Unlike the dairy industry, which used the catchy advertisement slogan “Got Milk” to gain greater market share, Walt Kemp and Ken Meyer, owners of Yelm National Auto Parts in Yelm, Wash., agree that typical advertising does little for them.
“We have learned in the last two years what a ‘word-of- mouth’ community we live in,” says Kemp. “We tend to support local community programs that give us that exposure.
“For example, we have been Nisqually Valley News’ ‘Best Auto Parts Store’ for five years running,” he adds. “We sponsor the bumblebee class at Southsound Speedway, which Ken races in.”
Last fall, the company joined forces with a local church group to provide a car care day specifically designed to help seniors, single parents and other people in need get their vehicles ready for winter.
“I went to Performance Warehouse and got them to kick in 10 cases of oil and other supplies at no cost,” recalls Kemp. “We provided the parts and the church group provided the labor.”
For that one day, church volunteers performed 20 oil changes, and at the store’s location, personnel replaced wiper blades, topped off fluids and offered heavily discounted pricing to the day’s participants.
Then, in December, the store hosted a Christmas Eve open house where they presented as many promotions as possible to their customers.
Although promotions and events like car care day are great for attracting new customers, both owners agree that it’s the store’s customer service that retains them.
“This store has always had a reputation for problem solving and being service oriented,” says Meyer. “We commonly stock an item that you just won’t find anywhere else and that is because we are driven by what our customer base needs.”
Kemp says the store has invested heavily in technology to keep its labor costs under control, and every POS terminal in the building has Internet access via DSL.
“We used to spend a lot of time on the phone chasing parts; now we push a button and poof, it’s ordered,” explains Kemp. “We have taken advantage of improvements in software to improve our cataloging, speed the receipt of products via bar code scanning and convert our pricing to shelf tags that are updated daily.
“The support from Performance Warehouse has been critical in improving specific areas of our business, so that we can work faster, smarter and do a better job for our customer,” he adds.
Kemp and Meyer are also proud of their two delivery vehicles, which are part of their “hot shot” delivery service.
“This allows us to hold a reasonable margin on the wholesale accounts,” says Kemp. If they have a car on the rack and need a part now, we can make it happen, and we also deliver to our retail customers who have that need.”
Probably one of the best ways to judge the store’s customer service is by giving them a phone call.
“We don’t have voicemail, and when the phone rings, it gets answered promptly by one of our experienced staff members, not put on the counter for 10 minutes,” says Meyer.
“We also acknowledge the customer when they come in the store, and we’re fast to get out from behind the counter and help a customer find what they need –– whether it’s changing wiper blades, headlights, tail-lights and sometimes batteries,” he adds.
However, the amount of replacement work that staff members perform depends on the circumstance.
“When it’s a senior, single parent, or somebody with a disability, we really pull out the stops to help,” Kemp explains.
Established in 1971 by Gene Coulter, Yelm National Auto Parts was the only store in town during that time. The store was affiliated with the Republic Warehouse in the early days, and when that became Performance Warehouse, Yelm National became an Auto Value store (which is part of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance).
In September of 2002, Meyer and Kemp purchased the business at its present location.
“At that time, we had 3,000 sq. feet of total space,” recalls Kemp. “Consequently, our showroom was limited in size and the store was cramped.”
Then in November 2002, the new owners leased 1,560 sq. feet of space adjacent to the store and began the extensive task of remodeling.
“In March of 2003, we opened the new space and what a difference,” says Kemp. “We were able to implement changes that were impossible before in terms of merchandising and having enough display area.”
Because their location is somewhat isolated from the urban areas, Kemp says his store services a large geographical span and a range of customers, from farmers and logger and construction companies to the military and everyday motorists.
“We are in a high growth area and also located close to Fort Lewis and McCord AFB, so we have a high percentage of military families coming into the area,” says Kemp.
At the request of their employees, the owners established a four day/10-hour work schedule last year.
“It has exceeded our expectations in terms of morale,” adds Kemp.
He says the store also holds monthly staff meetings so that everyone is focused on the same goal and working as a team.
“We believe in a ‘team’ approach to problem solving and an environment where the employee feels ‘vested’ in the everyday operations,” says Kemp.
“Still with everything we have to offer in terms of customer service, I have to say if that customer leaves our store with the wrong part or no part, we have not done our job,” he adds.
