Posts Tagged ‘FOXY Choice’

Is your car as safe as it should be?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

ONE than five million motorists are driving dangerous cars says leading breakdown service Britannia Rescue. Its survey found that

  • The most common faults were worn tyres, defective brakes and faulty exhaust pipes. It goes without saying that worn tyres and faulty brakes cause accidents and could lead to a motorist being held responsible for injuries caused to another.
  • One in five drivers had known about the fault on their vehicle for more than six months but not bothered to do anything about it.
  • One in three said they could not afford to fix the problem whereas one in 10 said they did not have time to get their car repaired, neither of which would be an excuse in law if they caused an accident and someone was injured or killed.
  • Some 5% of vehicles in need of repair had broken or missing wing mirrors, while about the same number had broken head or tail lights.

Steph Savill of female friendly marketing service FOXY Choice suspects that some motorists have become complacent about their cars, imagining that if they are fairly new they are probably safe.

“Just as the recent vehicle recalls by so many manufacturers tell us, even nearly new cars can have serious safety issues and we mustn’t treat our cars like household appliances, doing little to take care of them and expecting to throw them away when they get old. Even those of us who are competent at checking our car’s tyres, oil and water levels can miss important safety concerns because we don’t have the professional eye to spot the unusual.”

Steph recommends that all motorists have their cars checked by garage professionals on a regular basis and explains that

“A dangerous car can cause a serious accident that could kill or seriously injure the driver, passengers, pedestrians and the occupants of other cars. Those who own a poorly maintained car may find that their insurer withdraws cover if it can be proven that the accident was caused because the car owner had neither carried out regular maintenance nor had it serviced often enough.”

Find out where the good and female friendly garages are in your area.

Find out how women drivers can save money on everyday motoring bills including garage charges.

FOXY Steph

Female feedback about Halfords Autocentre garages

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Halfords is to takeover Nationwide Autocentres. They are a chain of British garages not to be confused with the Building Society (which many people did apparently).

Yet there has been very little in the trade press about this business move and, come to think about it, very little from Nationwide Autocentres’ about their business under normal circumstances, other than when they are pitching for industry awards of course…

Shouldn’t the garage and dealership industry want to know more about Halfords’ plans so they can compete with them more effectively? They are a national chain and many individual garages could be affected by their strategy. I posted a question about this very subject on a leading trade forum a week ago and nobody has responded yet.

It would be different if Halfords sold cars of course… aftersales and garage services are rarely top of the motor industry’s agenda despite a £9bn car servicing market.

Can’t help thinking of rabbits in headlights, frogs in hot water and ostriches practising familiar ‘head in sand’ antics…

Independent garages should be interested of course because Halfords seems to be offering several female friendly garage services that they are not. Like opening on Sundays and providing low cost fitting of bulbs and wipers so women drivers don’t get their hands dirty and/or have to pay over the odds for these routine but often tricky jobs. I speak as a convert here, having had an exploding windscreen wiper on a snowy Sunday motoring journey in Yorkshire recently when Halfords came to my rescue…

They should also be interested because Halfords admits to targeting the female purse and employing female mechanics, who are unlikely to be ATA qualified to begin with I’d imagine…

They should then be interested because Nationwide Autocentres do not, as yet, offer local car collection and/or courtesy car services so those independents that do, have a sales advantage that could work well if employed NOW.

And finally they should be interested because Halfords is planning to invest in posh reception facilities which [most??] old Nationwide Autocentre locations do not have now…so once again, female friendly independent garages with smart waiting areas, near shops and with car collection services and courtesy cars could steal a lead here if they got their act together NOW.

But the two main reasons why so many independent garages could lose out is because they are so complacent about their local female motorist business AND because few independent garages are genuinely computer literate and are failing to meet the demand for relevant information before women drivers choose who to give their business to.

