Delivering the Total Package

When a counterperson is expected to generate dozens of invoices each and every day, it is easy to understand how he can fall into some bad habits. Those bad habits can cost him, and you, money.

One area that many counterpeople pride themselves on is their knowledge of the products that they are talking about. What is sometimes forgotten is how to relate this to the customer’s needs. At the root of that shortcoming is a lack of training.

The area of ride control is a good example of how this can play out in the field, because it is so dependent on strong communication skills–not only the counterperson’s, but also those of the technician and service advisor.

“That’s what we have been trying to push [to] a lot of people,” says Bill Dennie, ride control channel manager, Tenneco Automotive. “We put a bigger rod in and most consumers don’t care. What does it do for them? What’s the benefit they are going to get out of it?” And that is an area where communication with the customer often falls down, he says.

“You have to get it into the consumer’s language. What does a larger reserve tube do? It helps dissipate heat better. We put bigger rods on pickup trucks because they are mounted at a more severe angle.

“[Counterpeople] are making the decision for the consumer, but if you don’t understand the consumer, how can you make the right decision?”

“I think you have people who have strengths in terms of having to do the normal stuff–looking up an application and recommending a part number–but having a conversation with the potential buyer, and what product he should have to match up with what he needs, are few and far between,” says John Vanstone, president of Specialty Sales & Marketing, a sales agency which represents KYB of America in Canada. Additionally, Vanstone spent 17 years in the ride control market before joining the agency world a decade and a half ago.

He says that part of the responsibility lies with parts manufacturers.

“I think the way to do that is to simplify the choice process. Match a shock absorber to a specific need and don’t necessarily give them four or five choices.” Training of this sort may not be as frequent as some may want, but it is out there.

According to a Jobber NewsMagazine survey, nearly 60% of counterpeople attend at least one training session a year, with the remaining 40% attending at least two. More than 70% of respondents said this training is conducted by manufacturers, with more than 40% reporting WD-conducted training.

Not surprisingly, two-thirds of respondents said that more than half the training they attend is on a specific product line.

With that in mind, one would expect that the hard skills–vehicle systems and parts knowledge–would be well and truly ingrained.

According to ASE Parts Specialist Certification exam results, this doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Product knowledge is still the most difficult topic for parts specialists. They do more poorly on that than the other section [of the test],” says Dave Milne, executive director for special training programs at the Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), and a long-time jobber before he joined the ranks of the ASE more than a decade ago. “But in their defence, it is a pretty broad range of products that they have to deal with.

“After all, part specialists are strictly salesmen, when it comes down to it. The industry hasn’t picked up on that.”

He adds that it is the rare but valuable parts specialist who can combine the right amount of product knowledge with a communications approach that tells customers what they need to know, without going overboard.

“It is a fine balance that you have to achieve. How much product knowledge is too much? There are the occasional individuals who have very good people skills, and can work their way around their lack of product knowledge. They do that by being honest with the customer.”

Finding those people is difficult at best, and has led to an increasing reliance on computer tools.

“Finding the folks with the right mix [of skills] has been so difficult for the parts industry; we are trying to get computers to prompt us through every sale. I still find that if you are relying on the computer for everything, you are probably missing 30% of your sales. We have tried to build these tremendous computer programs, but you just miss so much if you try to rely on the computer.

“We don’t train our people well in salesmanship. It’s a science, and we don’t train them in the steps of how to be a good salesman. That comes out loud and clear through our testing.

“We train the technicians and we train the salespeople who fill the stores, but we don’t train the guys who are responsible for getting it out of the store, whether that is to the DIY customer or the technician. He’s like the forgotten man out there.”

So, how then do you know if you have a problem? You can submit your counterpeople for ASE testing and transcripts will show you where they might fall down, but there are other methods.

“The most critical number in a jobbing store or retail store is dollars per invoice,” says Chuck Udell, a partner with Tom Easton in Essential Action Design Group, a business training organization based in Leawood, Kans. Udell, who spent considerable time at the University of the Aftermarket, knows his way around the aftermarket, and understands the limitations of the industry when it comes to training resources and time. But, he says, improvement is possible.

