'I want to speak to sales, not admin!' - female representation in automotive

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by oldel

I don't speak to anyone in real life

So your the Robot all these sights are looking for

[Interceptor]

Sorry for the thread mine....
I've worked in automotive retail for over 15 years now, and I've found there tends to be 3 kinds of people that work in the trade.
Tradespeople who have decided on a easier, cleaner life.
People with an interest in the trade and a point to prove.
People who see retail as an "easy" job and think they can sponge off the skills of the first 2.

Funny thing is, someones gender has never seemed to affect which category they fit into, but some of the best parts people I've ever worked with have been women, one was a mechanic, another, her father used to own a speed shop in Geelong, and a third was a no BS woman who didnt see a point in turning up to a job and not learning it.

Its the third category I cant stand, they have no skills and no intention of learning, like one store manager, supposedly a qualified diesel mechanic who tried telling his customer that a Toyota 1HZ engine didnt have an oil level sender in the side of the sump...

Sadly, a lot of the chain stores are managed by bean counters who couldnt care less about skill and ability as long as theres a warm body they can sit behind a counter to follow the prompts on a computer screen.

Its not fun when your employer expects you accept your perceived value to the company diminish from what was essentially a 2ic's wages to the award rate while still being expected to maintain the same level of service.

[Franco Cozzo]

The last person is becoming the most common employee in that industry because of the poor wages in the industry,

GPC Asia Pacific only pays $53K PA for parts people and them and BAPCOR set the industry expectations.

I'm no longer in the industry, best thing I've ever done.

[T3rminator]

How long before we won't need to worry about whether we speak to a he or a she or somewhere in between?

I can imagine logging onto my PC, describing to ChatGPT what my issue is, it will diagnose it, identify the parts I need, and have some robots in the warehouse fetch and deliver it.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

How long before we won't need to worry about whether we speak to a he or a she or somewhere in between?

I can imagine logging onto my PC, describing to ChatGPT what my issue is, it will diagnose it, identify the parts I need, and have some robots in the warehouse fetch and deliver it.

Hopefully sooner rather than later,

ChatGPT knocked me up a pretty sweet cover letter that worked a treat

[aussiblue]

can imagine logging onto my PC, describing to ChatGPT what my issue is, it will diagnose it, identify the parts I need, and have some robots in the warehouse fetch and deliver it.

It will probably also 3d Print the part for you or perhaps even download data to your, your mechanic's or your community, 3D printer for it to be printed there. Or alternatively (especially if the Commo Dictators come out on top), decide you don't have the required approvals or competences to do repairs or replace parts and send the Daleks out to vaporise you and your car.


THERE WILL BE NO OF RIGHT TO REPAIR HERE!


"EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE"



"EXTERMINATE" "EXTERMINATE"


Our last words might be: "Is that you T3rminator?"

[aussiblue]

There used to be some very knowledgeable, helpful and incidentally Valiant enthusiasts lady twins working in the parts industry in Perth and working in places like Veales, Marlows and Malz but I have not seen them or their Valiants around for probably near on 20 years so I assume they have retired or the whole Malz to Supercheap deal killed their carers.....or the Daleks have got them already.

[b0son]

If the person in the article has a tiktok account, I'm willing to bet they're wildly overselling the misogyny angle for clicks.

[myrpo]

Op,
I don't care weather what sex is providing the service. As long as they are capable. From buss driver to broker.

I can think of 4 women involved in the transport industry that punch well above their weight in service and knowledge.

Same with a lass down at the local plumbing supplies, and pneumatics supplies as well.

To be honest I like getting served by these woven. They are mostly easy on eye and a pleasure to deal with.

[XC_Lizzard]

(post withdrawn)

[Smoke Pursuit]

I've never had any problems dealing with females in Automotive new car sales.



Trade / wholesale parts is a completely different story. Had one this week at Napa and she honestly had no clue and the biggest chip on her shoulder.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

I've never had any problems dealing with females in Automotive new car sales.



Trade / wholesale parts is a completely different story. Had one this week at Napa and she honestly had no clue and the biggest chip on her shoulder.

