WABMC HOW IT ALL
BEGAN
Many people often ask me
about the Women’s Automotive Basic Maintenance Class, and I love to
tell the story of its conception and birth. A few years ago, my
husband had an ideal to open a automotive repair center in addition
to the motorcoach business we were currently operating. This would
be the beginning of something wonderful ….
After a few months of
being in what many still considered to be a male-dominated arena,
[on this level anyway] I began to view daily operations, and
customer services practices a bit more closely.
I noticed that the male
customers were treated differently than the women, and overall, had
a better experience with us, mostly in part because most male
customers came into the repair shop with some sort of ideal what
the problem was with their vehicle, also in many cases, this is a
topic a lot of men are comfortable with discussing and learning
about.
As for the women
customers, I found a very small numbers of women who knew about
their cars, and had a pleasant experience; it was interesting to me
that most women entered into our location upset, frustrated and
usually brought with them a brother, husband or male friend for
support and advice.
Women and men are
different, and we need to understand it, accept it, and do
something about it. I did not like what I saw, or felt, so I
started on my mission to make Motor City Sales and Service a
“Women-Friendly” environment. We literally tore down walls and made
a pleasant lounge area for our customers, but especially for women
and their children to be comfortable while they waited for their
repairs to be completed.
Upon many conversations
with the women customers, I found that many of them just wanted
someone to explain to them what was wrong with their cars, they
wanted to know if they were getting the best price for the work
that had to be done, and because women have to wear so many hats
these days of course… if they could get their children to and from
school, and themselves to and from work.
I found that very few
women were taught how to take care of their vehicles, and if they
were blessed to be taught at all, these teachers were usually a
male family member.
Many women want to learn
and obtain more knowledge about cars; especially their own; however
they just didn’t know where to go to get the help they
needed.
We all went to drivers
training to learn how to drive safely, we also were shown how to
pump gas…but pretty much after that there is nothing else made
available to assist us in learning more about our vehicles.
Especially, in the vital area of proper
maintenance.
I personally believe if
you DRIVE a car, you need to know how to maintain
it.
If it makes sense to you
to learn how to maintain your other investments in life, why
doesn’t it make sense for you to learn how to protect the
investment you have made in your automobile?
Well, I believed in this
class, and I know it will be a huge success because it is needed
and of great importance, and even I as a woman could have benefited
from this class.
Well the rest is
history…..
I talked with my husband
and our staff and mechanics about my thoughts and feelings, and
ideas… finally put the vision on paper. In September we began
forming and designing the outline to present this
class.
The birth of the “Women’s
Automotive Hands-On Basic Maintenance Class” was launched using
only flyers printed from our personal computer and word of mouth.
In November of 2005 we began to receive inquiries from women for
the class, and since then this unique class has been very
successful.