Nationwide Autocentres are not unique in offering online bookings for MOTs and car servicing of course but they did take many years to introduce their system so it should be fairly robust. And whilst many female friendly FOXY Choice garages do offer online bookings, a significant percentage of small garages still don’t realise that a website is how women tell if they can trust them. Too many still can’t handle emails professionally, expecting customers to phone them and thinking they’ll have the same customers next year…

I wish them luck of course but they do not have a winning card to play in their hand…

From FOXY Choice’s female friendly point of view and on behalf of all women drivers too, we see most competition as good and healthy providing new garage initiatives raise standards for all and are not just attention grabbing headlines without genuinely sustainable quality substance.

I firmly believe that the garage industry must do more to raise awareness of quality standards so that male and female motorists alike understand how to stay safer on our roads by cherry picking businesses that clearly want to be better than others. They can demonstrate this by signing up to FOXY’s independent female friendly business Promise, by investing in regular technician training, by having the latest diagnostic equipment and by collecting informed and unbiased feedback about good garages, not just lacklustre testimonials that are often written to order…

FOXY Steph

“Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.”

Jesse Owens, Gold medal Olympian, 1913-1980

Tales of car accidents in reverse

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Much as the stories about women drivers being unable to read maps disappeared with the arrival of satnav systems hopefully the tales of our not being able to park will fade away with the arrival of parking sensors…

Not that I accept that we are any worse than men at doing either by the way but these (usually male driven) perceptions give women drivers a bad name and being peace makers by nature, we are more likely to accept blame for things we aren’t always responsible for… knowing that many men feel the need to believe/convince us that they are the better drivers

Parking sensors make sense to me (and I must say that it isn’t just women drivers who need these in our household…) because…

  • Repairing a scuffed bumper costs £460 on average
  • Bumps and scratches can reduce your car’s value by £00s
  • 37% of all accidents are caused whilst reversing
  • The majority of minor car repairs are likely to come out of your insurance excess

Well worth checking that your new car has these and to find out how much parking sensors cost to be fitted to used cars.

If you live near Peebles or Galashiels, female friendly Ford car dealership David Harrison lists costs from £270 on their website.

And female friendly Inchcape Ford car dealerships in Farnborough, Guildford, Wokingham and Guildford are advertising these from £234…

Needless to say you’ll also find some great new and used Ford car deals at both locations.

FOXY Steph

PS To check out female friendly garages and dealerships near you, use the FOXY Choice search finder on the home page…

How to sell cars and garage services to women

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

FOXY provides marketing services to help garages and dealerships become [and be seen as] more female friendly and my specialist subject is marketing to women so I do have a vested interest in this subject…

Why bother making the industry more female friendly I can hear you ask? That’s the easy part! Because on a global scale women control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next five years. And even more impressive – women represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined – more than twice as big to be precise. So you need to be there in her mind to get your share.

To be more female friendly, first and foremost, the retail motor industry MUST employ more females in all areas and levels of the business. At present some 20% of the retail industry are females and I read recently that c10% of females are in management jobs (which was higher than I had imagined…).

That’s pathetic of course but knowing that you must employ more women, how do you address the perceived chasm that the industry is not a female friendly employer alongside the self-perpetuating machismo that drives service levels and communications towards men. An example of this is where manufacturers focus on the performance of cars rather than their usefulness and when aftersales staff use unnecessary jargon and cause the female fog factor; in my experience this is common when it comes to car engines…

Yes, to employ a female she should be the best candidate for the job (as opposed to the only gender prepared to do it for so little?) so not anyone will do. If it is a business’s first female employee they may have to rethink their recruitment and employment policy too as well as staff amenities.

In many ways small garages are easier to make female friendly, especially when the often family owned business includes the wife, Mum, daughter or partner who gets involved on a daily basis. She makes it female friendly at customer level because she knows what women want and fear most.

The tricky cultural issue is more often in dealerships where the Dealer Principal is more likely to be a man and supported by male managers in the aftersales and car sales business units. Even if they wanted to employ females, few can work out how to do this or where to recruit them without falling foul of the equal opportunities lobby. Nor do many women read automotive job vacancies because they perceive this to be an unfriendly business to work in. So the male recruitment level is self-perpetuating and fulfilling…

There is a massive job to be done to encourage employers to recruit women and women to realise that their feminine talents can be used to add serious value to the balance sheet in future.

