Women’s Advocacy Still Relevant and Important
When I first started Car-Buy-Her I knew advocacy was a part of the equation. I knew it, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to say it. After my personal experience, a lot of secondary research, and a number of conversations with women, I recognized that women had to take a stand. Women Standing Up was the title of a speech given by Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta at a League of Women Voters meeting this month. For those of you who are not familiar with Mayor Franklin’s work, her accomplishments are too numerous to mention. Mayor Shirley Franklin has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine, Ebony magazine, Black Enterprise and many other local and national publications and is certainly one to be admired. I listened intently at the issues at hand, the resounding message and completely understood the many variables that play into the everyday lives of women.
It’s hard for some to get it. Many don’t want to accept the fact that speaking to women, for women, with women, is not about separation, but more so about recognition, confidence building, self-awareness, relating, understanding, and support. Although the context for the meeting was a discussion of the local politics at hand the inferences were across the board.
Here are some of the Mayor’s sentiments and how they relate to women and car buying:
1. Women have a different perspective - Women’s viewpoints on car buying are different. Women tend to look for cars that are safe and reliable. Women look for showrooms that are clean and visually appealing. Women tend to like low-pressured sales tactics and want to be acknowledged, respected and told the truth.
2. Women shouldn’t try to emulate men - Absolutely! Whether in business, politics or car buying there is no need for women to go at it as if they are men. Women can be informed, empowered, and in control as their own feminine selves!
3. Reflect the experiences of women - One of the goals of the Car-Buy-Her site is to listen and share women’s stories and to provide useful information that can be used to make the car buying experience more enjoyable.
4. Gender Budgeting - I had never heard of this one, but in a nutshell there are cities that actually budget for women’s issues. Are you listening dealerships? It’s time to incorporate a Women’s Budget into your marketing plan. Car-Buy-Her has both training and marketing programs that can help dealerships work more effectively with the women they serve, but it’s up to the dealership to determine that it’s important enough to address and invest in. We know that many of you have, and for the others I suggest you give us a call when you’re ready.
Car-Buy-Her will continue to advocate for women as we fulfill our mission to 1. educate women 2. educate dealerships and 3. bridge the gap between the two.
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