Selling Automotive Services to Women

 

Who is responsible for car maintenance and repairs in your family?  More and more, that person is a woman.

According to the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, women are taking over the traditionally male-dominated responsibility of car maintenance and repair

With regard to vehicle maintenance, 74% of women state they are responsible for making the maintenance decisions concerning their vehicles. 18% reported the decisions were shared and only 8% said they were responsible for none of the maintenance decisions

You'll find and these and other interesting stats about women and automotive services here.

Why focus on women when selling automotive services?

As we've seen, women are often the one responsible for bringing the vehicle in to be serviced.   

Also - understanding women’s buying process will help you gain more female customers, increase customer loyalty and referrals, and increase sales per customer. 

So what can companies do to sell to and connect with women consumers?   To start with, they can look at the success of Michelle Neilson and Ms. Tuffy.

Selling automotive services to women -Ms. Tuffy Success Story

 
Meet Darrel and Michelle Neilson.   Darrel owned many Tuffy Auto Service Centers throughout Virginia.  When Michelle came on, she suggested creating a center devoted to serving women - Ms. Tuffy.  At first the franchise owners said, "no."   But after more persuading, they agreed to let Ms. Tuffy go forward as a test.

 

The result?  The Ms. Tuffy experiment has been a big success.  Darrel says if he had it all to do over again, he'd open 30 Ms. Tuffy stores.  So what is Ms. Tuffy doing differently? How are they creating an experience that women (and men) appreciate?

What women want from an automotive service center

Technicians report that women

• Ask more questions
• Inquire about details
• Are more willing to look under the hood or check out parts
• Are focused on preventative maintenance

Ms. Tuffy understands what women want.  Here are some of the specific services they offer:

Pick up & Drop-off Service for vehicle and driver!

Wireless internet work space

Mall shuttle

Wednesday Spa treatments

Convenient appointment scheduling

Car care clinics for groups, offices, churches, girl scouts, etc.

Free pre-travel safety checks for ladies and students

Professional, Non-Intimidating Service

ASE Certified Technicians

Easy To Understand Explanations of Your Vehicle Needs

Dealership Quality Without High Dealership Rates

Beautiful, Relaxing Atmosphere

Complimentary Vacuum Service with Your Visit

Proudly Female Owned and Operated With Years of Automotive Experience

Every detail has been planned for including wireless internet access, a super comfy waiting room and women friendly magazines and TV stations.

 

Michelle Neilson regularly hears from her customers, saying they drive by other Tuffy locations to get to Ms. Tuffy.   Which brings up a critical point.  Convenience is super important, but for women, trust is even more important than convenenience. 

By being transparent, Ms. Tuffy pulls back the curtain and actually walks customers out to show them their cars and parts.  One technician noted a woman dressed to the hilt who probably wouldn't want to go out into the service bay.  But when asked if she wanted to see her car, she trotted right out, pumps and all, to see what work had been done.

 Action steps you can take to create satisfied loyal female customers

•  Hire women – technicians and customer-interacting staff.

• Listen to her full story without interrupting (she’s giving you details she thinks you need to understand the problem). Don't jump to a diagnosis til she's had a chance to fully explain the problem.
• Over-explain what you’ll be doing. Women want more information and details about what's being done and why.
• Set up a regular maintenance schedule and send reminders.  (just like a dentist)  Get her email address and set up an auto-responder email.
• Give her regular phone updates on how the work is going and when she can expect her car to be ready. 
• Physically show her the work that has been done.
• Return her car clean – no smudges, no changes to radio station or seat position (respect her space)  Even offer a free vacuum. (she notices details)
• Ask a woman to critique your shop and point out details, good and bad from a female customer point of view.

Pay attention to the unique needs of your women clients and watch your sales soar. 

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Comments

[sewa mobil]

Nice article, thanks for sharing.

[HumanPersuasion]

Holly, this Ms. Tuffy concept is brilliant!
In hindsight, don't these simplistic kinds of successes seem so obvious?

[Holly Buchanan]

So true - some of the biggest successes, when you look back on them, are no-brainers. I'll tell you, after meeting the Ms. Tuffy folks, I now take my car there to be serviced and what a difference. I'll never take it anywhere else.

Holly

[Gerardo]

That’s a very smart way of marketing. All most every product which targets women for its sales, it has succeeded. Automotive marketing has also been using different strategies to improve their business. Nice article, smart work.

[Automotive Seo]

Why would it be surprising that women make the decisions when it comes to repair of their own vehicles? I am a single female. Who else would be taking car e of my car repairs if it weren't for me? Am I supposed to wait for a knight in shining armor to come along and do it for me? I don't know ANY woman who isn't responsible for her own vehicle.

[Oliver Ganns]

I often ask my wife to come with me to the auto shop for our car's maintenance sessions. It's because she's a better listener than me, so she never misses a tip from our trusted repair man. She's just so enthusiastic about our car that she even asks for advice from her Facebook friends! Maybe next time, I'm gonna let her do the car errands while I do the housework.

[Rita McCall]

Having specialized auto centers for women like Ms. Tuffy can encourage empowerment and gender equality. As we all know, women today can also drive their own cars as a symbol of their success. I hope Ms. Tuffy can employ girls not only for office jobs, but also for mechanical jobs to cater to their needs effectively.