jocelyn waters – motoring towards equity
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photo by steed media service
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Director of the Women’s Retail Initiative, General Motors
As Jocelyn Waters articulated eloquently, women are changing the face
of car dealerships. Literally. A female dealership owner in Denver has
a state-of-the-art McDonald’s play gym on the grounds for when families
come to get their car serviced or are purchasing a new one. Another
female dealership owner in Atlanta has spa reps come in on the busiest
days to give women hand creams and spa treatments. “GM realized the
purchasing power of women and did a study just to take a look at what
they [could] do to change the direction of the market share for women,”
says Waters, the director of the women’s retail initiative at General
Motors. “Women are such a vital force in the market. They make 80-85
percent of the purchasing decisions.” On the workforce front, Waters
alluded, women in general bring intangibles to the car sales game that
elevate their performances above the general sales team “Women get to
know that customer. They interact with that customer. They remember
things about that customer. So they build relationships,” Waters adds.
“One of the things that I’ve experienced being on the ground and
working with dealers is that, 9 times out of 10, if you have a female
working in that dealership, she’s the top sales person, because she
listens to her customers. She listens to what that person is looking
for.” – terry shropshire
Log onto GM’s Web site at www.gm.com.
