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and taking a test drive — an incentive that resulted in "at least seven or eight" vehicle sales, Cruz says. It's a drop in the bucket for an operation that averages about 150 to 200 newvehicle sales per month and 45 to 50 certifed pre-owned sales, but Cruz is betting on her store's good will spreading to other female prospects. And based on recent research, female customers may be an even bigger market than she imagined. According to analysis from Southfeld, Mich.-based Polk, 80% of car-buying decisions are made by women. Perhaps more importantly, the segment's potential buying power is estimated to be about $5 trillion. But their infuence doesn't end there, with Polk data indicating that females also make 65% to 80% of the service and maintenance decisions, which means women are spending a good amount of time in dealership service lounges. Lexus of Massapequa is responding to that f nding by offering manicures and massages to customers in the service lounge. Te services are provided by local merchants during certain hours each day. "It's just to make them feel comfortable," Cruz says, noting that the dealership also ofers patrons a reading lounge for peace and quiet. "Not everybody can get a loaner. … I've gone to a doctor's ofce and had to be there an hour, two hours, and it's pretty uncomfortable when you're just sitting there watching TV." Aside from faux champagne and cupcakes, Lexus of Massapequa also held a pet contest via social media. "Baby Howard" (below) was the winner and appeared in various promotions for the dealer during the month of November. HIGH-TECH PAMPERING Lexus of Massapequa also recently launched a monthly Technology Night, an evening of refreshments and drinks that ofers an open forum for customers to ask questions about vehicle technologies. And so far, Cruz says, Technol- ogy Night has drawn a predominantly female crowd. "Lexus is high-end, and a lot of people buy these cars, and they don't know what they do," Cruz says. "It's kind of like smartphones; you'd be surprised how many people have smartphones and don't know what they can do." Technology Night is a manufacturer-sponsored event, but Cruz says her store is the only one in the immediate area taking advantage of it. "You have to do things to set yourself apart," she says. "So if nobody's doing it, we're going to try to do it ourselves." Lexus of Massapequa's marketing team works with Long Island's Somos Partners Inc. to chart the campaigns' success — right down to the email blasts that show up in female customers' inboxes. Cruz says the Technology Night invites use more feminine colors in the body of the emails, as well as images that are generally more appealing to the female audience. "I noticed that women tend to respond more to things that are pet-related. Women love their pets." Te same rules apply to social media. Last fall, Cruz and her team launched a social media campaign where online fans could submit photos of their dogs to be the face of Lexus of Massapequa for the month of November. Tat's how the store landed Baby Howard, the pup with the most "likes," as its mascot last fall. Te dog appeared in various social media photos and promotions for the dealership. Te attention Baby Howard at- tracted paid of, Cruz says, especially considering the investment for the campaign was nominal. "Little by little, we started getting more likes on our page, we started getting more followers on Twitter," she says, adding that the owner of the dog blasted out the promotions to her page as well. "Next thing you know, you have people that are associated with her and they're going to our page afer that. Just from [the pet campaign] alone, we've picked up two or three extra vehicle sales." Moving forward, Cruz plans to continue to make the process more appealing to women. "I'm a woman myself, and I know what pushes my buttons. I know how [businesses] are going to get my attention to get me to go to a store. I told myself I am going to experiment with this, and so far, so good. "If it doesn't work, we won't do it. If we see it's working, we're going to continue to do it," she adds. "It's the only way we're going to grow." FE BRUARY 2014 • AUTODE ALE R MONTHLY.COM 17