The first Top Ten UK dealership group to sign up to the FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network scheme is Vertu Motors plc.

If you don’t recognise that name, chances are you’ll know them better by their trading names Bristol Street Motors, Macklin Motors, Vertu Honda and Motor Nation.

This dealership group is clearly committed to getting things right for women customers.  They employ an impressive number of female staff in customer facing roles which reassures wary women in what many perceive to be male dominated environments.

Women feel more at ease seeing ‘women like them’ that they can talk to if they wish. I think this traces back to our deep-rooted concerns after hearing so many stories about women being overcharged, patronised and baffled by unnecessary jargon in other garages.

Vertu Motors is also keen to employ women in a wide range of exciting careers in the UK motor industry.  That’s another indication of their FEMALE FRIENDLY commitment  because it’s surely easier to recruit men who are more likely to have industry experience (thus perpetuating the 80:20 male:female gender ratio of motor industry staff) and it must be tempting for men to recruit in their own likeness.

So it has been refreshing to meet Vertu’s Group Aftersales Manager, Cath Thompson, and to see a high percentage of the participating dealerships nominate a Female Business Ambassador to act as the eyes and ears of their women customers in future. We all agree that women want to be treated like women, not men, and have different needs and expectations in many instances.

For example, women like to see genuine signs of quality (the more the merrier in this industry), we don’t like fog-factor jargon, we expect clean washrooms and, if we decide to wait for our car, we want to know we can have a drink and read some female friendly magazines whilst we do… And because Vertu Motors dealerships tick these boxes and more, this goes a long way towards making them FEMALE FRIENDLY businesses in FOXY Choice’s UK network.

Needless to say all motorists benefit from courtesy car and car collection services but I am confident that women will be reassured by Bristol Street Motors and Macklin Motors  promise of a ‘free and no obligation inspection of any car that is causing concern’. This is part of the evidence FOXY Choice looks for that the business in question is going that extra mile for its local customers. And that they are prepared to stand up and be counted by our independent monitoring services that encourage garage feedback via the FOXY Choice website.

Nobody’s perfect of course, and this is a big Group with lots of employees, but it’s good to sense a business that not only wants to get it right for its women customers and staff but also grasps the business imperative that being FEMALE FRIENDLY is all about customer loyalty and future referrals at the end of the day.

FOXY Steph

Is August too early for a New Year resolution to make 2012 a FEMALE FRIENDLY year in the UK motor industry?

I look at lots of motor industry websites, read lots of marketing blurb, see lots of job ads and industry news but it is still VERY rare to find a female focus despite the importance of the increasingly independent female pound.

So I’d like to suggest that the UK motor industry makes a start to a more female friendly agenda by making 2012 a FEMALE FRIENDLY year in the motor industry. There’s just about enough time to plan a campaign, given the willingness and a resource to do the job.

We all know the motor industry should be a more female friendly one already and there is a compelling business case to make it so; to boost sales by marketing to women-as-women (not men) intended to increase their loyalty and referrals through female-oriented communications and independent information about their best choices…

To do this would require an industry commitment from all key players to the following tactical activities and more…

• To iron out the 80:20 male:female workforce imbalance by recruiting more female staff, starting at the top of organisations
• To provide female friendly workplaces for women employees
• To market cars more creatively to women, using segmented female feedback as a tool
• To market independent advice (and why total independence matters to do with quality…) about garage standards to women
• To train male employees about the importance of the female purse and how they can gain her trust and business when it comes to shopping for new cars, garage services, motor insurance and car finance
• To understand what busy women look for when shopping online
• To remember that women are different when it comes to customer service levels and amenities.

Question   Isn’t this what the motor industry should be doing in any case? So why isn’t it?

Answer 1    Because some businesses think equality means providing women with services and standards designed by men for men.

Answer 2    Possibly because many men like the industry as it is.

