INVESTIGATION
Does it really matter if less women work in car sales?
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by Rebecca Chaplin @believebecca
early 70 per cent of car buyers have never bought a car from a woman in a shocking poll of buyers, run exclusively for Car Dealer. The What Car? survey of 3,000 car buyers, carried out on our behalf, found 68.4 per cent had never bought a car from a woman. Respondents also resoundingly called for more women to be encouraged into frontline car sales roles - but does it really make a difference to the performance of a car dealership? The poll revealed that although nearly all buyers (90 per cent) really don’t care if they buy a car from a male or female sales executive, only 32 per cent ever had bought from a woman. However, speaking managing director of What Car? publisher Haymarket Rachael Prasher and founder of the Automotive 30% Club Julia Muir who appeared on Car Dealer Live to discuss the poll, having more women in sales roles does change how a business performs. Prasher explained that so much of this is about perception, and how vitally important it is that the industry addresses these concerns. Shockingly, 29 per cent of female respondents to the survey stated that they believed that car retailing was inherently sexist, with 13 per cent of men agreeing. She said: ‘It is exacerbated by female experience, and actually of all the stats that came out of the survey. ‘I think the one that worried me most is the question ‘Do you think that any elements of car retailing are inherently sexist rather than imbalanced from a gender perspective?’ That was designed to tease out whether there was just a gender imbalance issue or actual sexism. ‘29 per cent of women felt there was an inherent sexism. Whether or not that’s fair we could debate endlessly, but if that’s people’s perception, then that’s the challenge that the industry has to face.’ Examples cited ranged from the prominence of men in advertising materials and a tendency for staff to address the man when a couple enter the premises through to the attitudes of male workers, especially in regards to having pictures depicting cars and under-dressed women on display. While Muir agreed that this is about perception of car dealers, and that it is not a problem for simply new car retailers or used car independents, she was able to add some statistics from her own research that found only 12 per cent of sales executives are female and only six per cent of managers. Meanwhile in aftersales, there is a much more equal balance with almost gender balance in service advisors. However, these preconceptions about gender roles can cloud the reality, she explained: ‘The situation you just described often is the case in many showrooms, that the only female that they see within the first few minutes of arriving is someone who serves them coffee. Then the men are introduced as the people who are going to do the proper business. ‘It’s very different in aftersales. I’m very pleased to say we’re almost gender balanced in service advisors. So those people going to the dealership for that kind of service get a different experience. ‘But the impression we’re giving in sales is that the women serve the tea and the men do the deals. That’s not something people would experience in other situations.’ She added: ‘The first impression really counts. When someone goes into a retail environment, they’ve got previous experiences that they will build upon. ‘Women going into retail environments would not be used to it being predominantly male. Other retail environments are usually either balanced or predominantly female.’
The impression we’re giving in sales is that the women serve the tea and the men do the deals. Julia Muir
Click here to view the results of the What Car? survey