In last month’s issue we stressed that women must be treated with respect if you want to develop a trusting relationship. Another smart way to build long-term relationships with your female customers is to educate them about their vehicles and their vehicle’s service needs.

More than ever, women want to know how cars work and be able to maintain their own vehicle. A simple way to help women do this is to offer maintenance booklets in the service center and dealership waiting areas. It’s another step toward building trust and loyalty, since you’re helping customers become more knowledgeable about their vehicles.

A better way to help women understand their vehicle is to offer programs and clinics (similar to Home Depot on Saturday mornings) about basic vehicle maintenance. You can host these events at your service centers and show women how a vehicle works, as well as how to perform basic maintenance. Not only does it provide education for your current and potential customers, it also provides customized instruction and allows you to go into much more detail than booklets.

To assist with these seminars, you may want to check with some of your parts vendors to see if they have training materials on hand. ACDelco is one company that provides shop owners with car care kits and “how-to” books that instruct shop owners on how to effectively market and host maintenance events.

It make sense that if women have greater knowledge of their cars, they will feel better prepared to discuss repairs and maintenance with their service advisor and be able to make more informed choices.

The more knowledgeable the customer becomes, the more accurately she can describe what’s wrong with the car, which will help the service writer create a better work order. A better work order will enable the technician to zero in on that problem quickly. Clearly, the more information the technician has, the better the chances the vehicle will be fixed right the first time.

Be aware that women often put more weight on warranties, guarantees and customer support availability than men. Make sure to discuss warranty and follow-up service as needed. If a customer has a complaint, and it’s rectified to her satisfaction, she will end up being more loyal to your shop and likely spread the word to her family and friends.

After the repair, make sure women are part of your dealership’s customer follow-up program. Remember that customer relationship management involves much more than just mailing postcards or sending e-mails to patrons. The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research reports that six in 10 women (60 percent) find answering surveys an interesting experience. They see it as a way to provide feedback to companies and know that their voice will be heard. Always reward survey takers with coupons or other promotions to give them another reason to return to your shop.

How you treat women, before, during and after their service visit will either build or harm their trust in your dealership. And remember that women will spread the word about how they are treated, so do everything in your power to make their experience a positive one.

Peter Martin is the CEO of Cactus Sky Communications, Inc., a premier e-mail marketing agency. He regularly speaks and trains for national auto dealers associations on both e-marketing and on special finance marketing. He is also the founder of AskPatty.com, a popular automotive advice site and is the foremost authority on how to sell cars to women.