I have written the word ‘talents’ above and I can almost hear some males sniggering at this whilst they imagine the sort of feminine talents that are first to their mind ie we are not talking brains here. Having visited smart dealership and less smart garage workshops I know that both environments are equally as likely to have topless calendars and posters on show. I find them extremely demeaning and imagine I am not alone here.  If that is the business culture that is allowed in the workplace, no wonder female staff and customers alike would feel ill at ease and may well sense being patronised or treated as sex objects when they go to buy a car or garage services.

So what’s to be done, assuming the UK market finally gets its act together before we all go online and cut out the middle men.

Why not have a look at a new female friendly approved scheme including consultancy services, training and accreditation at femalefriendlyapproved.com.

And to find out about a unique range of female friendly marketing services for UK garages and dealerships, there’s always FOXY Choice providing you can meet the FOXY Promise© in real life.

FOXY Steph

Are city law firms female friendly enough?

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

My anecdotal evidence (mostly based on reading the Daily Telegraph I accept) is that there are more and more legal cases of City firms behaving badly towards female staff.

So perhaps I am not surprised to read that female friendly law firms in the provinces are outperforming ones in the City when it comes to retaining, rewarding and appreciating female colleagues. This is what recent research by website magazine Legal Week confirms and that, over the last three years, regional firms promoted on average 37% of female partners, compared with some 20% in the top 10 City firms. And, on average again, across the UK’s top 30 legal firms, just under 28% of promotions have been female ie fewer than three vacancies out of ten have been filled by women.

While women make up less than 19% of the partnership on average across the UK top 30 as a whole, this figure falls to 16% at the top 10 City firms, but increases to nearly 24% in regional practices.

Shoosmiths has emerged as the most female-friendly law firm with women making up just over half of its recent promotions and a third of its partnership overall. Shoosmiths chief executive Claire Rowe said:

“The reason we have found it easier to retain female talent is that we have a transparent promotion criteria based on merit.”

Which is surely how it should be but perhaps Shoosmith is managing to bolster female confidence levels to positively encourage more women to apply for these senior jobs whereas Holman Fenwick Willan, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simmons & Simmons presumably aren’t with only 12%, 13% and 13% respectively employing female partners back in May 2009.

Deirdre Walker, Group Head of Commercial, Real Estates and Disputes at Norton Rose believes that it makes good sense for more law firms to be female friendly and more flexible when women in their 30s and 40s, for example, may have children or other caring commitments to satisfy.

Deirdre explains that “At various points in a female career other events are going on outside of work – this should not mean that our career is over. To end a career just because you want to put it on hold does not make commercial sense.”

Yet the reality is surely that when corporate legal men are in charge (as in the majority of cases) they are less likely to see the need to be flexible to retain females if men are available instead and may seem less likely to take these career breaks.

Whereas if a woman is in charge, as at Shoosmiths, she will know just how hard the right female will work to balance a career and her family commitments. Which is why the right women with family commitments should always be allowed to secure the job… even if they may need some compassionate leave and support at certain and unavoidable times.

I’d add to this debate that in my experience, ambitious men were more likely to change employers than ambitious women ( is there any evidence of this…) yet it was more often the women that got criticised for having babies rather than the fast moving CVs that were invariably male.

FOXY Steph

To find a unique female friendly motoring association for women visit FOXY Lady Drivers Club.

To find the nearest female friendly good garages and dealerships in the UK  visit FOXY Choice.

Rip off garages earn motor industry a bad name

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

I have just received a shocking email titled ‘14 million UK motorists feel ripped off by their garage’ from Motor Codes who organise the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code. They have 6200 subscribers of which the lion share (>70%) are franchised dealerships.

I now realise that their research turns out to be based on 1194 motorists which they have extrapolated, for headline reasons perhaps, to suggest that over 14 million motorists ‘feel short changed by their local service and repair garage’.

