially vulnerable and dangerous situation when her vehicle stalls.

* Never use a condescending tone of voice, inappropriate language or refer to female customers by anything other than their first name.

* Maintain eye contact to communicate sincerity.

* Avoid using negative body language, such as folding arms, tapping a foot or checking a watch that may communicate boredom or superiority.

Female purchasing characteristics also are covered. For instance, women will often drive up to 50 miles to give their business to a repair shop they trust.

"Instead of noticing the make and model of the car getting its oil changed, a woman looks for cleanliness, notices body language and seeks respect from whoever greets her," said Merrick. "Many females also admit feeling ignored, talked down to, taken advantage of and even pushed out the door when they interact with dealers or repairmen. And we want to change that."

COPYRIGHT 2006 Advanstar Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group