Everyone can be a business expert

Posted on July 22, 2010 by foxysteph

Apparently if I work harder I could become a business expert in my subject. Which could be ‘garages’ or ‘female friendly businesses’ as things stand I suppose. Or both of course.

According to Malcolm Gladwell in his Outliers book that is.

According to his 10,000 hour rule (there are more reasons for success of course) a computer legend called Bill Joy (who I hadn’t heard of before), Bill Gates, and the Beatles are among those who put in 10,000 hours into their subjects and were therefore able to beat the rest of the pack in getting expert status ahead of others.

The Beatles did it by going to Hamburg in the 60s and being expected to perform live for 8 hours a day when they only expected to play for 2 hours at a time. They had to learn new songs fast; as they did this they got better and better.

Both Bill Joy and Bill Gates were in the right place at the right time in the 60s when mainframe computers allowed timesharing, a revolution apparently whereby more than one person could work on them at a time and get instant feedback/response as we know today. They both happened to have access to them whereas most of their peers didn’t. They ‘played’ by writing code overnight (often without parents or Universities knowing); by rewriting permissions to give them longer than they’d paid for and so on.

Today children happily invest their 10,000 hours in games on computers – to bring game programmers business success but the opportunity cost is theirs as they while away their brainpower…

On the other hand, many Nobel prize winners came via ‘ordinary’ Universities who spotted and cultivated talents other than just the best academic results so there’s hope for everyone to find their slot in life and be challenged in later years, if they want that.

That’s reassuring…

This book is a great read and it explains that success is not a random act. I hadn’t thought about it beforehand but it’s all to do with being in the right place at the right time whilst having the drive and the determination to succeed.

The message I am taking from this is that you should always use your time wisely in life and business. From my point of view, when business is tough I plan to feed my brain, knowing that I will be in a stronger position come the upturn.

And perhaps, one day, I might be seen as an expert in my field. Quite a few more hours to put in yet of course!

FOXY Steph

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Summer Exmoor Art Exhibition

Posted on July 19, 2010 by foxysteph

As you’ll see there’s a family surname connection here but sadly the same artistic talent didn’t reach my husband or son although it did my stepdaughter who is now in Australia and our niece in Surrey…

So if you are on holiday in Exmoor parts in Somerset and near the picturesque Dulverton, be sure to visit an excellent art exhibition organised by the local Brushford Art Set extraordinaire.

Local artists include Claire Savill, Bruce Heywood, Ines Collett, Jean Frost, John Robins, Rosemary Norman and Mary Jones and their combined exhibits include works in watercolour, acrylic, oil, pastel, pen and ink, collage and sculpture – some with a contemporary twist.

The Exhibition is at the Guildhall Centre, Dulverton (above the library) in Fore Street, TA22 9EX and it’s open between Monday 19th to Friday 23rd July between 10am – 4pm, closing at 2 pm on Saturday 24th July.

This is a great opportunity to buy some arty gifts with a difference or to act as mementoes of your summer holiday in Exmoor in 2010.

And if you read this blog after the event by all means email Claire direct via claire@ruralworking.eclipse.co.uk to commission any Exmoor pony or nature related art-work or to ask her about any remaining exhibits.

To find out more about the Brushford Art Set and Exhibition, visit the Brushford Art Set website.

FOXY Steph

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Motor industry history lesson worth repeating

Posted on July 19, 2010 by foxysteph

When high cost/low volume motor car producer British Leyland wanted Margaret Thatcher to bail them out this is what she said at a dinner given by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 6 October 1979…

“This year we have the lowest car production for twenty years. Not because home sales are the lowest – far from it. But because people are buying foreign cars rather than our own. And some of these come from high wage, high exchange-rate economies. The world recession may have exacerbated our problems but it is not the root cause in the motor industry. What has happened to the motor industry since the 50s exemplifies what has been going wrong in too many other parts of British industry; higher pay not matched by higher productivity; low profits so low investment; too little going into research and new design… and why haven’t we had the productivity? Overmanning. Resistance to change. Too many strikes and stoppages.”

As we know, the last part of that message fell on deaf ears and may well be worth replaying in today’s uncertain industry conditions.

Knowing that a sustainable car manufacturing industry needs high volume and low costs to succeed, let’s hope British workers choose to be part of a competitive future that will include cheap car rivals from India and China.

What price our car industry in a recession today? The cost in 2009 included failed businesses, redundancies, production layoffs, industry depression, a status quo mentality at best and the salvation scrappage scheme for many; encouraging people to buy new cars for a discount (that they probably would have had in terms of a p/x price and sales come on…) so they’d scrap perfectly good others with life still in them. And with no real CO2 saving when you factor in the cost of production, knowing that the industry had massively overproduced in the face of this slump.

