Posted by Christina Florencio on Thu, Jul 07, 2011
“Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by WOMEN.” The Economist.
Attention car wash owners: when in doubt, make your business “women-friendly”! According to the Thomas Yaccato Group, women are incredibly discerning consumers who control 80 percent of the consumer dollar spent in the industrialized world, yet the retail sector, particularly car washes, rank poorly in its ability to serve this major market.
Car washes are fighting to maintain or increase market share, yet still narrowly focus on selling the same way to everyone without taking into account the diversity of their customers. Research reveals that women feel they are not taken as seriously as men by the companies they do business with.
What car wash owners need to understand is the way to reach women effectively is to put their consumer needs at the epicenter of your business strategy, and this is the book that explains why, and how to do it. The holistic or “organic” approach outlined in The Gender Intelligent Retailer shows that if you focus on what women want in a retail experience, (in a car wash experience) you raise the bar for everyone.
Check out why this customer chose Octaform for their vehicle wash:
Using examples from clients including Sobeys, the Toronto Blue Jays, The Home Depot, Mountain Equipment Co-op and Allstate, Joanne Thomas Yaccato shows retailers where to start and what they can do. From assessing corporate gender intelligence™ and changing internal culture, to recognizing consumer-relevant gender differences and using a gender-lens to control product development, service, sales tools and training, creating a gender-intelligent environment is an organic, ground-up approach to retailing.
So how can car wash owners market their businesses to women?
Here are 3 tips to help you get started:
1. Make sure your wash bays are welcoming.
Dark, dingy wash bays do not invite your female customer. Your wash environment should feel clean and recently maintained. A woman on her own, is not as likely to use your wash if it feels dark and unsafe.
Consider upgrading your car wash bay with a fresh new coat of white paint, or a finished protective wall panel to protect the existing walls.
This Octaform-built car wash
has bright, easy-to-clean walls:
2. Step up your customer service!
Make sure that your counter is clean and uncluttered and that your staff are attentive and take pride in their appearance.
Ensuring that your staff goes beyond a customer’s expectations never ceases to deliver positive results.
3. Offer Incentives.
Implementing a loyalty rewards program will bring repeat customers and invaluable word of mouth advertising.
When you become a gender intelligent car wash owner, you will create a welcoming environment that women would visit, spend their money in, and tell all of their friends about. Men and women shop and spend in very different ways – with women controlling 80% of every dollar, every business can’t afford not to market to women.
Now get started!
