Counterperson: Bryan Gruninger

Bryan Gruninger, veteran counterperson at C. E. P. Limited in Lethbridge, Alta., and the 2007 Jobber News Counterperson of the Year, takes pride in getting customers the parts and information they want.

He believes in being able to determine what they actually need, not just what they ask for. A customer, he says, will sometimes ask for the wrong name for a part, or not mention everything he needs; to Gruninger, it is the job of the professional counterperson to fill in the blanks.

“I just got off the phone with a customer with a D50 who wants to know the availability and price on a set of pistons. That’s the one with the

2.6 Mitsubishi engine. I know that it’ll probably need rings all at thirty over, and rods and mains at thirty also; gaskets and timing parts, too. You know that you’ll probably need all this stuff and he’ll probably ask you for them, so you might as well take the extra two minutes and do it and save him the extra call. Maybe also look at exchange motors and rebuild kits. While you’re in that section of the computer, you may as well price everything because you know you are going to need it.”

He doesn’t think he’s doing anything special, but he admits there are things only experience will teach a counterperson.

“A lot of the new kids will look up something on the computer, and if they can’t find it, think that it’s not available. You learn to use your head and to work around things. If you look up a filter for a 2008 Toyota, the computer and the book say there is nothing, [so] you go somewhere else, find what parts carry over to the new model, look up the interchange, and work back through the catalogues.

“A lot of the newer counterpeople don’t know how to do that. The first thing they see is that it’s not available and go back to the dealer.”