Female car dealer builds trust with customers

By Kim Tae-jong

People tend to think men know cars much better than women do and in that sense, male car salesmen are better than female ones. But Kim Han-joo, the studio director of Fiat Korea’s showroom in Gangnam, Seoul, proves they are all wrong.

“I don’t think simply knowing more about cars makes you a good salesman. Then, engineers would be the best people for the job. I think it’s more important to know what your customers want and meet their needs,” she said.

As a female dealer, she thinks she can meet the sophisticated demands of customers better than her male counterparts as women tend to have more delicate personalities.

But it wasn’t easy for Kim when she first started to develop her career with BMW Korea in 2002. There were only a few female colleagues and many customers preferred to deal with male sales staff, believing a woman was not suitable for the job.

But she tried to build up trust and take the best care of customers for a long time to overcome such a prejudice.

“The turnover rate of male employees is very high. It’s like they work for BMW today but move to Mercedes-Benz the next day. But for me, after I moved to Chrysler, I worked there for nine years. I think customers, especially of imported cars, want premium care more than discounts or free gifts,” she said.

Such efforts paid off as she became one of the best three dealership employees between 2009 and 2011 at Chrysler Korea.

Now, she has been given a new mission, to sell the iconic Fiat 500 instead of large Chrysler sedans as the Italian auto giant has re-entered the Korean market.

The import and sale of Fiat vehicles is handled by Chrysler Korea, as the America-based automaker is now owned by Fiat after its bankruptcy in June 2009.

Kim is the only female director in eight showrooms for the Italian brand in Korea.

She says that the Fiat 500 will broaden the scope of the imported car market here as it has added more diversity, as cars are not just a vehicle for transportation but also a medium to express who the driver is.

“In the past, expensive imported cars were a symbol of social status,” Kim said. “But now drivers choose their car to express themselves. Cars show your personality.”

In this regard, she thinks the Italian firm’s small car is the perfect model for those who want to experience unique style and design.