Digital Dealer Features CEO of Ask Patty

The primary goal of Ask Patty was to develop a safe place for women to get automotive advice and the concept behind it was to provide female consumers a resource to get all their questions answered from an unbiased panel of automotive expert women. The next step for Ask Patty was to educate dealers. We also wanted to provide a way for women to find dealers that are female friendly and that have taken steps to change the way they have done business in the past in order to provide an enjoyable buying experience for women consumers.

Deborah Renshaw, a NASCAR driver, is on your advisory panel. How does

Peter Martin - CEO AskPatty.com

her input help women drivers?

Deborah Renshaw, the top female NASCAR driver, has become successful in a male-dominated sport. She has attended dealer school along with her father and she was raised in the automotive and dealership business. Deborah provides a diversity of information because not only did she grow up in the auto industry, but she has gone through the dealer academy so she so she understands more than most the mindset of dealers. Deborah has been discriminated against as a woman in the industry and she provides that level of understanding and insight for women and dealers.

What is the Ask Patty Certified Program?

We developed the Ask Patty certification program because we really believe in the training of the dealership personnel. We designed the program to make it very beneficial to dealerships and consumers. Partnering with Maddox Smye, who penned the textbook we are using, How to Get Rich Selling Cars and Trucks to Women, we believe we have a comprehensive program to elevate the dealerships’ sales and service skills when dealing with women customers. We believe the actual training is the most important part to help dealers communicate with their consumers, which is the key to making the car buying process more enjoyable.

What are the benefits for dealers to be in this program?

This program gives dealers the opportunity to position their dealership as the place to come if you are a woman. If women are purchasing at least 50% of cars sold, then by positioning your dealership as a safe place for women to come for purchases and service, you will attract female consumers to your dealership, therefore increasing your overall sales. When women see the trusted brand of Ask Patty linked to a dealership they will understand that they can have a pleasurable buying experience.

To the woman consumer, Ask Patty represents an improved buying experience.
By incorporating Ask Patty into a dealership’s current web site, they are reaping all the benefits of the Ask Patty brand online. The dealership’s site positioning will improve on search engines and through Ask Patty their site will provide dynamic content. Seven out of ten people do their car research online. When you think about it that way you can see how important and beneficial the co-branded web site truly is.

Are a women auto buyers really different from male auto buyers?

That is a resounding Yes. Here are some facts on women car buyers versus men:

• Women spend approximately 17 weeks on the new car buying process, three weeks longer than men.
• Women are more inclined to purchase cars that they consider fun-to-drive and that are well made. In contrast, men prefer vehicles that are a good value for the money, are comfortable, have nice exterior styling, good fuel economy and display a certain image.
• Women, more than men, place a high value on a vehicle's reliability, durability, passenger seating capacity, safety features and availability of four-wheel drive.
• Women rate safety as the most important aspect when shopping for new vehicles.
• Fifty-seven percent of Female buyers seek advice from automotive authorities before buying a new car.
• Female auto buyers will shop an average of three dealerships for best price and best treatment.
• One third of female buyers read an average of four automotive magazines for 12 months before purchase.
• Females place the most importance on dependability, functionality and economic factors when buying.