Men are not alone in their love for cars and they’re certainly not the only ones who need to have work done on their vehicles from time to time.
It’s no secret it can be an intimidating experience for some — both men and women — to walk into a garage looking for quality service and accurate answers and quotes for what’s wrong with their ride. A dealership chain in Virginia has tried to make it less daunting for women by hiring more women as service advisers.
The strategy is paying off, according to Carter Myers Automotive CEO Lisa Borches, who says the idea was to get more diverse group of people in service adviser positions so customers could interact with employees with whom they can identify. The dealerships promote that diversity on social media.
Considering it’s almost 2019 and women have been having their cars serviced without the help of a man for decades now, it’s a wonder this hasn’t been tried in the past. The strategy has led to increases in customer-paid labor sales and hours per repair order, the company said.
“We have seen consistent growth in all of our service departments, and our service advisers definitely have played a large role in that growth,” Borches told Automotive News. “We have seen our customer retention continue to increase as well. Whether it is related to a more diverse group of advisers would be a subjective assumption, but we know that the stronger the relationship and the more trust that our advisers have with our customers, it will help increase customer loyalty, retention, and ultimately, sales.”
This dealership isn’t just throwing women at the problem. Borches said female employees in other roles are observed to see how they interact with customers and those who do well are approached about becoming service advisers. At Carter Myers, 25 percent of the workforce is female, which is six percent higher than average, according to a 2017 NADA Dealership Workforce Study.
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