And the opportunity cost today? Aftersales for starters in terms of garage services for independent garages who may well have lost MOTs, car servicing and repairs for some 200,000 cars. This business (exc MOTs) will have transferred to main dealerships who can be expected to corner this business whilst the new car is in warranty, at least.

How sad we weren’t competitive in the 70s.

How sad that we never seem to see what’s coming when we make short term decisions affecting the UK economy.

…but let’s hope the industry learns to accept a much smaller new car sales market, produces a more sensible number of cars in the short term, cuts its cloth accordingly and turns its attention to encouraging more motorists into garages more often so their cars are safer, cost them less to run in the end and (this outcome is not likely to please car manufacturers) last longer (which is better for the planet).

I’d suggest that this is the time for a female friendly makeover too. Regulate garages and out the bad guys, raise service levels to satisfy professional (and demanding) female customers and employ more women in the industry to tidy the place up for male and female customers alike.

Yes I do have a vested interest in saying so but that doesn’t make me wrong; I honestly do believe the time is right for this and that those that are seen to be female friendly ahead of others will be satisfying a demand for better garage and dealership service levels in future.

FOXY Steph

Female motorists can check a Good Garage Guide for measurable signs of quality when shopping around for cost effective garage services

Find out which are the best and female friendly garages in your area

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The UK’s motoring heritage

Posted on July 19, 2010 by foxysteph

I went to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire yesterday as part of a lovely weekend in the area. It’s a nostalgic trip down motor alley; nothing is such a stark reminder of how good we used to be at making cars and being innovative in the motor industry.

And how significant were female politicians non driver Barbara Castle (compulsory seat belts and drink drive breath testing in the 60s) and Margaret Thatcher trying to keep British Leyland alive.

Now other foreign manufacturers lead the way and whilst British car plants do assemble Nissan, Toyota, BMW Mini and Honda cars we do not have the iconic British motor industry and anything like the jobs we used to have.

Ironically we lost the motor industry because Union demands made our workers uncompetitive; didn’t they see the obvious outcome of this? So we no longer have a car manufacturing industry of consequence and union ranks have dropped like a stone.

Even so, today’s unions are off again determined to apply the same principle to our British airline, it seems. And to hold the tax payer to ransom despite us all realising that our public services have become employers to benefit workers rather than their customers, to the detriment of our economic recovery in future.

A lesson too late in the learning. Again.

FOXY Steph

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Female friendly Google listings

Posted on July 12, 2010 by foxysteph

If you type ‘female friendly’ into Google you get a list of the most popular searches made when marketing to women.

‘Female friendly’ on its own produces some 4m results (anything to do with female and the internet brings sex up the rankings, be careful) but both FOXY Lady Drivers Club and FOXY Choice are listed well here.

For some reason the next most popular search is for female friendly positions (ho hum sex again I s’pose)…

Third is ‘female friendly garages’ with c200k results and where the Club, FOXY Choice
and femalefriendlyapproved.com are very well listed as you’d expect…

…then femalefriendlyapproved with good FOXY billing again.

The point is that the USA, Canada and Australia are much more advanced in terms of marketing female friendly businesses than we are in the UK yet.

Is this because UK women are less aware of female friendly businesses or don’t realise that female friendly ones have usually raised the service benchmark compared to others?

FOXY’s take is that female friendly garages and dealerships (and perhaps the same is true in other male dominated industries) try harder than the rest because women are more demanding shoppers than most men and we tend to spend most of the household budget so we really do count as valuable customers. And we do more homework (often online) than men when it comes to big ticket purchases.

So, having made the grade as a FOXY approved female friendly garage (that has signed the FOXY Promise and is ready for female feedback of all kinds), chances are it’ll be one of the best for discerning men too. Whereas many garages that promote themselves to men and women alike usually expect women to like what men do.

As if…

What planet…?

FOXY Steph ;-)

It would be futile to attempt to fit women into a masculine pattern of attitudes, skills and abilities and disastrous to force them to suppress their specifically female characteristics and abilities by keeping up the pretence that there are no differences between the sexes.

Arianna Huffington, Founder, The Huffington Post


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The female friendly garage choice

Posted on July 8, 2010 by foxysteph

Yes there is a choice of garage, they aren’t all the same, some are better than others and it isn’t always as simple a choice as you might think.

For some females a dealership provides the peace of mind and service levels they expect for their car and money. For others looking for cheaper garage services perhaps, a good independent is likely to save them money. A bit like choosing M&S and Waitrose versus Asda and Tesco, we veer towards the one that we like the look of and which represents the best value for money for our car, the occasion and the budget.

I’d add that in an industry like the UK garage one where businesses don’t have to be regulated or mechanics qualified, it is extremely important to pick one that is measurably better than the rest; not just one that says it is. Your safety might depend on it.

If you want to do your homework about garage choices, measurable signs of quality and the criteria that makes one garage or dealership more female friendly than another, you want to read what an independent advisory service says – the following links will help you here.

