With more women in the market today than ever before, it is important to understand that that they too love their cars. In many cases, because of the availability of information on the Internet, they actually know more about the vehicle than the salesperson when they come into the dealership. This is why your sales staff needs to treat them with respect – remember they might be more educated than you!

Ask Patty is the most popular female automotive blog and women come and tell Patty about their experiences. For those not familiar with blogging, it is one of the fastest growing aspects of the Internet with over 50 million women bloggers. Blogging gives people the ability to write about their experiences on any topic they wish and, unlike instant messaging or chat, blogging allows anyone interested in reading their post or article to comment and engage in the conversation.

Do you remember the TV commercial where Jessica Bassett made this phrase famous: “She will tell three friends and they will tell three friends and so on and so on”?  With the advent of blogging a woman can now tell 200 friends and so on and so on. 

One of the benefits of Ask Patty is that it allows us to learn about women and what they are experiencing in car dealerships. This information is how we build and improve our training for dealerships. It is literally like having a 24/7 national survey system and it works well because women love to engage with each other and with Ask Patty. 

What amazes me is that I still see salespeople who are living in the dark ages and treating women with less respect than they do men. They are still ignored when they are on the showroom floor; they are told to come back with their husbands or fathers; they are even scoped out by the salesmen as if they were on a dating show and not trying to buy a car.

Today in the U.S. there are more women in the market for car than ever before. For example, there are more professional women waiting until later in life to start a family, and unfortunately, in the U.S. the divorce rate is over 50 percent, creating more single women than ever before. And there are more widowed baby boomers in the market for a new vehicle. 

Recently a woman told us that she drove over 300 miles to a dealership to purchase a Honda Civic Si. The dealerships she visited near her said, “You know that car is a six-speed manual.” Yes, she was aware it was a six-speed and that was exactly what she was looking for in a car. She bought the car from the dealership that treated her best; it happened to be 300 miles away.

We all know the statistics: 80 percent of all buyers go to the Internet prior to coming into the dealership and 60 percent of those shoppers are women. What you may not know is how long they are online and what they are doing. From our real-life experience we can tell you they are spending a considerable amount of time doing research, and that research includes side-by-side comparisons, safety features review, fuel mileage, and other owners’ experiences with the vehicle. So when these women buyers contact you they have a very good idea of what they want to purchase.

So getting back to my story… the woman with the Si told us that after being disrespected by the local dealerships she went back online and found another dealership. She picked up her phone and spoke with a salesperson. She was treated with respect, and most importantly, was dealing with a salesperson that had a good knowledge of the vehicle. He took the time to answer her questions and build a relationship of trust with her. And of course, as an added benefit, he sold her the car. This is a perfect example of the differences between male and female buyers; men are negotiators and women are shoppers. The most important aspect of the shopping process is feeling comfortable and that is why she drove 300 miles, past countless other Honda dealers, to purchase this vehicle.

Peter Martin is the founder and CEO of AskPatty.com, the premier automotive advice site for women and has one of the most visited and respected blogs on the Internet. Ask Patty provides a turnkey marketing program for dealers to help them communicate and sell to women.