PALM DESERT, Calif. — AskPatty.com has announced a new phase in the ongoing evolution of its Certified Female Friendly Program, including a shift in focus to marketing consultation for automotive retailers that want to attract and retain women customers.

First launched in 2006, the Certified Female Friendly Program initially focused primarily on training and advertising support. While those services will remain in place, the program will now be geared toward providing marketing consultation and aim to foster a positive culture among certified locations.

The program's availability has also been expanded, and is now being offered to automotive brands in addition to dealerships, service locations, tire dealers, quick lubes, parts stores, car washes and credit unions.

“What we provide for our clients changes over time based on their needs and on the changes in marketing best practices, so that we can always provide a program that gets results,” said AskPatty.com CEO Jody DeVere. “A company that doesn't change doesn't continue to produce results.”

As part of the overhaul of AskPatty.com’s programs, the company’s former president of sales and marketing, Cherie Watters, has returned as the head of AskPatty.com’s new dealer division. Watters will join DeVere at the Women in Automotive Conference in Orlando, Fla., from Aug. 18-20, to celebrate the overhaul.

“The kind of service that will work for the independent shop or tire dealer will not work in the dealer world. Dealers are very unique,” DeVere said of the new division. “Part of our renewed focus on giving our clients the support they need is moving our dealers into their own category, so that they're treated differently from start to finish. We really take our work in the dealer world very seriously.”

The AskPatty.com Certified Female Friendly relaunch was inspired, in part, by the company’s successful relationships with other brands such as NEXEN Tire, Turtle Wax, Cooper Tire, ArmorAll, and Sylvania.

“We're attracting a lot of attention from parts of the industry we've never touched before,” DeVere noted. “So it's time to make a change for everybody. These are great changes, I think!”