On reflection whilst this is probably a highly misleading statistic no matter the qualifying asterisks in the Press Release if we assume that this is a sufficiently representative sample to be meaningful in any way, then the following findings are very worrying on their own:

  • Almost half of UK motorists (45%) feel they have been ripped off by garages (allegedly representing some 14,063,614 motorists).
  • UK motorists feel out of pocket to the tune of an estimated £2.4 billion
  • Young drivers are hit hardest with 41% of 16-24 year olds feeling ripped off by local garages to the tune of £51 – £150… which could be explained if they ended up in dealerships without realising they are more expensive than garages of course – whose fault would that be?
  • Some 30% of motorists aged 25-34 and over 55 were dissatisfied with their local garage
  • Over a quarter of all motorists who felt ripped off believed they paid between £51 and £150 more than they needed to… which could be explained if they ended up in dealerships without realising they are more expensive than garages of course – whose fault would that be?
  • 5% of motorists felt they had been ripped off to the tune of more than £300.
  • Those who felt more than £500 out of pocket claimed to be on average £1,408 worse off following their latest service.
  • The East feels the pinch the most where a third of motorists claimed to have been short changed, compared to just 17% of motorists in Northern Ireland.

If anything was to convince me that there is a case for regulating the UK garage industry, this research is surely it and may prove to be the tipping point for the likes of the Office of Fair Trading who will surely see that this is a quality hurdle too great for any Code of Practice to tackle, unless it’s compulsory…

Not serious at all according to Motor Codes however –  instead they think  it’s time to launch an upbeat Golden Garage competition using £16,000 prize money to reward the really good garages out there (and there are many, see the female friendly FOXY Choice website if you are in any doubt…).  Whereas I feel it’s time (and has been for some 50 years) to rid the industry of the really bad garages so that motorists can look forward to paying value for money prices for measurably good garage services in future, having understood the difference between dealership and garage standards and prices so they can choose the solution to suit them, their car and the occasion.

If that means regulation then so be it.

What I’d really like to know is the strategy behind this garage competition and how it will help outlaw the really bad garages who are as likely to cut safety corners to cut their costs as they are to rip off motorists.

Surely an industry scheme MUST DO MORE to ostracize those garages and dealerships that could be putting lives at risk and are certainly harming the image of this industry…

Yet by concentrating on good garages, Motor Codes seems intent on ignoring the cowboys.

FOXY Steph

What is a fair price for garage services?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

With average garage labour rates varying between £90 an hour for a dealership and £56 for an independent garage in the UK it’s hard to know if you are paying more than you need to when there are so many other factors to consider.

Of course we all judge value for money based on our needs, expectations and satisfaction levels which is why FOXY Choice publishes a Good Garage Guide to help women with their MOT and car servicing shopping – this website identifies measurable quality standards as well as good female friendly car dealerships and independent garages.

From my experience I know that many female motorists choose where to have their car serviced on the basis of convenience factors like the location of the garage and whether it offers a car collection service. Increasingly women drivers are sharing female feedback online within FOXY Lady Drivers Club so I know that the following motoring myths continue for many, despite trade efforts to put the record straight…

Some women will happily pay more to have their car serviced by a dealership thinking they need to, to maintain a warranty or that a dealership stamp in the car’s handbook will guarantee a higher resale value.

Other women are more cost conscious and tend to shop around for the lowest price for MOTs, tyres and car servicing deals, thinking that all garages are much the same as each other.

The truth is that whilst dealership rates are undoubtedly dropping and represent much better value for money nowadays, many motorists can have their nearly new car serviced at a good independent garage for less money and within the terms of their warranty.  But it isn’t true to say that a dealership stamp will guarantee a better price when it’s time to sell – what matters most is that the car has been serviced regularly and to the manufacturer’s standards.

More worrying from a female point of view is that if you shop around for the lowest price going or choose a garage you don’t know anything about you could be risking your personal safety and that of your family and other motorists. This is an industry where garages aren’t licensed, where mechanics don’t have to be qualified and where complaint levels are high.

And very often we hear stories about the lowest price escalating because the garage doesn’t have the latest equipment to diagnose the fault correctly; you then end up paying more for the mechanic’s labour to see if he can find the fault instead.

