Dealer Vs. Distributor: Panel Highlights Importance of Service Operations
By Deborah Lockridge, Editor
OEM truck dealers and independent aftermarket distributors often have a love/hate relationship. So Stu MacKay, president of market research and consulting firm MacKay & Co., got a dealer and a distributor on stage at HDAW for a panel discussion for the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Forum.

Terry Dotson is CEO/president of Worldwide Equipment Inc. in Kentucky and surrounding states, with 12 full-service dealerships, plus parts-only stores and other related businesses. He sells a $100 million a year in parts, from everyone to the guy who only buys used or salvaged parts, all the way up to running six maintenance facilities for major truckload fleet U.S. Xpress.

Dotson was a pioneer in the concept of OE dealers offering aftermarket parts. "In the early '80s when we saw changes beginning to happen in the industry, we went to the OE we went business with at the time and talked to them about it. They didn't listen very well." When Dotson took matters into his own hands and opened a warehouse operation, the OE threatened to cancel his franchise. Eventually Dotson allied himself with a different OE, and during the '80s the business saw the truck makers "wake up to the commodity parts business," he said.

Bill Ryan is CEO/owner of Point Spring and Driveshaft, with 10 locations in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, $6 million in parts inventory and 50 service bays. He, too, has tried to stay ahead of the curve, he said.

Dealers have always been the biggest competition....

Four Ways to Find Cash in Your Business
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor
A fundamental understanding of what constitutes the cash in your business is key to making the most of it. That was the message from Jason Bader, consultant from The Business Team, in one of the best business sessions - Finding Cash in Your Business - at this year's Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.

1: Treat inventory like cash

The first step in any business that carries inventory is thinking of that inventory as the same as cash, said Bader. Do you know to the penny how much inventory you have? To you it is cash, said Bader, who is a retail consultant to the aftermarket.

Just because it is on the shelves and looks like the stuff you sell is no reason to let unauthorized - or even authorized - people wander among it. After all, if it were cash, you'd be a lot more circumspect.

You shouldn't give access to your inventory to salesmen, for instance, who'll pull stuff for demos and samples. You certainly shouldn't give access to sales representatives from suppliers who can see what other supplier inventory you have. And you shouldn't be letting delivery drivers be wandering around back there, either.....

Lip Service Just Doesn't Get It Done
Commentary by Stu MacKay, MacKay & Co.
How many times have you attempted to make a point to someone, perhaps repeatedly, and heard something like, "Yeah, yeah, I understand, I'll get to it"? This is a response I get from a handful of business school classmates when I make my annual call to ask for money. Nice to talk with them, good to hear they're still alive and kicking - but the money never seems to make it. After the third call - and no results - it really pisses me off!

It's not just my alleged business school buddies that fry my you-know-what; it's also many of the people I spend time with in this industry, too. The issue here isn't money - at least not my asking for money. But it is money that could be in their pocket, and it's going into somebody else's.

What's the issue? Service. Commercial truck and trailer service. How many times is it necessary to point out the obvious (at least to me) opportunities in the service arena that offer genuinely huge sales and profit opportunities for guys who are currently only in the parts business?....

Stand Out From the Crowd: Building a Brand Is More Than a Logo
By Craig Fry, Guest Contributor
People often talk about the value of a brand. But have you ever wondered how much your brand is really worth? Would you be surprised to find out that it might be the most valuable asset you have? If you've taken good care of it, your brand may be worth more than your building, your delivery trucks and your entire inventory all put together.

Consider the recent sale of Anheuser-Busch (the St. Louis company that brews Budweiser) to InBev (the Belgian company that brews Becks). InBev paid $52 billion for the purchase. But the assets of Anheuser-Busch, all totaled up, were only $17.6 billion.

In other words, for $17.6 billion, InBev could have purchased enough brewing vats and bottling machines and trucks and desks and computers and paper clips and Clydesdales to completely duplicate Anheuser-Busch. So what did they get for the extra $34.8 billion?

The brand.....

Some Things to Consider in Your Business Planning
By Deborah Lockridge, Editor
In the heavy-duty distribution business, a long-term plan is about 18 months, according to a survey done in advance of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week '09. If that describes your operation, however, you might want to rethink your strategy.