Answer 3    Because many men at the top of organisations can’t see how to recruit women without  falling foul of equality legislation… coupled with the fact that new female recruits are less likely to have the motor industry experience that men do (thus perpetuating the imbalance of course…)

Answer 4     Or they haven’t spotted that female staff don’t fancy a job in what they perceive to be a male dominated motor industry… coupled with the fact they need to advertise outside the industry to reach women of course

Answer 5    Or that the few female stalwarts who have made it to the top of organisations have got there by thinking more ‘male’ than ‘female’ en route which other women may be less willing to, given more female friendly industry choices

Come on RMI, SMMT, SMTA and IMI. The business case for being FEMALE FRIENDLY in the UK motor industry is clear and whilst nothing short of a total cultural makeover is needed to do the job properly this has to start from somewhere and should surely start sooner rather than later…

And given a resource FOXY will happily play a key part in any FEMALE FRIENDLY business agenda in 2012.

What about a coordinated approach guys to all round mutual gain?

FOXY Steph

Meet Mandy, a member of the Simon Dean garage team in Stoke on Trent

Real life video is a great way for garages to impress their female customers. I say real life because slick and impersonal corporate style videos don’t have the same effect on me.

I prefer the video style of Simon Dean Motor Engineers in Stoke on Trent. Have a look at this then come back afterwards to see why this one really works from a foxy point of view…

Simon Dean is a member of the FOXY Choice female friendly approved garage network. They have signed the female friendly FOXY Promise and in return FOXY Choice endorses and promotes their credentials to women drivers.

So we expect to see measurable signs of quality and like the fact that all the garage engineers are ATA accredited; this makes them among the very best mechanics in the motor industry.

We also like to see evidence of a female touch and it’s instantly clear that Mandy looks after the customer facing side of the business par excellence. Being women we also like the promise of clean loos and a great cuppa but of course it isn’t just women who are impressed to find this in the garage industry.

Where the video wins over words is that it tells us a lot more. It introduces the business brand, its owner and his approachability and evident business pride. And don’t let’s forget he’s done this video himself, not paid someone else to do it for him…

In a nutshell, this is an honest snapshot of what happens at Simon Dean Motor Services on a daily basis, it introduces other members of the team and takes us on a tour, behind the reception desk.

Listen carefully and you’ll hear Simon use words like trust, welcome, peace of mind and safety. These words mean a lot to women and we have the knack of remembering the bits that matter to us.

Look again and you’ll see ongoing examples of their Female Friendly credentials so women feel catered for from the very start. Even the relevance of the garage’s investment in technology, delivered with a ‘I know, I know…’ sense of humour holds our attention despite our alleged short attention span at the very mention of jargon.

In such a competitive industry, there’s no time to stand still and a video is a perfect way to communicate the human side of a business to potential customers. It would be hard to do this much better than Simon Dean already has.

FOXY Steph

If you’re looking for a quality fastfit garage in Nottingham, here’s how to find one that’s accredited to do the job particularly well, especially for women drivers.

I’m talking about Rapid Fit at West Bridgford in Nottingham, part of the franchised car dealership group where business manager Andrew Stokes alongside group colleagues Richard Watkiss and Matt Grimley are among the first fastfit managers in the UK to achieve the new Automotive Management Accreditation (AMA).

Rapid Fit Trent Bridge is also a member of FOXY Choice’s female friendly garage network and has signed the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need.’ They also promote special MOT, tyres and car service offers to members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club. FOXY Choice encourages all female feedback which we share with subscribers to make sure we are all getting this right for women.

Governed by The Institute of the Motor Industry, AMA assesses and accredits management skills and is looking for evidence of best practice and a commitment to ethical behaviour in the process. Ranging from Level 3 (first line managers) to Level 5 (middle manager) and Level 7 (senior manager) management candidates in the motor industry can have a realistic career plan to aim for and they’ll get the sort of support they need to move up the ladder. Accreditation lasts for five years when they are expected to apply to be re-accredited to the latest standards. And to keep them on their toes, they’ll be offered opportunities for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to maintain their skills in between.