To illustrate the differences in perceived ‘value for money’ a good example is the price that a BMW driver would pay in a dealership versus a good independent garage, for a simple job like an oil change or a typical car safety check.

In its recent advertising campaign the manufacturer states ‘Think we’re expensive? Think again.’ listing the following BMW Value Service prices for participating franchised dealerships to change the engine oil, front brake pads and carry out safety checks for BMW 3 series (E46) 4 cylinder models.

£115 Oil Service (includes microfilter)

£99 Front brake pads (includes sensor replacement)

£189 Inspection 1 (includes oil service and safety checks)

Clearly these prices have been reduced so they represent better value for money than they did but £115 still sounds a lot to pay for a simple oil change, no matter the use of the word ’service’. And if BMW’s Inspection 1 costs £189 for an oil change and safety checks then their safety checks must cost £74…

But are these prices fair enough for an up-market dealership experience, with all that entails for the executive BMW driver?  That’s up to you, your car and your budget, dear reader ;-) .

The alternative solution to a franchised dealership is a measurably good independent garage who uses genuine BMW parts, BMW specified lubricants, accredited technicians and who carries out work in accordance with BMW’s specifications.

Starting with a female friendly Bosch Car Service garage in Scotland who operates to a fully approved OFT Code of Practice, Falkland Performance Centre in Glenrothes would charge the following prices:

£80.15 Oil Service saving £34.85

£147.70 Inspection 1 saving £41.30

But when it comes to the front brake pads, Falkland’s business owner Allan Adam calculates £111.35 which is £12.35 more than a BMW dealership because they always strip and clean the brake calipers prior to fitting brake pads which BMW does not specify.

Another leading and similarly female friendly independent garage, Woodley Autos near Reading in Berkshire (where labour rates are higher than in Scotland) who is ISO 9001 approved would also save local BMW motorists money for the equivalent oil change and safety checks as follows…

£86.26 Oil Service saving £28.74

£93.08 Front Brake Pads saving £5.92

£139.43 Inspection 1 saving £49.57

So in a nutshell it is possible to save money by shopping around and if these savings can be made for low cost garage services then there is much more to be saved by shopping around for the likes of full and major car services, comparing car collection and courtesy cars, other services & amenities and whether the business is near shops, a leisure centre or other entertainment to occupy the driver who chooses to wait.

But the most important factor on all occasions is surely to identify the best value for money, seen through the eye of the beholder, taking into account minimum quality standards, the latest diagnostic equipment, service levels and amenities to suit. This matters because, at best, motorists might be overcharged, patronised or sold services they do not need. At worst, the job might not have been done properly and they could be risking their personal safety and that of other motorists.

To find out more about this big subject, female and male motorists alike, please read FOXY Choice’s Good Garage Guide and search for measurably good and female friendly UK garages and dealerships.

FOXY Steph

PS: A cheap garage isn’t worth the risk if they cut corners to save them money…

Foxy Ford offers special Spring car discounts

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Whilst Toyota is taking one day at a time to cope with major quality and image problems, Ford is quick to present its special Spring car discounts of up to £5,000 for new car sales including many sporty Zetec models – many of these offers are bound to attract women drivers and their families.

Surely this is Ford’s opportunity to move back into the Number One position – it’s a known brand, these are good deals and anyone selling a Toyota might be tempted to change brands as things stand…

The following prices are for new car orders confirmed by March 31, bought via a participating Ford dealer,  registered by June 30 and subject to taking out a Ford Options deal (which may be worth taking even if you don’t need the finance).  Other sales offers in 2010 still stand, subject to terms and conditions and similarly guaranteed to the end of June.

The underlying message from Ford is clear – tell us what you want and we’ll be flexible. More flexible in March because the scrappage scheme* has been extended until the 31st but still flexible until the end of June.