A Good Garage Guide for women with advice and tips about buying MOT’s, car servicing and repairs.

Measurable signs of quality in UK garages today – confusing yes, when what we motorists need is just one ambitious standard

A new network of female friendly garages in the UK – if you know one that isn’t listed there, you are invited to pass on the contact so they can be invited to join and fill in the gaps.

The female friendly standard for garages and dealerships – so women can avoid being overcharged, patronised and sold products and services they don’t need.

Businesses that employ women in customer facing roles in garages and dealerships

When women know what to look for they can then cherry pick the businesses that commit to being the best and most female friendly; and steer clear of those that haven’t bothered to make that effort.

FOXY Steph

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”
Henry Ford

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Green cars and free road tax

Posted on July 8, 2010 by foxysteph

Women doing their car buying homework are likely to choose a car that means no road tax, given the choice. This means it has to emit less CO2 than 100g/km and the showroom label in new car dealerships will spell this out.

To do this it is likely to be a small (but see the Prius for a larger car) and lightweight car so don’t expect the full Monty in terms of gadgetry or accessories that might tip the balance over 100g/km.

As things stand, this still gives you a great choice for your shortlist; the following models led by the weeny smart fortwo CDi.

Audi A3 1.6 TDI E – 99g/km

Audi A3 1.6 TDI E – 99g/km

Citroen C3 1.6 HDI 90 – 99g/km

Citroen DS3 HDI 90 – 99g/km

Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Econetic – 98g/km

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Econetic Start Stop – 99g/km

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Econetic Start Stop – 99g/km

Peugeot 207 HDI 90 Economique – 99g/km

Renault Clio 1.5 DCI eco2 – 98g/km

Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive 3 Door – 98g/km

Seat Leon 1.6 TD Ecomotive – 99g/km

Seat Leon 1.6 TD Ecomotive – 99g/km

smart fortwo CDI – 86g/km

Toyota Auris HSD – 89g/km

Toyota Auris HSD – 89g/km

Toyota iQ 1.0 – 99g/km

Toyota Prius T Spirit – 89g/km – (larger family car)

Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 CDTI Ecoflex – 98g/km

Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion – 99g/km

Volvo C30 1.6 TD Drive – 99g/km

Volvo C30 1.6 TD Drive – 99g/km

These cars don’t have to pay London’s Congestion Charge either.

Looking at the manufacturers who are doing best in terms of producing vehicles with low average CO2 emissions the top 5 in order are Toyota, Fiat, Hyundai, Mini and Citroen with c10% improvement in emissions (Q1 2010 vs Q1 2009) recorded by Kia, Alfa Romeo, Nissan, Mazda and Renault.

But these rankings don’t include short term pollutant nitrogen oxide NOx (as in hot weather smog and soot particulates) nor do the environmental labels on new cars mention this. Should we be worried?

FOXY Steph

Find out about a motoring association for women providing advice and support

Find out where the female friendly car dealerships are who won’t overcharge or patronise women drivers

“In an underdeveloped country, don’t drink the water; in a developed country, don’t breathe the air.”
Changing Times



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Are more measurably good garages on the horizon?

Posted on July 1, 2010 by foxysteph

I was interested to read in Motor Trader that the Motor Codes Scheme is close to second stage OFT full approval for their service and repair code.

But is this in all motorists best interests? I have my doubts unless they can magically recruit many more independent garages.

I had my doubts because before a radio interview for BBC Scotland yesterday I checked to see how many subscribers Motor Codes have in Glasgow and Edinburgh, for example. They have 97 in Glasgow of which only 5 are independent garages and in Edinburgh there are only 4 independents listed out of 38 subscribers. The balance are franchised car dealerships where motorists will pay considerably more for car servicing or repairs. This suggests that independent garages in Scotland are shunning Motor Codes for some reason because they’d probably do quite well as a cheaper choice? And with Scottish blood running in my veins I’d say that’s an important consideration ;-) .

BUT in case any car manufacturer is reading this, Ford ideally, having insisted that their dealership network sign up to the Motor Codes scheme, could they PLEASE tell me what it is of Motor Codes service and repair code that their dealers weren’t doing beforehand? I cannot believe that their dealer services were worse than this, surely? And just to remind you, in brief, subscribers are required to provide…

  • honest and fair services
  • open and transparent pricing
  • work completed as agreed
  • invoices that match prices
  • competent and conscientious staff…

oh yes and a swift complaint service which is a bit like admitting defeat before you start ;-) .

Is that all? Surely the UK’s main car dealerships must be doing this as a bare minimum? So why sign up to such a low standard?  Certainly my business would fail if I didn’t do a lot more than this and I don’t have the power to despatch dangerous cars onto our roads…

I am also amazed that so few motorists have been told that garages aren’t licensed or regulated and that mechanics don’t have to be qualified. Having said that FOXY does recognise and support the sterling work re ATA at the Institute of the Motor Industry (of which I am a member) and the growing number of mechanics that have been trained and qualified recently so things are on the up.