Much as is the case for Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) which we rate highly, the individuals that achieve AMA accreditation are listed on a professional register that will soon be searchable online at www.automotivemanagement.org.uk.

As I see it, AMA is another quality brick in the motor industry wall and I hope it counteracts the culture of ‘sell em things they don’t need to earn commission’ that does the industry’s image so much harm

In FOXY’s opinion those that are first to support it, like Sandicliffe’s Rapid Fit team, confirm what more women drivers need to know; that there is a quality standard out there to distinguish the fastfit garages that aren’t as ethical as they should be from the businesses we can trust. It’s this higher standard of investing in being better than others and committing to ethical behaviour that is such an important facet of being a female friendly business.

FOXY Steph

Visit FOXY Choice to search for female friendly UK garages, fastfits and dealerships women can trust.

No matter your lifestyle, there’s a genuinely female friendly garage choice for women drivers in Leicester.

We first met Sturgess Motor Group when they organised a Women in the Driving Seat evening event for local female motorists. It was a popular feature in their calendar and their Marketing Manager, Nichola Moore, saw this as a way to show women drivers how much the Group cares about their motoring welfare not just the value of their business.

It was only a matter of time before this Motor Group would subscribe to FOXY Choice’s female friendly approved UK garage network as further evidence that they really do care for their female customers long after the car has been sold.

Sturgess operates seven franchised car dealership operations in Leicester covering Toyota, Nissan, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover brands. The dealership name and logo will be familiar in the city with branches in Narborough Road, Aylestone Road, Almond Road and Walnut Street.

All locations are ATA employers (Automotive Technician Accredited) which means their staff are accredited to repair all makes of cars not just their franchised brands. They also subscribe to the Motor Codes Service and Repair code which is working its way towards full OFT Code of Practice approval. These are both signs of superior standards in an industry with too many garage/dealership complaints and where women often feel ill at ease and on their guard.

This female unease is precisely why Sturgess have signed up to the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need or want’ AND have appoined Debbie McIntyre, Gill Clifford, Trish Blaber, Sheena Tegg, Rebecca Hill and Jessica Watts to be Female Business Ambassadors as part of the FOXY Choice female friendly approved garage network.

Sturgess of Leicester is one of the UK’s oldest family operated motor dealers and was founded in 1897. Women shopping for a new or nearly new car to suit their lifestyle and budget will find they have a genuinely female friendly choice here, whether it’s a 4×4, a prestigious executive car, a sporty convertible, something for the family or a stylish and environmentally friendly supermini.

We look forward to working with Sturgess in future.

FOXY Steph

When marketing to women, it’s clear that the likes of banks, insurance companies and finance providers can be more female friendly to reach working women in future.

According to a survey carried out by Bright Grey, part of the Royal London Group that specialises in protection insurance products like life assurance and critical illness cover, nearly half the working women interviewed described themselves as the main family breadwinner yet more than one in three don’t have a private pension and nearly one in five has no financial reserves for coping with redundancy or serious illness.

Key household finance decisions are increasingly being made by women, the survey confirms, with 44 per cent of female consumers saying that their family’s finance decisions are mainly taken by them compared to 53 per cent of men. Who to believe most ?

Unsurprisingly we are told that household finance discussions are instigated more by women (61 per cent compared to 57% of men) in keeping with their natural caring and nurturing role.

A spokesman for Bright Grey said “As earnings levels even up and the level of financial responsibility in households is more equally divided, women could be putting themselves at risk by not protecting their income – especially where a household is dependent on their salary.”

This is also important where women live alone or as single parents, who may have taken on credit commitments at Christmas and who could find themselves facing redundancy or serious illness in the years ahead.

Regardless of these worries, Bright Grey warns us that 16 per cent of working females have no savings account and as many as 35% have no private pension either.

