NO SALESMEN

[fuzzmanmatt]

If you have both CarQuest and Advance knocking on your door, tell the one that you're doing business with the other. After the buyout, they aren't allowed to step on each other's toes. I do a fair amount of business with O'Reilly, since they're right across the street from me, but most of my aftermarket (about 5k a month mechanical, I don't even want to think about what the body shop gets) goes to a local Parts Plus supplier. I'm one of their top accounts, and they get things to me in 30 minutes or less, all without calling. I can tell the salesmen who actually know the market I serve, and don't try and sell me parts that I'm going to buy from GM. If somebody walks through the door and tells me they have QuickStruts for all the GM cars, I'm going to tell them I get WAY more from GM than I'm ever going to buy from them. Try and look at my used car lot, see how many Fords and Hondas are out there. I'm a Cadillac dealer, I'm selling GM parts on GM cars, and cheap crap on anything else I have.

I have accounts with NAPA (my last call), CarQuest, Advance, three Parts Plus suppliers, and O'Reilly. AutoZone works with my Lexus store, but I refuse to do business with somebody who can't tell me the difference between a torque converter and a catalytic converter (yes, they're that bad around here). The guys at Maxi auto (parts plus) take care of me, and go out of their way to make sure I have what I need, and I appreciate that more than I appreciate a pen and coffee cups. And at christmas they bring us cookies, so I'm not complaining.

[FixedManager]

My stated policy: Only by appointment. My employees know my schedule, can set them for me, and I use them as training sessions for my assistants.

[PartsPlant81]

At least try to get them to take you out to lunch LOL. This Auto Zone rep told me he was going to take me and our service manager to Applebee's to go over his sales plan for us. That was last year; I'm still waiting. As far as the other salesmen that call; if I'm not in the middle of something I'll let them spit their pitch then laugh and hang up...

[Ironchild]

Hah......Sheboygan here.....hop, skip, and a jump away. Small world!

[Ironchild]

Oh....and no the name on here came from my old CB handle back "in the day". Drove a 1972 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. Friends called it the iron clad caddy....and somehow the name Ironchild came about. The good ol' days. Maiden does rule though yes. I love Bruce Dickinson

[nansorbdarb]

Hah......Sheboygan here.....hop, skip, and a jump away. Small world!

That's excellent! It's always great to bump into other Wisconsinites. Do you see plenty of Passat turbos over there?

[Ironchild]

We've done 3 in the past month or so. One of them had already been replaced last fall but failed again. Parts availability has been quite the issue. I think VW got caught with their lederhosen down on this one. Hoping with the warmer weather demand will go down and they will be able to stabilize stock at the depots.