Sales tip: Maintain customer balances

Feb. 13, 2019
Keep customer balances in check and develop a system for collections to avoid overselling and keep cash flowing in.

Vito Abbinante, a Cornwell Tool dealer based in Chicagoland, has found that overselling can actually hurt your business. 

"You [have to] take your good sales tactics and balance them with money management," Abbinante says. 

Abbinante bases his collections off a 10-week term. By collecting 10 percent of a customer's bill weekly, with some people paying more some weeks, his average turnaround time is six-and-a-half weeks. 

“There [are] certain people that I try not to sell to, stupid as that sounds,” he says. “Because if I let them buy the whole truck, they will. But they don’t have the money to pay. You've got to maintain your balances. That’s like the whole game of this. You have to maintain everyone’s balance that owes you money. So every person’s different.”

Balance management is the “trick of the trade,” Abbinante explains. It’s all about keeping the income steady and “not going broke because you’re selling too much.”

Sponsored Recommendations

Gain expert insight into today’s evaporative emission systems and why OE-matched EVAP components are crucial for performance and compliance. See how Standard® delivers precision...
There is a difference in gas fuel injectors. Learn why Under the Hood’s Russ Evans uses Standard Fuel Injectors on his customer’s vehicles.
Just following a few simple tips can improve your pneumatic tool's performance and provide years of safe, maintenance-free service. Dive in to see what you could apply to your...
Hear what senior autotechs have to say about the AIRCAT Nitrocat 1056-XL compact impact wrench. They’ll provide their reviews on tools they own and have been using every day on...

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Vehicle Service Pros, create an account today!