But Motor Codes doesn’t explain the garage choice to motorists. Some want dealership standards and others are more driven by cost, especially if they drive an older car. I think this is something that the motor industry needs to do or, even better, an independent motoring voice, as a matter of urgency and to include the new EU rules which need to be understood by all.

Nor does it address the perception of many that they’ll be sold services they don’t need or want. And from a female point of view, the tendency of this male dominated industry to patronise us…

My advice to garages considering subscribing? Read the Motor Code and question why you need it. Are you not better than that already?

Will the Motor Codes code do anything to prevent the bad garages letting the industry down in future? No it won’t because their subscribers aren’t to be monitored for c24 months and it’s just cheap (and could be misleading) publicity at £75 a year until they are.

Instead of all this and the c13 previous garage quality schemes that have failed in some 60 years… what the UK motorist needs is ONE garage standard to put all businesses on a level playing field when it comes to quality workmanship. Not ATA plus OFT plus BSI plus TSI motor trade partnerships et al… it’s far too confusing for most motorists.

FOXY Steph

Find out about measurable signs of garage quality in FOXY Good Garage Guide.

See where the best and female friendly garages are near you.

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Is Ford neglecting foxy females?

Posted on July 1, 2010 by foxysteph

Small car deals in August are to reel in the cost-canny fleet business whilst the female purse might be being neglected by UK dealers.

Ford list prices are due to fall between 6% and 15% for Ka, Fiesta, Focus and Kuga models in August. This is because fleet drivers are taxed on the list price, not the transaction price (the transaction price means the net discounted price to a fleet operator) and Ford is focussing on securing this business ahead of individual motorists.

Kevin Quigg, Ford Dealer Council chairman said: “There was an immediate effect in the showroom as a result of the lower list prices on large cars [in April and for fleet buyers again]. Ford dealers are delighted to see the company continuing to lead the market by applying the initiative across the entire Ford car range.”

Sadly Ford dealers didn’t do at all well in the recent AutoExpress poll of c20,000 customers so perhaps Mr Quigg needs to address the service gap in terms of reported poor standards of workmanship, poor technical knowledge and poor helpfulness scores otherwise they won’t keep that business, fleet or private buyers.

I was surprised I must say to read the Daily Telegraph’s InBrief PR this week stating that Vauxhall and Ford dealers, Britain’s two biggest selling car brands, are the worst in the country, according to this survey.

Could it be that Ford is too busy courting the fleet wallet to bother about the private and typically female purse? This wouldn’t be very foxy at all because so many of us drive Fords and with Hyundai champing at the value for money, customer service and warranty bit they could lose that female support if they don’t pick their skirts up fast.

FOXY Steph

Find out about your female friendly garage choices in FOXY’s Good Garage Guide for women.

See which female friendly garages could look after your car near you.

Join FOXY Lady Drivers Club to sample a female friendly motoring support service with the best deals on offer for women drivers.

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How to cut out Swiss Toni car salesmen

Posted on June 28, 2010 by foxysteph

Women drivers can now buy their Ford online and cut out Swiss Tonis who women rightly fear will overcharge and patronise them, especially if they go to the dealership on their own.

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Inchcape’s Autobytel car buying website, and others like it, Ford is now cutting out the middle man franchised dealerships and selling cars direct and online.

How do Ford franchised dealers feel about this I wonder?

Especially after comments from their MD confirms what we know already; that many motorists, especially female shoppers, prefer online convenience/anonymity and the joy of not having to haggle with a commission driven salesman who feels the need to demonstrate his male superior knowledge ;-) …

From FOXY’s point of view this is good news because a large number of our members drive older Fords, like a canny deal and, with our support if they need it, are prepared to buy a brand they trust without even test driving the car before placing an order.

The only problem is that Ford will sell them a Ford ;-) , not help women find the best deal or car on the market, from other makes, to suit their needs and budget. So there will always be a demand for a foxycars buying service for females.

Ford Online’s MD, Steve Hood says “It shows that consumers are now ready to fully use the internet in the car industry.”

The site is backed by a team of Ford specialists working from a UK contact centre to help female customers find the best cars, come up with part exchange values and low prices… without a visit to a showroom.

FOXY advice? Always shop around first. This promises to be a good service and we like Fords but it’s too soon to see how their prices compare yet. Better still – why not join FOXY Lady Drivers Club who’ll pass on their insider nous and you can do the car buying homework and the deal together?

FOXY Steph

To find a female friendly car dealership for MOT’s, car servicing and repairs, visit FOXY Choice. All garages listed have signed the FOXY Promise© to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell you services you don’t want or need’.

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