I was at the Women in Automotive conference in Orlando earlier this week. Automotive Buy Sell Report was a media sponsor. Only in its second year, but much larger than last year, the conference is clearly meeting a need. Participants, who were at least 95% female by my estimation, ranged from dealer principles to owners of dealership groups to sales people. And lots of vendors.
Women were there to learn and network, but it seems to me that more men should have attended, as well. After all, more than 85 percent of vehicle purchases are influenced by women and four out of ten new car buyers are women. We plan to continue to work with WIA. I bet there are more men there, and more women, in 2017.
Kerri Wise, VP of dealer marketing at TrueCar, presented at one of the breakout sessions I attended. Her information, from a soon-to-be-released study of the common characteristics of TrueCar’s top 100 dealers, was relevant for dealerships selling to all customers, male and female. In our first story I talk about some of the study’s finding.
Customer loyalty is a key asset at any dealership. It costs a lot less to retain a customer than to get a new customer. This week, our frequent contributor Don Ray discusses loyalty programs, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the potentially beautiful aspects.
As always, we have the ever-popular Transaction News.
Enjoy!
