Woman Car Dealer

MARIANNE BOND
By Kevin Ransom
For auto dealer Marianne Bond, showing some compassion turned out to be a good business move, and led her to focus on an oft-neglected segment of the used-car market — women buyers.

Bond opened Bond’s Auto Sales in High Ridge, Mo., south of St. Louis about four months ago. She currently sells about 24 vehicles per month, and is shooting for 40 a month by the end of the year.

But not too many years ago, she was a saleswoman and single mother on a budget. So she could relate to some of the single mothers who came in looking for affordable transportation.

“I worked at some high-volume dealerships, and I’d see single mothers who’d only be making $850 a month, and most of that was going to rent and child care,” said Bond in a thick Scottish accent.

“I knew those women weren’t going to be able to make ends meet. In the hype of the sale, their payment might end up being $450 a month. I made a lot of money off of them, but in three months I’d see the car being repo’d. That bothered me. I was very sorry I’d done that. I didn’t want that on my conscience.”

So Bond came up with a way to help these women. She would tell them to delay their purchase until she found something they could afford.

“I’d find some older couple who wanted to trade in their car, and I’d tell them to keep their car, sell them a new one at a discount, and put them in touch with some of these single moms,” she said.

“My managers didn’t like that, but it paid off in the long run. Those women remembered that, and I got a lot of referrals from them. I got tremendous word-of-mouth from that. I have some people I’ve sold three or four cars to over the years.”

That experience led Bond to focus on the women’s market.

“You need to take the time to listen closely to women buyers, and find out what their needs are,” said Bond, who emigrated from Scotland to the U.S. in 1974 when she was 20.

She first worked as a nanny, then as a hairdresser, before taking her first auto-sales job at a Chevrolet dealer in Milwaukee.

Bond said women naturally gravitated to her when she was selling Chevys.

“Women prefer to be sold-to by a woman,” she said. “I also found out that women control the sale. If they come in with their spouse, he may do all the talking, but it’s the woman who will make the decisions.”

Bond said she currently offers inventory that costs her $800 to $1,500, and sells for $2,995 or $3,495.

“About 35 percent of my business is buy-here, pay-here,” she said. “I buy trade-ins from about a half-dozen new-car stores in my area, and from wholesalers.”

Bond said catering to the women’s market is really pretty easy. “Usually, just listening to them will help you understand how to sell them a car,” Bond said. “It defi-
nitely helps you make the sale if you spend some time finding out how you can help them.”

Bond says she tries to make women feel comfortable in a place where men usually dominate — the used-car lot.

“A lot of men don’t take women seriously on the lot,” Bond said. “I can remember going to lots and the salespeople wouldn’t even come out, because I was a female. Women buyers want a reliable vehicle without getting completely burned on it. And they want to be taken seriously in the negotiation process.”

She also tries to make sure the car is exceptionally clean and well-maintained before she sells it.

“I have to watch it,” she said. “I want to spend about $200 a car for reconditioning, but lately it’s been getting up to $300 or $400. That’s okay if its in the vehicle, but I know that’s getting too high.”

For a year prior to opening Bond’s Auto Sales, Bond was wholesaling cars in nearby Florissant.