The Experience Is Your Brand
By Sandra Bauman
I am in the market for a new car. In fact, I’m overdue. I am an auto dealership’s nightmare customer because I am not a “car person”–it is just a necessity for my life. Partially, this comes from my frugality, but it is also due to a critical lack of time and energy. I have been putting it off because any glimmer of excitement over the idea of having a new car is grossly overshadowed by the torture—yes, torture—of the car buying experience.
There are two things you need to know: 1) I am a market researcher and a woman so it follows that I am an educated consumer. And, 2) in this category, I am a brand loyalist. I am a Ford girl (a super user in automotive lingo). I want a new Ford Explorer XLT and I want to trade in my 15-year-old (but very well cared for) Ford Explorer XLT. You wouldn’t expect this to be a long, drawn-out process. But I have spent literally hours on the phone with Customer Service Representatives—all women who clearly wield no power at the dealership—and made two separate trips to two separate dealerships with a certified check in my pocket only to have the sales managers torpedo the deals—both times. Both times the experiences were right out of the how-to-kill-a-deal handbook. (Dealership #1: “Are you the negotiator?” Excuse me, sir, but do you see anyone else here?!? Dealership #2: Promised deal by phone evaporates by over $800 during my drive to the dealership. So sorry, we didn’t mean it.) And both times I came home feeling like I needed to shower the smarmy off of me. Nearly three months later I am still driving my old car and I don’t have a plan for my next step.
So, I’m regrouping because I cannot bring myself to spend money at either of my local dealerships after the games they put me through. And, while I know that the dealership is only an extension of Ford—it’s not really Ford’s fault, is it?—it’s a pretty insurmountable obstacle between me and continued brand passion.
Would it surprise you to know that, according to The Next Web:
“Women make or influence 85% of all purchasing decisions, and purchase over 50% of traditional male products, including automobiles…?”
It shouldn’t, because it’s been a heavily discussed social media topic for the last several years. So why aren’t the dealerships on board? Why isn’t Ford Motor Company proactively partnering with/training its dealers how to work with women buyers? Remember Saturn? This was a whole brand dedicated to improving the buying experience and that was two decades ago. Why has no one figured out how to do this profitably yet?
A word of advice to Ford—and all you automotive brands out there—get to know your buyers. According to MSN Money, while “Many men revel in the gamesmanship of car buying…many women just aren’t interested in [that].” Yes, exactly. Embrace this insight. I DO NOT have time for these games and you are making me really mad. Here are some nuggets about women and car buying from Women-Drivers.com:
- Before women go shopping, they look for credible opinions in order to make informed buying decisions to save precious time. –Yes, check.
- Women pay as much as $1,353 more to avoid negotiating the price of a car. –Yes, check.
- Women make up just 8% of the 231,000 auto salespersons. –Wow, really? No wonder.
FastCompany reports that consulting firm Continuum “spent a lot of time shopping with women in all sorts of venues, in all corners of the globe. And from this experience, patterns emerge. When making decisions, especially for the purchases that affect more than just her, women weigh a few common factors in their minds: time, money, and well-being. The companies that address these needs have an opportunity to create a customized offering and a far better shopping experience.” –Here, here.
In the meantime, I’m taking a break. I’ll probably end up with Ford I want (because I DO like the brand), but I’m not sure I’ll be jazzed about it until I can get some distance between me and the buying experience.
Yes, Yes, Yes. Sandra, why haven’t they figured this out yet? CRAZY!
Agreed. I found myself sitting in the dealership (one of the many times they leave you there to stew while they go do whatever it is they do in the game) brainstorming about how I might redesign a whole new dealership aimed at women buyers. My dealership would have an express checkout line, a genius bar and a self-serve aisle. 😉 A girl can dream!
I bought a new car the end of December. We’re Honda people — between my husband, me, and our two children, we’ve bought nine Honda Civics over the past almost 35 years. However, our daughter broke the mold 5 years ago and bought a Subaru Forester. I’ve driven it and really liked it so I actually thought that is what I’d buy this time around.
I happened to be at my Honda dealer (Honda of Tenafly) for servicing and figured as long as I was there, I’d give them a chance. Went in and met a nice salesman (Herbie) who let me test drive a Honda CRV. It was a nice car and Herbie was friendly but not pushy. He gave me literature and, when I asked, prices. A week or two later, I went to the Englewood Subaru dealer (also sells Lincoln & Audi). Salesman was awful! Pushy, icky, not used to dealing with women, and no sense of humor. Wanted my phone number, but I wouldn’t give it to him. Did finally give him an e-mail address — got three e-mails within a week. I kept thinking that I should try going to another Subaru dealer and find a salesperson I liked, just to give them a fair chance. But in the end, I was able to get so much more for my money at the Honda dealer (plus they did give me an even better deal because we’ve been with them for so long). Perhaps if I’d had a good Subaru salesperson, she/he could have gotten me to love a Subaru in spite of the cost difference.
I hear you Nancy! The first dealer I went to is where I bought my two previous Explorers. But that still didn’t seem to indicate “serious buyer” to them. Sheesh! I wonder if this is the “system” in other countries? There has GOT to be a better way… it will just take one company with a vision and some guts to do it!
It’s not just Ford. It’s Nissan too. And probably a few others! I wanted a new Maxima a few years ago. Had driven three other Maximas and was happy with the same again. We went to the dealer where we purchased the previous two cars…visited that dealer four times over about a year….and spent a total of about ten hours there. No luck…”sorry we don’t have the car you want in that colour combination”. Finally my husband called another dealer on the other side of town…we had the car the same day. Perhaps you might try another dealer? Oh…and I stopped trying to get involved in the purchase process….since I’m a woman in a car dealer and we do get ignored. My husband likes to buy cars and knows more about the financing and lease mechanics than most of the sales people. So, I just sit there and watch, and look forward to that glass of wine when it’s all done. Saturn had it right….but they went out of business. Oldsmobile had it right for a few years too with the Aurora model targeted to women….but they went out of business as well. So….it’s vision and guts like you mentioned. It might also be long term thinking too. Good luck with your new car. We expect to see a photo posted here when you get one!
I think this experience may be brand agnostic, but the brand that can figure this out is poised for breakthrough — provided they have the R&D and product to go with it of course.
A friend just shared with me this article from the WSJ on the car buying process. Even once a deal is agreed upon, it can take 2+ hours to do the paperwork, prep the vehicle and train the consumer. Thanks to my friend Heather Hermanson for alerting me to this article. Based on the feedback here and on our FB post, I think we hit a nerve. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324338604578328214064885782.html?mod=itp
Well, I actually quit driving cars. It sucked and I thought I would cave but those guys will never get it and sadly it about the top 3 layers that don’t get it.
The Dodo bird did not suddenly die all at once but the signs that they are thinning at a rapid rate abound. Enjoy the new car smell!!!
Kyle
Wow! That’s pretty extreme, but I hear you. I only buy used cars from a guy who’s very straightforward in the transaction. Quick and painless. And, I don’t miss the new car smell all that much!
Yes, completely agree with the torture of car buying. I do not play games and try to negotiate price. I am most likely paying higher prices – but my time AND MY DIGNITY are worth it. I detest degrading myself begging for a bargain. I am also into the whole experience, so if I don’t like the way you treat me I’ll walk out regardless of the price. I have a Ford and had a pleasant buying experience. The sales guy was not in the mood for games, he told me what he had, he let me drive whichever car I liked, he told me how to save some money by avoiding certain features that weren’t really worth it. I drove the car off the lot that day, no sweat.