Question for Owners

[DT101]

Hey everyone,

 

I will be honest and upfront, I am not a auto-shop owner. I do work in the industry however, as I represent a lubricant manufacturing/distributing company located in Ontario.

 

I have a question, and I would greatly appreciate some feedback.

 

I know that the second I walk into most shops, as the salesman for my company, I am not met with much adoration or appreciation. I understand this. I know that you are extremely busy, and I am interrupting your day. I DO however come with options that can potentially allow you to earn more money. Which is how I look at it, as opposed to simply trying to make sales and pad my wallet (which is not the case.)

 

What I am hoping to achieve here is some insight on how to get through to my target demographic in a more effective manner. If I can provide a product that allows you to increase your margins, I would imagine that you would be excited about this prospect. This is not, however, how I am usually received.

 

Which is more important to you? Brand? Service? Or does it simply boil down to cost?

 

I apologize if this is perhaps not the best avenue to be seeking information from, but I thought getting a response directly from the source might be the best way to get direct responses.

 

Thank you very much everyone, and all the best.

[Tires Too]

Thumbs up for thinking outside the box.

 

I'm looking for vendors/partners that can solve a problem for me, not sell me something cheaper. I'm numb to salesmen telling me they can save me money on this or make me money on that.

 

Learn something about my business before you walk in the door. Drop off some info and ask for an appointment to follow up on your product/services. Don't go into a hard sell mode because it tunes me out from whatever you are selling.

[DT101]

Thumbs up for thinking outside the box.

 

I'm looking for vendors/partners that can solve a problem for me, not sell me something cheaper. I'm numb to salesmen telling me they can save me money on this or make me money on that.

 

Learn something about my business before you walk in the door. Drop off some info and ask for an appointment to follow up on your product/services. Don't go into a hard sell mode because it tunes me out from whatever you are selling.

 

 

Thanks! Much appreciated.

 

What kind of problems do you commonly run into that an oil salesman could assist with? Outside of oil change stickers and floor mats, I am limited to "extras" I can supply with the oil itself.

 

As far as service and "same day delivery", I have a much higher chance than most of my competitors.

[Tires Too]

That's what you need to figure out. I may not have the same problem that another shop may have. Information is the most valuable commodity. What information do you have that might help a shop owner?

[ncautoshop]

 

 

Thanks! Much appreciated.

 

What kind of problems do you commonly run into that an oil salesman could assist with?  Outside of oil change stickers and floor mats, I am limited to "extras" I can supply with the oil itself.  

 

As far as service and "same day delivery", I have a much higher chance than most of my competitors.

I need a oil service that supplies tanks and equipment under 100 gallons per oil per month lol I need a oil company who doesn't want a 3 year contract. And one that check oil levels weekly/monthly. Until then I'll likely stay with quarts until we grow to a shop capable of 300 gallons of oil a month lol

 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

 

[DT101]

Thank you guys for responding

 

We are limited with what we can offer, as tanks and contracts are currently not in our structure (we do offer floor mats and oil change stickers). We can provide tanks at cost, but do not offer them to attract new business.

 

I suppose I should be focusing on the high level of customer service that we can offer, as well as the competitive pricing we offer.

 

Thanks again for the great input guys!

[gacurt]

1 Does the oil meet the specs and have the approvals I need?

2 Is it sold in quantites that fit my business.

3 Service and price.

[eeautomotive]

The reply about dropping off information about your services and scheduling an appointment is great advice. As you said yourself, you know the owner is extremely busy. Too many times a salesman gets the cold shoulder in my shop because they were working by their schedule and not mine. There are enough problems in a day running a shop to ruin the schedule you had for the day. Throw in a sales pitch on top of that and your evening just went from hectic to an all out race to get cars out in a timely manner.

[CARMandP]

If you say you are going to give me a price do it. I had 3 reps from the same company all at the same time visit my shop talking about how good of a business they have and blah blah. Got nothing from any of them. Guess they are not interested in selling their products to me.

[John Pearson]

As an owner in a new shop I am extremely busy, if you want to sell something come in say hi introduce yourself and ask for an appointment to talk to me about what you have to offer.

[shumsauto]

If you are considerate of the shopowners time and keep your promises you will do ok. Way too many salespeople are not interested in selling you anything it seems. I had garage door company stop by to drop of a flyer. I was interested in getting new doors installed but the promise of an estimate never happened. Then I got a flier in the mail from the same company. Called them and was told that somebody will be out tomorrow to give me an estimate. Since then I have received two more mailings from them but still no estimate or company representative : )

[UsedTireShop]

I really like the fact that you are think outside the box.

 

I recently starting purchasing some lubricants and glass cleaner from a different supplier. The reason I switched is simple.

 

The sales woman gave me free samples of their product and I really liked them. Besides that she comes to my shop at least 3 times a month.

 

I guess when she walked in with a can of silicone spray and a can of glass cleaner and told me to try it free of charge my door and ears where open.

 

I stock their oil filters now too.

 

Try to leave a sample of something to get your foot in the door.

[alfredauto]

I think if an established shop needs a new oil supplier its because they've been burned by the last guy, hence they don't trust you. We went back to quarts - no condensation in the oil drum, no chance of contamination, no more broken pumps, no more waiting for a delivery at an inflated price. The cost is comparable when buying by the pallet.

[Mario]

What are people playing per quart if you are buying a drum? I'm pretty locked in at $1.98 a quart at a national chain parts store for their house brand oil. Is the savings for a drum worth the hassle?

[alfredauto]

$2.00 a quart is pretty standard, $1.50 is possible with a huge investment in inventory . Drums are a pita if you ask me. You will lose to shrink any savings. You pay for 55 gallons you use 50 the rest gets spilled or cant get out of the bottom or whatever. Synthetic is a better deal, we pay like .50 a qt more with reasonable quantities. If we do 1200 oil changes a year I don't want more than 300 gallons on hand, I figure less than 4 turnovers a year is bad inventory control.

Edited December 27, 2014 by alfredauto

[xrac]

Our vendor is also offer synthetic oil in a 6 gallon box/bag container.