I have to add that the females I know are naturally foxy as in shrewd, canny and astute. If they aren’t buying finance products and don’t understand why they should, there is clearly a female service gap to be addressed so the finance industry is seen as more female friendly and approachable in future…

Just as promoting themselves as female friendly is such a BIG business opportunity for garages and franchised dealerships in the motor industry, it seems as if a similar female friendly makeover is overdue in the finance industry too.

FOXY Steph

Finance products like pensions, life and critical illness insurance products are clearly not on the ‘female friendly’ priority list of household purchases for women.

Could the recent Sky Sports sackings bring about a more female friendly and less sexist motor industry?

Andy Gray and Richard Keys were sacked for loutish comments and behaviour in a clearly male dominated business. It’s not just what they said so much (because they weren’t on air), it’s the way they said it and perceptions matter massively. We now read they were part of a bullying and highly sexist culture and most of their colleagues, male and female, were delighted to see the back of them.

But can the motor industry learn from any of this? In a male dominated industry where c80% of staff are male it’s perhaps understandable that the female voice gets crowded out in the macho voice choir in our garages, workshops, dealerships and car showrooms.

Sadly this is a self-perpetuating cycle where the men in the majority  are unlikely to question why women in the minority don’t want to work with them and carry on as before… as if that makes it right.

And when you do the PC thing and ask the impressive and rare females who make it to the top of the motor industry, they’ll undoubtedly say they haven’t encountered sexism in their careers – which is probably because they’ve learned to turn a blind eye on occasion and are better at playing the game than most men. But less doughty females will wonder if it’s worth it and find more welcoming opportunities in other industries.

Which is a real shame but all to do with female perceptions that the industry isn’t addressing. The fact that women at the top are still the exception, that female customer perceptions are of an overly blokey industry that doesn’t understand them and that many men think that’s all OK…

Having worked in travel and leisure businesses for 20 years I didn’t find it OK at all and I felt distinctly ill at ease with the very different culture in the motor industry. It was like walking into a wall of disrespect, disinterest and incomprehension based on my gender and outlook. So much so I began to question my own ability…

And I am not alone in still feeling the odd one out if truth be told. But much like Gray and Keys colleagues it’s only when the bullies have gone that you’ll hear the real truth from the many excellent business owners and female friendly guys, gals, garage and dealership staff that want the industry to be cleaned up in the minds of future female customers…

So, in the hope that Andy Gray might be the female friendly tipping point the UK motor industry needs, here are my Top Ten Female Friendly recommendations so the industry can start to sell itself as professional and trustworthy to more females in future…

1.  Start at the top – encourage more female Non Executive Directors from outside the industry onto car manufacturer, Top 100 franchised dealership and garage/automotive group Boards.
2.  Get recruitment right from the bottom up – recruit more women into the industry (ditch the ‘industry experience needed’ approach; that means men…).
3.  Tell female customers if you employ female staff (because women trust women).
4.  Review all marketing communications (internal and external) to make sure they cater for women.
5.  Communicate with women where they are (which isn’t the FA Cup or TalkSport channels I’d suggest ) and learn to understand their language…
6.  Base minimum car sales and garage service and repair standards on aspirational female needs and expectations (because women are more demanding shoppers than most men).
7.  Invest in female friendly approved training and accreditation for car sales and garage service staff.
8. Regularly check for spotless washrooms; this really matters to women and many are below par… and remember women may need facilities for children.
9. Outlaw Page 3 magazine covers in petrol forecourt shops; and scantily clad female hostesses at automotive exhibitions.
10.  Female employees shouldn’t put up with sexist comments. Say no to sexism wherever you find it and explain why this offends women. And be sure not to invite sexist comments by the way you dress for business.

Having ticked these measures off, the UK garage industry should now be seeing a more female friendly image in the mirror . To measure and maintain this standard, it could now use an independent and specialist female friendly complaints handling service (FOXY Choice springs to mind) to handle all employee and customer complaints. We’d then feed all constructive criticism and advice back to the employer and into any female friendly complaints and/or approved accreditation process.

Eh voila. That would go a long way to present a more female friendly image in the motor industry to benefit all customers.