“Needless to say, one way you increase that is in your manner at the counter. It also involves product knowledge. You have to have both.”

Udell is currently working on an Automotive Aftermarket Industries Association (AAIA) training project called “Knowledge is Power” that will link the Be Car Care Aware (BCCA) initiative to results and related training to ASE testing methods.

“The whole idea of that is that once the BCCA gets the consumer into the store, then what? If the counterperson cannot communicate in a way that the customer not only understands but is comfortable with, whether for service or parts, then it is all for naught.”

That project is a year and a half from completion, but in the interim he suggests a few other resources to find out where you stand.

“One quick way, if you are a counterperson, is the [ASE Parts Specialist] test. You can look at the sample questions.

“Then there is other printed material from Thomson Delmar. You can find out how much you know. What I like about that is that there is some instruction in those books.” He reminds readers that ASE is a testing organization, not a training organization.

“In the long term, my hope is that a year to a year and a half from now, we will at least have the sales and customer service type questions.

“The goal is to use the information to increase your gross margin.” Ultimately, that is the most demonstrable benefit of getting counterpeople training that integrates product knowledge with customer service.

According to the aforementioned Jobber News survey, job skills training for counterpeople is sorely needed. Nearly 40% of respondents to the survey said that none of the counterpeople on staff at their business have had any formal training in job skills (e.g. sales process, catalogue operations, store operations, etc.), though 99% say that counterpeople could benefit from it.

“Training is critical,” says Jeff Fortin, owner of Fortin’s Auto Supply in Chilliwack, B.C. Manufacturer-provided training is valuable, but he also employs customer service evaluation and training from Compecheck, also based in Chilliwack, B.C. that has paid dividends.

“They phone the store and two or three competitors. It is a great tool for sales meetings. If we get a bad score, we are very careful not to embarrass the counterperson. Then we also play back our competition and sometimes we are amazed at how good they are–and sometimes at how good they’re not.”

He says that even issues like phone manner can be a revelation.

“Some come across well on the phone, and others don’t without even realizing it.”

Some shortfalls are so striking as to be almost comical. (It would almost be a joke, if the outcome weren’t so dire.)

“Probably the most [crucial] to the jobber itself is the non-attempt to make the sale, after all the information has been given,” says Peter Kmyta, principal with Compechek.

Kmyta explains what he means by the “non-attempt.”

“The counterperson spends the time and effort performing all the lookups and doing all the research, then never asks the caller for the sale.

“You can add quite a bit of margin to your business if you ask for the sale,” he adds. Another often-missed point, revealed in the company’s “mystery caller” activities, is adding an item to a sale. Selling a set of spark plugs? Does the customer need a rag?

Getting to the bottom of the performance and then addressing it is part of what Kmyta calls the “Customer Service Enhancement Cycle” of continually measuring, training, and then measuring results.

Kmyta says that there is no doubt that it has an impact on the bottom line, and the reasons aren’t always hard to find.

“Some counter staff are measured on how quick they are. They’d rather quote the $28 product, instead of taking the time to quote on the $42 product with a two-year warranty. So who is getting the disservice? The customer”–who may not get the best product for his needs–“never mind the profit margin that you should be looking at from a jobber point of view.”

He appreciates the pressures that the counterperson is under, but says that chasing the volume of calls may be a fool’s game.

It all comes down to management philosophy.

“I think that everybody is so wrapped up in trying to make the sale, they have forgotten to invest in the future,” says Vanstone. “These guys are critical.”

Udell adds that it’s not enough to have friendly, knowledgeable staff. They have to be effective, too.

“You have to be profitable. It’s just not enough to have customers love you and declare they are advocates for you. Do you make money?

“There are lots of implications. If you take a multi-store chain”–regardless of the industry, he adds–“one of the strengths that they have is that it does not matter where you go; it is the same, it is uniform. My partner has taught me a good phrase: Variance is the enemy of increased profitability.

“You are going to maximize your profitability if everybody is doing things the same way.”