One key to growing and sustaining a healthy business is to listen to your existing customers — as well as your non-customers.
And among the vast informational resources the Internet has given our industry is one website that business savvy parts jobbers, distributors and manufacturers should embrace as an extensive, invaluable customer survey.
The website I'm referring to is the International Automotive Technicians' Network (iATN), one of our industry's top online resources (www.iatn.net). My technicians, who each have a workstation with high-speed Internet access, are among the 50,000 iATN members around the globe who recognize the site as a required stable for their tool boxes.
iATN encompasses a broad spectrum of our industry, from shop management to vehicle-specific repair databases and even to politics. All of the information, questions, concerns and opinions are presented openly by the members, and all of it is in raw form. It's not doctored or revised to appease sponsors or anyone else. Here's a place where 50,000 automotive professionals are writing from the heart. If you take the time to listen, I guarantee you will gain a crystal clear picture of the thoughts of the technicians and shop owners you're selling to every day.
One popular feature of the site is the forums, where members exchange questions and answers (and opinions). A recurring theme in many of these forums is OEM vs. aftermarket parts. During their discussions, members swap opinions, observations and recommendations regarding the use and quality of the parts available to them. Want some candid feedback on your parts lines — positive and negative? Want to know what components are outperforming or underperforming the OEMs? Look no further.
Another area, called the Fix Database, is a massive, vehicle-specific database that technicians can tap when they encounter a challenging diagnostic problem. If the Fix Database history holds no solutions, a technician can post a detailed description of the vehicle at hand and its troubling condition. Then, other iATN members review the problem and respond with suggestions and possible solutions based on their own experiences.
Want to know what OEM parts are common failures, perhaps as a new opportunity for your company? Again, look no further.
But on a disconcerting note, the dialogue between the technicians often includes advice on parts replacement. It's not unusual to have one technician advise the other to "use only an OE part to fix the problem. I've been burned by using aftermarket parts to correct this problem."
If I were a parts manufacturer, I would proactively observe these posts and take this open, honest criticism seriously. Conduct some follow-up research to see if the technician's concerns are well-founded and then formulate a plan for correcting the problem, whether it's a manufacturing flaw or a tarnished image.
You can't fix something if you don't think it's broken. Clearly, your customers are talking. The question is: How much are you listening?
Chuck Hartogh is vice president and co-founder of C&M Auto Service Inc. of Glenview, Ill. and Vernon Hills, Ill., and is an ASE-Certified Master, L1 Technician. (ASA).