And to quote Michael Caine  ‘not a lot of people know that’…. this will also improve the bottom line because businesses that employ women are apparently more profitable than those that don’t. The reason for that seems fairly obvious to me – female friendly businesses that recognise our needs are the ones we prefer to spend our money with, hence the profit variation. And because women buy and influence c85% of all household shopping today we are looking to do business with the ones that get it right for us.

Those that get this right understand that being female friendly is a matter of common business sense not feminism in any way. Although I’m not sure that Andy Gray, Richard Keys and their motoring industry ilk will EVER see it like that!

FOXY Steph

Find out more about schemes that measure female friendly garage standards at FOXY Choice and about female friendly approved training and accreditation plans for 2011.

To see what women say about the motor industry, visit our latest website feature, Women and Work. We believe that motor businesses that employ women in customer facing roles are likely to be more female friendly businesses (for customers and potential employees alike) than ones that are male only employers.

Women and Work is a new collection of interviews where FOXY Choice’s Female Business Ambassadors explain what brought them into the motor industry in the first place. The individuals then encourage employers to consider the right female recruits and women so then consider joining the motor industry. They all see this as a great career for starters and where the female presence can improve customer service levels for men and women alike.

We are not expecting too many women to want to become mechanics or panel beaters but we defend the right of those that want to do so knowing they are equally as capable as men of doing a great job.

We’re more interested in the industry recruiting the right females with experience in other industries to join Boards, senior management and to take on customer facing roles like car sales, service advisers, all sorts of administrative roles and receptionists.

We know that it’s impossible to change the culture of any business from the bottom up. A customer oriented business model for groups looks like a funnel, with the customer at the top and all the customer facing roles reporting upwards to the customer, in turn supported by all the corporate functions they need to do a good job, with the Board at the bottom in this instance.

It’s important to recognise women as the more natural and experienced carers who are typically more intuitive than many men and particularly good with people and communications (as our ability to talk at length confirms). As always these are stereotypes so forgive me if you don’t fit into these but I’m sure you get my drift – men do so many other things brilliantly and together with women the service experience can be a more rounded and better one for male and female customers alike.

Of course a good front of house representative is appreciated by men and women alike and any business that employs females is likely to be a more female friendly employer than one that doesn’t, when it comes to women considering a career in the motor industry.

The final point  is that businesses employing women should expect to see more female business, especially if they are on FOXY Choice’s female friendly garage register.

FOXY Steph

Find out here about local UK garages employing females
Join FOXY Lady Drivers Club to experience female friendly treatment and visit FOXY Choice to check out female friendly and approved garage services.

The motor industry needs more of the right females at the top of the UK motor industry but how do we get them there?

I spoke about ‘marketing used cars to women’ at the AM conference’s Used Car Market trade conference in September and was interviewed about this subject afterwards hence the FOXY clip on YouTube.

My presentation was to franchise dealerships and car dealers about women being the elephant in the room. Despite the immense value of their purse when it comes to shopping for themselves and influencing others, many still fall prey to Swiss Toni and Arthur Daley-like tactics and are encouraged to feel even more ill at ease by the portrayal of unscrupulous garage mechanics in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale TV soaps.

Bearing in mind that women talk and many claim to trust other women more than men in this industry it is surprising that so many (> 80%) of the industry workforce are still men.

Wake up guys – this is a big business opportunity…

But how to recruit more of the right women into the motor industry and make garage services and new car shopping more female friendly?

The problem is that it’s all too easy for dominant men to recruit in their own likeness without a second thought and by doing so deprive the right women from being able to compete…

For example, a recent advert for a car sales person (in a prestige franchise dealership) is fairly typical I imagine. In our local paper it asked for car sales experience thus instantly eliminating most of the females who might have been looking for a sales job. They are highly unlikely to be among the <20% of females who have worked in the industry before. Even though a female might be a terrific sales person in another industry…

But the dealership won’t have thought that she could bring new business to them because this is the way they do business ie it’s traditional to recruit men. And of course, if the business is actively looking to attract a man they are going about this in the right way because talented women will pass over their ad and it’s unlikely that anyone would imagine or suggest that their ad discriminates against females;  just females without the required experience .