Most people don't care about the gender of the person they're dealing with behind the counter, but the automotive repair industry has a large core group of customers who don't want to deal with women or people from other cultures, particularly Indians or people they perceive as Indians cop a right flogging.

To the point where we had to stop our accounts team from answering the sales phone, when they were doing us a favor, because as soon as they heard something they perceived as an Indian accent you'd lose customers over it because they 'don't want to talk to Indians'. Said 'Indians' speak English better than I do, so its not a case of communication and context issues.

Where you get the issues with NAPA and the likes is you're dealing with year/make/model people who need a VIN because they rely on electronic cataloguing, which works for about 90% of customers, but if you're a crafty type making something work thats when the deck of cards falls over because they're virtually check out people at Woolworths Safeway/Coles.

I don't need year/make/model/transmission to sell you wiper blades, I know Falcons use a 9x3mm hook type arm and they take 500-550mm length wiper blades, and I didn't even sell wiper blades for light vehicles, so I don't need a computer to tell me what part number has a 9x3mm hook and what length blades you needed from a VIN, if you approached me for it.

The same way I know the size of the hooks that Wilwood brake calipers use if you needed a custom hand brake cable made to suit a Wilwood brake conversion, as well as the sizes of the mounting positions on Falcon diffs that the brake cables need.

I also know that if you've put a 4L80E into something then you need a shift cable with a 75mm stroke to get all the gears.

Or there's a rotor that DBA makes specifically for a VS to VT front brake conversion that has the correct centre bore size for a VS but the rotor diameter and thickness of the VT (DBA040B)

That knowledge is upstairs in my head, not on a computer, and the computer won't tell you these things anyway, it will tell you what a vehicle has from the factory, if the cataloguing has been done correctly (here's a secret, it hasn't).

That was a conscious decision by both BAPCOR/GPC Asia Pacific to reduce the level of skill in the industry thats worked its way down everywhere - those two corporate titans set the trend for what the rest of the industry follows, wages in the industry have been going down, not up. I climbed the ladder from parts interpreter to branch manager to category manager, then threw in the towel on the whole industry, my 12 years of experience followed me out the door and I came from the workshop floor, not retail.

They invest into electronic cataloguing (and not enough), because you can pay staff less and leverage the computer by putting the onus back on the customer to provide information, then if its not spot on you have an out to blame them for it. This becomes a right nightmare with VAG parts, as they have a VIN system that only VAG knows how to decode to give you the right parts, otherwise you'll end up with listings that show 6 different front brake pads and four different rears, then you need to go measuring, comparing photos with samples and all other sorts of parts interpreting avenues with a check out person.

Or things like the delivery driver won't check the parts they've got on their delivery run compared to whats on the invoice for the customer as a secondary check to catch miss picks from the warehouse staff, because 'its not my job, I just drive the car'. The industry hates stupid mistakes like human error miss picks as it leaves cars stuck on hoists, its a huge problem that will have customers very upset.

I walked into a Repco branch a couple months ago, that was a real shock to me as the last time prior was probably 10 years ago and they've gone from a trade focused business to retail, selling wiper blades and seat covers, while the trade parts section is the back 10% of the floor space.

There was a GPC Asia Pacific parts shop on Mornington Peninsula who had a gun parts crew who all had 20+ years experience and came from trade backgrounds, they turned into a Repco and instantly lost the experienced crew who all jumped ship to the local Bursons.

Reason being was the branch manager goes, 'I don't want to sell seat covers and wiper blades to retail customers'

[bungarra]

Good thing about my local AutoPro, no matter who is behind the counter, male, female, whatever they want to identify as, they all are into cars in some form. Never had a bad experience from them.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by bungarra

Good thing about my local AutoPro, no matter who is behind the counter, male, female, whatever they want to identify as, they all are into cars in some form. Never had a bad experience from them.

Yep, if you don't have people with experience, but you have one who does and a bunch who are keen because they love cars, you've got the recipe for a great crew because they are keen and they care.

