In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Brand Experience Expert, Katie Mares. Katie Mares is a force to be reckoned with. Her impact is centered on creating standout moments for customers and employees at her dealership and through her work at Perma Shield USA. Her mission is to help male-dominated spaces expand their reach to capture the world's most influential female consumers. Katie shared some eye-opening statistics: 65% of new car purchasers are women, and women make 85% of the decision-making in coupled relationships. Despite these figures, there's an apparent disconnect between the gender of the consumers and the gender of those designing and delivering the buying experience. Men still dominate the upper management and sales roles in the industry. Katie explained an apparent disparity in how men and women are treated when they walk into a dealership. She shared the results of her customer survey, where 87% of women said they would only go to a dealership with their husbands. Katie shed light on the importance of understanding and catering to the needs of female consumers in the automotive industry. There's a need for a shift in the industry that acknowledges and values women's influence and buying power. As Katie Mares continues her mission, we want to see more inclusive and tailored experiences for all consumers in the automotive industry.

Key Points from the Episode:

• Katie Mares' impact and mission in creating standout moments for customers and employees
• Disconnect between the gender of consumers and those designing and delivering the buying experience
• Statistics on women's influence in car purchasing decisions
• Disparity in how men and women are treated at dealerships
• Results of Katie's customer survey on women's dealership experiences
• Importance of tailoring the buying experience to the individual customer
• Women's larger limbic brain and emotional intelligence
• Women's ability to communicate with creativity and logic
• Men's tendency to communicate only with logic and its impact on relationship-building

About Katie Mares:

Katie Mares is a prominent brand experience expert with a deep understanding of organizations' challenges in crafting sustainable and impactful customer experience (CX) programs tailored for female consumers. With a background as Chief Inspiration Officer, she brings extensive expertise in building company infrastructure and designing CX initiatives. Katie is a vocal advocate for positive change within partner organizations, leveraging her master's degree in Adult Training and Development from Schulich School of Business and her certification as a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP). A globally sought-after speaker, she has captivated audiences worldwide, reshaping perspectives on female consumers, customer experience, and leadership. Katie has collaborated with renowned brands like Honda, Celebrity Cruises, and Canada Post. Residing in Toronto with her three children, Katie finds balance through travel, consulting, speaking engagements, and personal pursuits like yoga, shoe shopping, and cherished movie nights with her kids.

Tweetable Moments:

04:21- "The reason I break it down into gender and the reason it's so important is because the men of the industry are not even recognizing the female when coming in with a man, so like right off the bat we have a gender equality issue when it comes to the female consumer." 12:48 - "We communicate with creativity and logic which means we can listen to all the details and we can also sift through them logically and then soften it up by creating that relationship and using that sort of creative language at the same time."

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Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Want to learn more? Check out Katie Mares website at https://katiemares.com/ Check out Katie Mares Consulting on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/katie-mares-consulting/ Check out Katie Mares on LinkedIn at https://ca.linkedin.com/in/katie-mares-ctdp-mcatd-cpsa Check out Katie Mares on Twitter at https://twitter.com/hellokatiemares Check out Katie Mares on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/katiemares/ Check out Katie Mares on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/katie.mares.16 Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!

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