So unless some positive discrimination and female Board selection is engineered in some way, starting with more female NEDs at the top of AM100 dealership groups perhaps, I doubt anything much will change to improve service levels (for men and women) by attracting the best candidates, which need to include more women!

Most importantly in my opinion, the females need to come from other industries because the successful ones that have made it to the top in the motor industry are accustomed to the male culture, accept it as it is and can’t see why other women might not have the same tenacity to take on men and win. And new recruits starting at the bottom of the ladder can’t influence the culture…

So why would ambitious females choose an industry where they sense (our intuitive skills will be right here) that they will be made to feel the odd one out… This is a tough one to answer and I am struggling a bit here because after 20 years in the evenly gender-balanced travel, tourism and leisure industries I was amazed to sense the cultural difference in this industry. Don’t get me wrong, I have met many fantastic advocates of what FOXY is doing but at least as many men who think there is no need for us, female friendly garage standards or trained and accredited mechanics for that matter. Their attitude is that what they are doing is good enough… but it isn’t, as the likes of the Which? garage survey must continue to remind us. But that’s a different issue.

Interestingly one way to check which businesses are female friendly employers is served by a FOXY Choice subscription. Yes our marketing services identify female friendly businesses for customers, first and foremost, but the existence of a Female Business Ambassador is surely a good sign of a female friendly employer.

Let’s face it, most women are more natural candidates for front of customer facing roles including car sales, reception and all aspects of administration. Particularly Service Advisers who liaise between the customer (male and female) and the workshop guys I’d have thought. There’s no secret here – it’s simply to do with our interest in people rather than cars and our natural communication skills.

I think it’s fairly obvious what skills and talents the right females can bring to the party providing they are employed for their skills, personality and experience. But if women are employed for their looks, and we all know this happens, then the industry will never make it better for their customers.

FOXY Steph

For female friendly motoring services have a look at the FOXY Lady Drivers Club website.

My father always dismissed home brew beers because he said he could afford to buy the real thing. On reflection I think this might have had as much to do with time and convenience as money. Although in his son-in-law’s case there was a matter of taste involved as well…

I was reminded about this in a round about manner when reading a recent global survey carried out by the influential Boston Consulting Group involving c12000 women and to do with their work/life balance. Almost without exception these working women were similarly stressed, time starved and overburdened, juggling careers, education, homes and relationships. I can identify with these findings and our exhaustion, even though it’s optional.

They then concluded that what busy women want are services to save them time, services to make their lives easier and female friendly businesses that recognise what they want. Keep up in the back – it’s not rocket science is it? Most women wield the family purse!

Which is presumably why home delivery services are booming where we can buy our groceries, essential fashion items and home furnishings online in our limited spare time. And why takeaway food services thrive, especially when they taste better than the home-made variety. Take the likes of pizza delivery for example, with all round family appeal and a simple office supper when you have to work late. Seeing the launch publicity for the new Domino’s Pizza which has just opened in Polyclun, I was impressed by their use of a branded Ferrari to get this message out across South Wales. Not only does this car remind us that pizzas can be delivered ‘hot’ but also that their delivery service is ‘speedy’.

This is a clever example of advertising linking associated values that is different from the rest and therefore more memorable. Not just that but perhaps a few Ferrari’s might be sold near Polyclun as well as pizzas…

Any other examples of businesses that are getting it right for women?

I’m biased towards motoring services of course so my take is of professional and female friendly garages versus DIY car maintenance (I do both) and breakdown recovery services to change tyres at the roadside versus me doing this.  No contest there, I don’t see the point of having a breakdown service available and then doing their job!

Maybe Dad was right – just because you can do it yourself doesn’t mean you should or have to. All in all, it’s clearly a combination of money, time, convenience and taste!

FOXY Steph