The problem is finding the keen ones who care and are passionate about it, you won't get them for cents in the dollar.

My local Holden dealership (remember those) miss picked and sent me some VE Commodore air filters instead of VS ones, the guy behind the parts counter knew exactly what went wrong just by the part numbers and the locations on the warehouse shelf - thats experience.

[FTE217]

The fall in general parts knowledge behind the counter started before the tech age actually.....
OH&S and OT came to the for starting the rot, long before your young 12yrs in the game Franco.
(by all means I have no issue staff being paid what they are due and OT, obviously some companies paid X individual more than his/her fellow worker due to their experience and work ethic)
Product training used to be "after hours" by so so many suppliers incl me doing the rounds of the country.
The usual we'd supply pizza's/beverages present our ranges/this goes with that,what to look out for - real world workshop experiences and talk incentives and present targets that was so well recieved back in the day.
Pass out promo gear with our brands (polos/caps/jackets etc) those invested for the love of cars enjoyed as did we.
The general discussion after presentations sometimes went on for another couple of hours for in time you got to know people, similar interests etcetc, it was such a huge win win for all concerned.
The pre Babcors/GPC upon the constraints didn't want to pay OT onbvioulsy therefore training was introduced during office hours, it just didn't work out for Sales phone Teams and Reps only half could attend due to ongoing daily sales tasks ofcourse.
Next for some companies it was the introduction of emailing training videos etc to this day, without face to face presentation it doesn't have half the impact compared to face to face.
People wanted the tech world, therefore the work force keeps getting reduced.
As for credits/wtys nowadays its just absorbed in the P&L, yes it was before as well but the process allowed for investigtion, find out root causes, report/fix carry on.
Now those type of roles are a waste of time and money.
The more new breed coming into WH tasks, office Product management many have no hands on experience unilke the Franco types.
They are good with spread sheets and learning the employers softeware.
The companies mentioned in the end wll be just like a amazon.
Infact they own online companies that some of you buy from in the first place.

There will always be a presence of an independant somewhere in the future believe me.
For there will always be one who wants to go up against "the machine", its a human trait.

One also needs to accept the ol experienced fossils/boomers are retiring, the salts of the earth enjoy the ones you still have in your areas, some of their employers have been bought out as mentioned, therefore cya later I'm done for many have gone :(.
Cycle of life people, software runs the parts game more and more, like wifi for the younger gens.

[lra]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

To the point where we had to stop our accounts team from answering the sales phone, when they were doing us a favor, because as soon as they heard something they perceived as an Indian accent you'd lose customers over it because they 'don't want to talk to Indians'. Said 'Indians' speak English better than I do, so its not a case of communication and context issues.

Probably because so many scam / marketing phone calls start with "Good morning Mr. Cozzo, and how are you today" with an Indian accent.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by FTE217

There will always be a presence of an independant somewhere in the future believe me.
For there will always be one who wants to go up against "the machine", its a human trait.

One also needs to accept the ol experienced fossils/boomers are retiring, the salts of the earth enjoy the ones you still have in your areas, some of their employers have been bought out as mentioned, therefore cya later I'm done for many have gone :(.
Cycle of life people, software runs the parts game more and more, like wifi for the younger gens.

Hands down the best parts person I met in the game who was working at a Bursons in Bayswater and then later Springvale, he used to be a refrigeration mechanic and then went into LV parts with Bursons, which I thought was rather odd, thats a big step backwards in wages, so of course I asked why he did that clanger of a move

Turns out he was 'on the spectrum' and his thing is cars, so he moved into a field he was passionate about - absolute gun parts interpreter. Its considered a disability, but if you can utilise these people on the things they hyper focus on they're absolute weapons.

To the point he recalled my name, the exact conversation I had with him, what car I owned, some custom cables I organised for his customer doing LS1 conversions into other vehicles, as well as our internal 10 digit reference number, all this 18 months later just from the top of his head. His ability to recall and store information upstairs relating to cars was unparalleled.

[FTE217]

yer they are very intelligent people thats for sure.......
Like dictionaries or walking encyclopedia.