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How to Sell a Car to a Woman

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From LesleyB, Featured Contributor
Posted on July 14, 2008

Why is it so hard for women to buy a car?

Ask any woman about her experience buying or getting service on her car, and you are likely to hear a long list of experiences about how she was unable to get serious attention, good answers to her questions, or any mental peace from price negotiations. Many women have brought along a man as a prop when shopping for a car, because they believe that the same questions and bargaining tactics will be better received when coming from a man. How ridiculous is that?

Apparently, there's a growing trend towards 'female-friendly' auto dealerships, which means that the salespeople have undergone some sort of training in the special needs of female car shoppers. With women gaining buying power as well as exercising heavy influence over most household purchases, including cars, why are women considered a special-needs segment by auto dealers? Shouldn't all dealerships consider themselves female-friendly?

I'd really like to see the curriculum of this 'female-friendly' training. Wouldn't it be more effective for dealerships to segment their customers based on something like lifestage, or by attitudes towards cars and car shopping? It seems unrealistic that all women buy cars exactly the same way. That this training passes for progressive in the car industry is indicative of just how much they will have to change in the years ahead.

Statistics have shown that women do receive slightly higher price quotes than men at dealerships, although it pales in comparison to the difference between price quotes received by minority and white shoppers. Even if we are being treated fairly, we have reason to suspect that we're not, and the lack of transparency in the process makes it almost impossible to tell. This is a pretty big problem, and the first people to solve it efficiently are going to get a lot of business.

The only way to become truly 'women friendly' is to make the pricing clear and to remove the backroom negotiations. I don't want to participate in a process in which I can't get a fair shake unless I'm a brilliant negotiator, or I bring along a man, to whom you will give better prices. Which is, of course, the role that the internet is already playing, and will continue to play with more and more importance.

So, unless your female-friendly training involves very basic concepts like approaching women buyers as individuals who have the potential to buy, just like any other buyer, I say skip it. We'll be shopping at the place where we can find information and make the best decisions, anyway.

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LesleyB is a featured contributor for vLane.