NEW FORD PRICES (guidelines at least)

Model Spring Value Price Ford List Price
Ka Studio £7,995 £9,395
Ka Zetec £9,295 £10,895
Fiesta Zetec £11,495 £13,580
Fusion Zetec £11,495 £14,295
Focus Zetec £13,495 £18,280
C-MAX Zetec £14,795 £18,432
Kuga Titanium £20,995 £23,540
Mondeo Zetec £16,995 £20,526
S-MAX Zetec £18,495 £22,466
Galaxy Zetec £21,495 £26,145

*The scrappage discount of £2,000 also applies to these prices other than the Ka where the additional scrappage discount is reduced to £700.

If you are looking for a female friendly Ford car dealership in Bracknell, Farnborough, Guildford or Wokingham visit FOXY Choice subscriber Inchcape Ford.

If you are looking for a female friendly Ford car dealership in Southampton visit FOXY Choice subscriber Hendy group.

If you are looking for a female friendly Ford car dealership in Cambridge visit FOXY Choice subscriber Marshall Ford.

If you are looking for a female friendly Ford car dealership in Scottish Border towns Peebles and Galashiels visit David Harrison.

Do women drivers need female friendly car parks?

Monday, February 1st, 2010

At first I thought this was a joke from Nationwide Autocentres in their latest newsletter but it isn’t.

According to car sales giant Motorpoint who decided to ask, 77% of those they sampled thought women needed their own shopping car parks in the UK (not sure if the respondents were all male :-) , female or some of each…).

This survey was fuelled by tales of a stylish and female friendly car park reserved for women drivers in a shopping centre in Hebei in China. And apparently there have been similar female friendly marketing to women initiatives in Japan and Russia.

But it’s still rare in the UK and I sense a deep seated male resistance here to associate all this marketing to women as being sexist. On the other hand, many women (me included) object big time to being marketed to as being frilly or empty-headed a la ‘colour it pink’ marketing tactics we so often see.

Whatever the shopping occasion, women want to have all the information to hand, female feedback ideally, to make the right choice. Then it’s up to them. A good example of this is the female friendly FOXY Choice garage website where women drivers can do their buying homework in FOXY’s Good Garage Guide and then check out which local garages, fastfits and dealerships have agreed to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t want.’

It’s full of information that isn’t online elsewhere and very soon it will include the female feedback women like – the sort of thing that savvy women want to read for their peace of mind, before getting their credit card out…

Of course if more male business owners knew as much about the workings of the female brain as they do about gadgets, computers and car mechanics (try The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine for some OMG eye-opening facts) more of them would understand how women think and react and (might) try harder to get it right for her in future.

If China is prepared to invest in getting it right for female consumers, why not the UK?

FOXY Steph

Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.
Joseph Conrad

MOTs, banks and female business entrepreneurs…

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Our family bus, the wonderful long suffering Citroen Picasso, needed its MOT doing this week. The nearest FOXY Choice subscriber was female friendly SB Motors garage in Hove run by foxy lady Caroline Baxter so off I trotted for a chat whilst the job was being done.

Caroline told me that despite trading better during the recession than in 2008 (in which she is bucking the industry trend) the Bank says she is in a high risk area (garages presumably are discretional income?) so she can’t expect to borrow from them and must fund business growth herself. Whilst I am waiting for my car in the nice and warm reception area there is a steady flow of MOT, car servicing and repair business coming and going which certainly looks healthy to me.

My car then fails its MOT (I seem to recall a recent ‘grounding’ ;-) that may have caused this which my husband is unaware of until he reads this…) and needs a central exhaust part <not discretional income in any way Mr Bank Manager> so off I trotted again yesterday to get the job finished.

Whilst I was there I finalised a special offer for local members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and talked Caroline into being FOXY’s first Female Business Ambassador; a new network to recognise female friendly garages who employ and/or are run by women, giving them the opportunity to describe a typical day for the benefit of other females who might want to know what is involved.

In my experience this means they are more likely to understand and appreciate what women want and many women see this as a sign of reassurance BUT it is by no means compulsory to employ women to be a female friendly business so this is not sexist thing and in fact most of the men I have spoken to quite like the idea too ;-) .

More about this later as the Female Business Ambassador network is under wraps and not quite ready to launch yet… hopefully by early February.

FOXY Steph