Now if you’re the car salesperson that this happened to, perhaps you might consider changing your approach when it comes to selling cars.

It’s a long held belief that car dealers employ a different sales method when it comes to techniques which will motivate the opposite sexes to come to a car buying decision. 

But is it true?

Clearly the above experience illustrates a worst case scenario for anyone trying to sell a car to a woman.  While this is an extreme example, many women complain that they are sold to differently when they enter a dealership, alone, or as part of a male/female couple, particularly if dealing with a male salesperson. 

Shawna X*, a former car sales person, doesn’t necessarily think so: “We were not 'officially' trained in selling men vs. women, however the key component of T.A.D.A.'s (Toronto Auto Dealer Association) training focused on selling to the customer's needs.” She goes on to explain, “We were instructed that generally, men focus on horse power / engine size / bells & whistles and depending on the age—chick appeal.  Women focus on safety and fuel economy as their number one priorities.”  

(Writer’s note: I received this information from Shawna after I decided what my top priorities were – and these were two of them.)  

Of course, she emphasizes, this is not true 100 per cent of the time, as to every rule there is an exception, so they were also trained to work to determine the buyer’s needs versus the buyer’s wants (sports car want translating to mini-van need), and not necessarily remain focused on whether they were male or female.  

But did this upfront stereotyping result in some backlash?  Of course, she says. “I saw a fresh faced young salesman chatting up a female client, about fuel economy / colours / safety and seemingly ignoring her request for info on engine size and other 'male' interests.  With an exasperated sigh, she let him know in no uncertain terms…[that] she felt patronized and would take her business elsewhere.”  

I did discover that generally men and women look for divergent features in the cars they are buying, and perhaps the training that Shawna received was appropriate and well–researched.  

How? I went out into the real world and visited a dealership, alone, telling the (male) sales person I had a particular make and model in mind.  

One of the first questions he asked me was “What features are important to you?” After I indicated that safety, comfort, and mileage were my top three, he showed me the airbags, the cup holders, and a chart indicating the gas mileage efficiency.  Now, while this was all terrific, and answered specifically what I told him I wanted to know about, he also did a few things, unasked. (See chart below)

My husband then visited the same dealership (different sales person, still male, working on the assumption that similar sales training is deployed in the same store), and he indicated his top three features were gas mileage, safety, and financing.  After getting the basic fuel economy, airbag and cup holder (indeed) information, he then experienced some key differences.

While our experiences didn’t vary wildly, there was enough of a difference to demonstrate that their approach in trying to find the key selling levers between us was evident.

Now I’m not saying that all women know nothing about engines, and all men are not the least bit interested in where to put their groceries, but I think some of the ownership of the buying/selling transaction belongs with the buyer, and the information they provide in trying to come to a decision on the car they purchase.

What about when a couple shops together? Recent car purchaser Cathy Buckland went to the dealership with her husband, and saw similar techniques, first hand. “I recognized that he was doing all the talking to my husband, but I didn’t let it bother me. I knew we would make the purchase decision together.”

While she and her husband Darin had decided that they would have equal say in which car they bought, she admits he did more research and was generally much more excited about buying a new car.  While they agreed to act as a team, she acknowledges that they had a different set of top three features they wanted to find in a car.  

“I was interested in a hybrid (for environmental purposes), I wanted it to be a standard transmission, and (because my husband and I are both 6 feet+ tall), comfort is key”, she says, while “Darin’s top three were (in order), comfort, horsepower / engine size, and warranty.” 

This experience confirmed comments captured in an online survey I ran, that if husband and wife shop together, the following was reported:

Shawna suggests a practical solution to avoiding the stereotype trap is to have women deal with women sales people, and men deal with men, as generally there is a higher comfort level. “They (women) feel less intimidated and believe their needs will be understood. As do men with men.”  

I wish sales people could read our minds, but in absence of that, we need to make sure we’re telling them what we want, and rely on their professional training. For the record, I do need that remote to find my car in the parking lot.

* Shawna asked not to be identified.

(Lead image via Hemmings Blogs)