lost wholesale accounts

[reagan]

I am a new Parts Manager of a small Nissan Dealership. I took over this position in April of this year. Since I started we have been lossing Wholesale accounts every month. I have taken a big hit in sales and gross profit. The Department is well staffed now with experienced personell and we have a good size inventory at our disposal. We are not able to reclaim most of the accounts we loose. Most of the accounts site the change in managment and dealership instability as the reason.

I have been in the automotive business for over 15 years. My previous position was in wholesale at a dealership that was extremly aggresive in that area. I have used most of what I learned there but it does not seem to be working. Does anyone have any ideas?

[jdaniel]

I think you need to go out and talk to a few of the lost customers, actually sit down with a couple of them in their shops and try to see what is going on. I've seen situations where customers just weren't happy with the change and took their business elsewhere, in spite of the department actually getting stronger. We recovered many of them quickly with a little extra effort. I have also seen dramatic loss of wholesale business in a store after a parts manager change- a bit of digging proved that the old manager was "creative" in his business practices. After reflection it was decided that those customers weren't as much of a loss as it originally appeared.

If you get any clues please share them, someone here can help.

Good Luck

[reagan]

I ran several reports and found most of the customers had good discounts, ok return ratios, and ok payables. The acounts that I have sat down with said they were really happy with the previous manager or that he promised more than he could deliver. The store did not have a manager for several months and many accounts sited this as their reason for the switch. Nobody said I had anything to do with their decision but, they were not in any hurry to switch back. I am not interested in a price war with the other dealers and I do not want to discount the parts any further than I have to.

[jimm]

I think your answer is right there in front of you , in your original messege. I you used your original posted messege as a "script" while talking to those wholesale customers, i think they would give you, at the very least, a chance for there business.

[forthe3]

I see you have discovered that wholesale parts customers can be anything but loyal. I am the Fixed Ops Mgr at a large parts wholesale dealer, I cut my teeth building a profitable wholesale department and it is very hard. Trying to win back a customer that has jumped ship because of dealer instability is almost a waste of time. Go out and find new business in your area, I am sure there is plenty and it is much easier to get. The ones that left you will return in time if you get your reputation back in line and visit them on a regular basis and keep it light and above all DON'T PUSH!!! Service and Integrity sell more parts than discounts and BS.