Chapter Twenty One
What women want women should get!
What women want, women should get!
It’s common to hear or read about the growing influence of women in today’s society. Today’s U.S. female consumer is not just the caregiver for her family, she is the chief executive officer of the American household. Companies that respond properly to today’s female consumer are making smart business decisions.
In a study conducted by Fleishman" Hillard and Hearst Magazines, today's woman feels it her responsibility to help friends and family make smart purchase decisions.
"During the past few years, we have watched the evolution of women and their sphere of influence," stated Nancy Bauer, senior vice president and senior partner, Fleishman" Hillard. "Simply put, when it comes to the dynamics of today’s marketplace, women have changed the marketing communications game. The 2012 female consumer is a valuable broadcaster and amplifier of ideas in the marketplace."
A friend of mine recently asked me to do a checkup on his van. When I asked him why, his answer was that his wife had decided they were going to buy a new vehicle and wanted to know the status of their current one; she had already picked the make, model and color.
Nine out of ten women believe repair shops treat them differently because they are women, and the difference is seldom positive. Women want to be informed customers and understand the repair in layman’s terms and receive quality repairs and customer service. They respond much better to a clean waiting room, timely delivery, and repair orders that are easy to understand.
Women are more attracted to social networking then men. While men are more likely to visit entertainment, betting, games and music websites women are spending more time on Facebook and Twitter. It’s not always about what auto repair is being done to her car that is important, it’s more about who she tells before and after the repair that should have auto repair shops concerned.
The old adage of one satisfied customer will tell three friends while an angry customer will tell 10 has made monumental changes. With the advent of social networking one satisfied customer might tell 10 to 300 friends whereas an angry customer will tell 12,716,322 "" as per United Breaks Guitars on YouTube.com.
Countless studies show that politeness and recognition are extremely important in a woman’s buying decision. Over 60 percent of woman say they have left a store, stopped buying products or hung up a telephone on someone at least once in the past year due to poor customer service.
According to About Women and Marketing magazine, service with a smile and a "can do" attitude make women customer’s feel welcome. Women like to know that someone is available to answer questions with "yes," "no" or "I’ll find out" responses instead of "I don’t know" or "I don’t think so" responses.
Ultimately, all customers want value, whether they are using the services of an automotive repair facility or shopping for everyday products. Value is difficult to assess; however, fair prices, respectful service, convenience, quality repairs and a pleasant atmosphere are good starters for creating value in any customer's mind.
“If you can stay calm while all around you is chaos, then you probably haven’t completely understood the situation.”