Hire Women, Boost Your Sales
Think about hiring more women for sales positions at your dealership. For full disclosure purposes, yes I am a woman. However, don’t let that prevent you from reading this!
Women make up about half of the car buying market, with their role in buying a family vehicle at 85%. In 2010, CNW Marketing Research found at 47.3% of women car shoppers prefer women dealers (salespeople), while 38.5% have no preference, leaving only 14.2% preferring men. Women’s ability to listen, to focus on details, and to share perspectives different from those of their male counterparts are just a few reasons why women salespeople may have a better relationship with female Customers.
In addition, it’s not just in the front-end of the dealership; according to Women-Drivers.com, women represent about roughly two-thirds of service/repair Customers, and 53% of female consumers will take their car in for service at the same place they bought it. Now don’t misread this…if the Service Advisor—male or female—does a crappy job of taking care of the Customer, it will make no difference what gender the Advisor is—the Customer will not return. These numbers do, however, reflect a need to re-think women in Sales and Service—instead of just the accounting office. Now that you know why, here’s the how:
Find, hire and develop women to become salespeople. “It’s hard to find women who want to work at a dealership,” is the most common refrain I hear from Dealers and Managers: something I don’t get. I love this business that I have been actively involved in since college. However, I can understand if you didn’t grow up in it why it might not seem like a good fit. The stereotypical salesperson is enough to scare anyone away—not to mention the long hours. However, not everyone is “delicate” and not everyone has a small child at home. There are plenty of women (and men) who would look for a good job at a dealership if (1) they knew what to expect and (2) dealerships did a better job of overcoming the stereotypes.
Your Culture. People may have misconceptions and be apprehensive about working at a dealership. Because of this, before you start looking to hire more women, examine the behavior and habits of your staff. For example, do salespeople surround the dealership like vultures about to devour prey? Do your employees regularly use profanity while hanging out in the showroom or working in the Service Department? It may sound old-fashioned, but this kind of behavior may alienate women (and men!) from wanting to join your “team.” To behave like a “gentleman” is not about how one dresses; it is as simple as being polite and respectful. All of your Customers will appreciate this. Notify your staff with written policies that the “locker room” environment is not tolerated. You want to make your dealership more conducive to hiring women and enjoy the financial benefits of more female buyers.
Seek out your candidates. Don’t wait for women to come to you. Search resumes on Indeed.com, Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com and other similar web sites to find potential employees. Women who are in retail sales, real estate or work at restaurants are used to long hours, nights and weekends. Teaching technical information about cars is easy. It is much harder to teach people skills and exceptional Customer Service skills. If you find a great waitress, chances are she understands what Customers want. She could sell cars and make more money, but the key is to engage her. For your managers, print “employment” business cards specifically to give to people they meet who have made an impression. Include on the back of the card the benefits your dealership offers. On the front, include whom to contact and how to apply for a job.
Get women to think about selling cars! Most women have never thought about it. Have a written Career Pathways that shows if you begin as a Sales Associate (or Tech Apprentice, or...), here are the steps to grow you can take based on your abilities and achievements, and here's the range of incomes these jobs earn in today's dollars. The average sales clerk at Nordstrom makes from $10 - $16 an hour—imagine the smile when you show your potential salesperson what she can earn at your dealership. Show a real career, into management if she wants, and mention that training and mentoring are available for support.
Once she’s applied, clearly explain the job—don’t gloss over the challenges, those may be appealing to someone who wants to make a difference. If you already have a female salesperson, have the candidate meet her. If she is interested in the job, have her come back for another interview with her significant other; so both can see what the future can hold for a dealership employee, along with another opportunity to show off your professional work place. A husband may have a preconceived view of the dealership environment and may not want his wife to be subjected to it. By showing both people the benefits of a dealership job, and it’s not a sleazy “good-old-boys club, they’ll have a much greater "level of comfort" with "the car business." (Having the significant other come in for one of the interviews is something I recommend for all employee candidates regardless of gender.)
A Mentor-mentee program will make the transition from a current dead-end job to an Automotive Professional much easier. Have a well-thought-out new employee orientation program. Have business cards ready for salespeople, uniforms ready for technicians, and make sure they know you are happy they decided to work with you.
Quality of life. It doesn’t matter whether the applicant is male or female, young or old; people look for a balance between work life and home life. Not all employees will want or need this but to accommodate those who have other responsibilities, consider job-sharing or flextime positions as a way to alleviate the long hours. Ideally, two salespeople will be one team. The huge benefit for the Customers is that there should always be someone at the dealership that is their “salesperson.” (Two names on one business card—even if the Customer didn’t initially meet the other person.) Both “partners” must be willing to exert maximum effort to ensure that this work model succeeds. Written schedules, agreed-upon time/days off and list of duties are necessary. Traditional job sharing splits up a day between two employees with very little overlap. Because of the demands and hours of the job, it may be that in the middle of the day both employees will be on site at the same time. But even if they are just crossing paths, they must do what nurses long ago realized: Every day, (at the end of one shift and the beginning of the other shift), they have to make time to fully inform the person taking over for them about the tasks in progress and any critical needs they'll need to handle that day.
Still concerned about hiring women as salespeople? I recommend the Art Niemann Personality Surveys for all positions. Their service saves you time by sorting the good candidate from the dud. Art Niemann and Company recognize if you have a candidate that has never sold anything before; it’s imperative to know if they have any innate ability to sell, besides that winning smile and a nice personality.
I hope the next time you need a Salesperson, Service Advisor, Finance Manager you’ll actively search out female candidates. It could make a huge difference to the next Customer who comes onto your lot.
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