Here is a little factoid I came across recently. The OE channel has more than 92 percent of participation of manufacturers, distributors and retailers in their market segment trade association. Your reaction might be, “So what?” But I think it is a very big deal.

It’s not exactly clear as to how our participation compares to that of our OE brethren. Based on what I was able to deduce, less than 50 percent of our industry is a member of some industry association. In fact, with around 15,000 independent jobber stores and more than 200,000 installer locations, we are a long way from reaching the halfway point of participation.

Part of the issue is that our trade associations don’t really cover our entire marketplace. The Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) is, by charter, designed to represent only suppliers/manufacturers. The two broad-spectrum major associations, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) purport to represent the specialty segment and replacement parts segment respectively. The reality is they both disproportionally represent the “top end” of the supply chain (manufacturers and distributors). In practice, the “frontline” of our marketplace (jobbers and installers) is drastically underrepresented. And that is the real issue.

While the technician-specific associations, like the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the state associations, have some concentration of members, their totals are paltry in comparison to the total population of the service center community.

As I have argued in these pages in the past, there is only one true customer in the aftermarket: the person who throws away the box. Nothing is truly “sold” until the part is bolted on the car and the box is thrown away. And for most of us who sell replacement parts, that “customer” is the repair shop.

I stress the importance of this view because if all of us in the supply chain see their customer as being the repair shop, everyone benefits. It becomes the proverbial gut check for making decisions of all types. If we ask ourselves, “Is this good for OUR customer?” more often than not, we will make the right decision.

This tenet holds true especially for our trade associations. Participation by and affinity for the technician needs to take on a higher priority with our associations. Passing all actions taken by our associations through the filter of “is it good for the installer” would help assure a better and more apt focus.

A good case in point was a recent presentation made by John Washbish, Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance president, during the 2011 AASA Vision Conference in Chicago in March. Commenting on AASA’s “Know Your Parts” campaign, Washbish observed that the role technicians play in helping the motoring public select the right parts for their vehicles has been given short-shrift, if not overlooked entirely. Encouraging the association to include the most important referrer of what parts to buy in a program designed to promote the use of quality, safe auto parts is obvious on its face.

Attempts to get shop owners more involved in our associations have fallen short at most every attempt. But we must persevere and find a way to compel them to become involved.

I think we can safely say that we have failed to find the dog food that the dogs prefer when it comes to presenting a compelling case for technicians to join us at the association table. We need to look past the politics of our associations and discover what it will take to engage them. Their role as counselor to the motoring public and generator of nearly all aftermarket revenue is just too big a resource to go untapped and unheeded.

Here is a little factoid I came across recently. The OE channel has more than 92 percent of participation of manufacturers, distributors and retailers in their market segment trade association. Your reaction might be, “So what?” But I think it is a very big deal.

It’s not exactly clear as to how our participation compares to that of our OE brethren. Based on what I was able to deduce, less than 50 percent of our industry is a member of some industry association. In fact, with around 15,000 independent jobber stores and more than 200,000 installer locations, we are a long way from reaching the halfway point of participation.

Part of the issue is that our trade associations don’t really cover our entire marketplace. The Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) is, by charter, designed to represent only suppliers/manufacturers. The two broad-spectrum major associations, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) purport to represent the specialty segment and replacement parts segment respectively. The reality is they both disproportionally represent the “top end” of the supply chain (manufacturers and distributors). In practice, the “frontline” of our marketplace (jobbers and installers) is drastically underrepresented. And that is the real issue.

While the technician-specific associations, like the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the state associations, have some concentration of members, their totals are paltry in comparison to the total population of the service center community.

As I have argued in these pages in the past, there is only one true customer in the aftermarket: the person who throws away the box. Nothing is truly “sold” until the part is bolted on the car and the box is thrown away. And for most of us who sell replacement parts, that “customer” is the repair shop.

I stress the importance of this view because if all of us in the supply chain see their customer as being the repair shop, everyone benefits. It becomes the proverbial gut check for making decisions of all types. If we ask ourselves, “Is this good for OUR customer?” more often than not, we will make the right decision.

This tenet holds true especially for our trade associations. Participation by and affinity for the technician needs to take on a higher priority with our associations. Passing all actions taken by our associations through the filter of “is it good for the installer” would help assure a better and more apt focus.

A good case in point was a recent presentation made by John Washbish, Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance president, during the 2011 AASA Vision Conference in Chicago in March. Commenting on AASA’s “Know Your Parts” campaign, Washbish observed that the role technicians play in helping the motoring public select the right parts for their vehicles has been given short-shrift, if not overlooked entirely. Encouraging the association to include the most important referrer of what parts to buy in a program designed to promote the use of quality, safe auto parts is obvious on its face.

Attempts to get shop owners more involved in our associations have fallen short at most every attempt. But we must persevere and find a way to compel them to become involved.

I think we can safely say that we have failed to find the dog food that the dogs prefer when it comes to presenting a compelling case for technicians to join us at the association table. We need to look past the politics of our associations and discover what it will take to engage them. Their role as counselor to the motoring public and generator of nearly all aftermarket revenue is just too big a resource to go untapped and unheeded.