I recently wrote about the remarkable women of the General Motors’ Women’s Retail Network, over 200 women auto dealers who recently celebrated their organization’s 10th anniversary. This group reminded me that Baby Boomer women not only make great business leaders; they also understand how to market to vibrant women like them.
When Celeste Briggs, the entrepreneurial Director of the Women’s Retail Network, invited me to speak to this gathering, we conducted a car survey with the Boomer women who gather at VibrantNation.com.
Going into this survey, we knew what General Motors and others know: Boomer women make up a group of important and valuable auto buyers. Given their longevity, these women will buy more cars after 50 than they bought before 50. And they influence a majority of car purchases by anyone over 50.
Our research confirmed that car companies can’t take women for granted. 73% of respondents said that they make car-buying decisions by themselves; 26% make the decision with their spouse/partner; and only 1% rely on their spouse/partner to decide.
But our research told us a lot more as well:
Boomer Women Don’t Like Buying Cars
The auto industry faces an uphill battle. One of its most important consumer demographics doesn’t like the experience of buying its products – for several reasons:
- 40% of Boomer women told us that they don’t like price negotiating. They don’t want to negotiate, and they find the negotiating process frustrating. They don’t like the pressure it applies; they don’t like the multiple players involved in the process (“I’ll have to check with my manager”), and they don’t like how long it takes. Women generally like to know that they are being treated fairly, and the car-buying experience does not seem fair to them.
- Another 36% of Boomer women don’t like car sales people. Instead of making the sales process welcome and supportive, these key players make women feel pressured.
While it’s bad news when 76% of consumers don’t like your buying experience, the good news is that these are issues that auto dealers can do something about. And it would be worth the investment, since 88% of Boomer women bought their most recent car from a traditional dealership. That could make auto companies complacent (why invest in serving women better if they aren’t going anywhere), but they would learn well from other industries (like department stores) where inferior service has sent Boomer women to alternate channels of trade.
Boomer Women Become “Better” Car Consumers as they Age
Across price levels, Boomer women told us that they plan to pay considerably more for their next car than they paid for their current car – by almost $2,000. Not only does this undercut the traditional stereotype that consumers start scaling back their spending on cars in their 50s and 60s, but it suggests that Boomer women actually start scaling up their spending on cars as they age. This is consistent with a recent study showing that Boomer women have moved back into the post-Recession luxury car market faster than men.
Who Will Win the Vibrant Car Buyer?
While domestic auto manufacturers aren’t meeting all of the needs of the Boomer woman car buyer, they have retained a strong market share. Our survey respondents reported owning more cars from General Motors than any other car company. Toyota, in spite of its recalls, was a strong second (and Ford is a somewhat distant third).
When we asked what car our respondents wanted to buy, we learned that Toyota and Lexus continue present a growing challenge to domestic manufactures, but that Boomer women are especially interested in hybrids – a category that any manufacturer should be able to win.
Ultimately our survey confirmed that Boomer women make especially attractive car buyers; that auto manufacturers and dealers need to address them and their needs directly; and that whoever can provide a better sales experience and more environmentally friendly cars will gain market share from its competitors.
If GM would leave this initiative in the hands of its Women’s Retail Network members, I have no doubt that it would be the company to beat.
Kudo's to you Alicia! Wow you've accomplished quite a lot in your life and you will with dating too at some point. Hang in there! Hugs back! Lisa
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Holy crap! What a sad story. Congrats on overcoming that hurdle. Wow.
How I would handle it. FIrst, I would get into therapy; that could go a long way to helping you and your difficulties.
Second (boundaries are necessary in life)..when your kids call for advice, I would FIRST ask them what their thoughts are an
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