I was going to leave a comment on Jim’s post, How Not To Treat Potential Customers, but decided it merited a more thorough response.
She says:
Jim’s a chick magnet, and wherever we go, women follow adoringly in his wake. So when I spotted Jim across the (Seattle Auto Show) convention floor, sitting in a convertible and grinning at a salesperson, I assumed he had charmed yet another woman.
But alas, the salesperson talking torque with Jim was a man. I strode up to them and said “hello.” Then, for the next 10 minutes, Jim and sales guy solved the auto industry’s problems while I stood there like a fly on the wall. Jim made several attempts to include me in the conversation, but I may as well have been invisible to sales guy.
Interesting thing was, I was dressed up. I had on a nice blouse and dress pants while Jim was wearing jeans and a baseball cap. I’d come dressed in something other than my usual jeans and t-shirt to see whether sales people at a trade show would target me as a serious car buyer based on what I was wearing. Apparently not. I must have been exuding that “just looking” aura.
When I was wandering around the show by myself, I was chatted up by a couple of sales people-but the reps who initiated a conversation that consisted of more than, “Hello. How are you?” were ALL women and they were ALL selling Smart Cars or other “green” cars.
Interesting side note: One sales guy at the Smart Car exhibit told me that more men than women are buying Smart Cars, even though the cars are so “cute.” Men are the new women, you know.
At the Infiniti, Scion, Land Rover, Hummer, Kia, Harley-Davidson, Toyota, Hyundai, Suzuki, Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini exhibits, I was completely ignored. Completely. And I didn’t just breeze through the displays. I lingered. I sat in cars. I took pictures. I examined price tags. I picked up literature. I actively looked around for sales people at one dealership from which I was truly interested in BUYING a new car. Couldn’t find a soul interested in talking with me.
Only place people did seem interested in me was at the vendor booths, where a friendly chiropractor gave me a spinal exam and free neck rub and where I won a cool Auto Accident Kit (complete with camera and flashlight!) from State Farm Insurance. So there, Jim!
What did I learn from this experience?
One of the reps we-er-Jim talked with admitted that attendance at auto shows is down 30 percent nationwide this year. Looking around the show, I noted that at least 80 percent of the attendees were men. Gee, I wonder why?
I know guys are generally more into cars than women. But women-particularly Baby Boomer women like me-have a lot of buying power these days. Who’s to say I couldn’t have plunked down $50,000 for that cute little convertible with heated leather seats? Yeah, the one that goes from zero-to-60 in five seconds.
I don’t appreciate being written off by sales people at guy-skewed events because I’m a woman. I could have been Bill Gates! Well, no… I could have been Melinda Gates! Think of the potential sales those reps missed out on, just because they stereotyped me.
Think I’ll go do some retail therapy at Nordstrom. At least they pay attention to me.
Tags: auto show, customer service, gender-based marketing, Marketing, sales