"I don't disagree that anyone who says they can tell you what's going to happen two years from now is fooling themselves," said Bill Wade of Wade & Partners, opening up a panel discussion on business planning during HDAW earlier this year. Nevertheless, he said, it's still important to look out beyond the upcoming year.

"The best thing to come out of a business plan is the process - involving the people in your company to talk about the business and about the future."

In addition to the people in your company, Wade said, it's important to spend time looking at what customers need, what customers want, and how you can better give them what they need.

A panel consisting of one supplier representative and two distributors discussed various topics involved in planning....

Eight Steps to Success
By Gene Ely, Contributing Editor
It's the question on everyone's mind: "What's the best heavy-duty truck parts and service strategy for our company to take during these interesting times?"

You could select the rewind button and pull back into survival mode. Or, you could hit the pause button, taking a "wait-and-see" attitude on the sidelines. Or you could push the play button and move forward to engage your customers with innovative solutions.

Before making any business decision under any circumstances, you need a good, comprehensive marketing roadmap to keep from heading off in an uncertain direction - a marketing plan.....

Spare Parts
By Tom Berg, Senior Editor
For years, savvy fleet managers have been able to predict how long parts and components will last based on experience, and scheduled maintenance and replacement accordingly.

But several factors make it increasingly difficult for managers, mechanics and parts specialists to predict when various components and accessories on trucks will fail. Among them:

* The trend toward vertical integration. Truck original equipment manufacturers have more to say about what goes into their vehicles, and they make many choices based on agreements with suppliers that can change year to year. So specs lists also change, leaving fleet managers with little experience with those parts on which to build predictions.

* High underhood heat. Greater rates of heat rejection from modern diesels result in more radiated heat in engine compartments. Fleet managers say that heat has caused parts to fail sooner than in the past, but there are seldom any patterns from which to plan. Included are belts, hoses, turbochargers, alternators, starters, fan clutches and idler pulleys. Suppliers have changed materials and taken other steps to compensate, but not always successfully.....

Great Customer Service
By Deborah Lockridge, Editor
What do your customers value? A survey of HDAW attendees said availability/delivery of a product was the top thing, followed by the product knowledge of your sales staff, and third by customer service/ease of doing business. Price was number five on the list.

"Every survey I've ever been part of, price was four or five on the list," said Harry J. Howard, CEO of How2Consultants, which provides business consulting to the industry. "But it's the first place sales people tend to go when they're faced with objection - unfortunately."

You need a balance between price and value, Howard said. A big part of value is customer service. And everyone, Howard said, is responsible for customer service - not just management, not just the counter people. Even the building maintenance guy, because a poorly maintained facility affects the customers' view of customer service.....

Building a Better Salesperson
By Steve Rose, Guest Contributor
The commercial vehicle industry is facing one of its most difficult periods in decades, thanks to economic and EPA regulatory issues. In face, analysts have described the current state of the industry as the worst since the 1970s. And fleets are calling on their parts and service providers to share in the pain.

Many suppliers and distributors are being told that if they cannot, or will not, offer bigger discounts, their business will be at risk. Today that threat is very real, particularly with so many low-cost producers in China and India seeking to grow their share of the U.S. market.

The current situation presents a host of challenges, particularly for the distributor and dealer sales rep, but they are challenges that can be overcome. What is required is a fundamentally different sales approach and set of skills.....

Putting a Price on Value
By Jim Park, Contributing Editor
Twenty-eight bucks for a windshield wiper? I was driving through Maine on one of those oppressive gray days when moisture permeated the air. Not quite rain, but too wet to leave the wipers off and not wet enough to flush the crud from the glass - which was streaking unrepentantly. Concluding there was no time like the present to replace my year-old wipers, I stopped into a down-at-the-heels auto parts shop in Skowhegan.

The guidebook at the wiper display was missing, and not knowing what size wiper I needed, I approached the counter and asked the parts guy if he had a pair of wipers for an '04 Jetta. He punched something into his computer, waited, and then said, "I have a Bosch wiper ... it's $28."

I had paid $12 per for my current set. "No, thanks," I said. "Don't need 'em that badly." Truth is, I did need new wipers. I had cash in my pocket and I was ready to buy, but I wasn't expecting premium pricing from a little joint like that.

The shop owner, who was probably out back working on someone's transmission when I entered the store, missed a terrific opportunity that day to sell me a set of wipers....