The 2009 Aftermarket Factbook from the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association is out,
and there are some numbers related to tool-buying decisions you should find interesting,
particularly if you are spending more and more time worrying about online tool sellers.
The
top four factors in purchasing decisions are quality, availability, warranty and service.
And though you offer all four of these (at least I assume you are if you’re interested
enough in your business to be reading Professional Distributor in your downtime), there is
one segment you offer every customer that an online seller cannot: Service.
Online tool sellers
try to make purchasing easy for their customers with the Internet, but they’re not
in the shop every week for repairs, returns, warranty service or anything else, even just
a bottle of water and a mini candy bar. They don’t develop relationships
with their customers. They don’t check to see how the tools they sold them six months
ago are holding up and working out. And they certainly don’t anticipate their customers’ future
needs and let them try out tools they haven’t heard of yet.
All the free shipping and
returns in the world won’t replace actually being there.
Since you are there, make the most of it.
As to the other factors: if you don’t feel
you’re already selling top-quality
tools, why are you in business? Your warranty policies should fall in line with your brand’s
and be as top-notch as the quality of the tools you offer. And you should always be working
on availability by keeping your inventory stocked. That’s standard operating procedure.
The
online sellers can say what they want, but they’re only selling on price — every
time. So if you’re selling and not concentrating on service, you’re missing out.
