I think the answer depends on the type of customer. From a retail perspective, when a customer is price shopping or checking for availability, the Yellow Pages are usually the first resource they seek. Then it's an alphabetical stroll through the parts stores. So if the name of your store is first, you get the first call. For this store to be successful, a good price, excellent phone skills, experienced staff and availability are needed. The first-call store in a retail setting has quite a bit of pressure because they establish the baseline for which all other calls are judged.
Our store name starts with a W, and by the time "price shoppers" get to me, they have a somewhat weakened resolve. If I can deliver a good pitch, show some product knowledge, or explain what they really need, I will get the sale. If the customer finds something they like before they call me, well, I simply lose out.
When dealing with wholesale accounts, availability is usually more the issue than price. If you have it, or can get it quicker than anyone else, you win.
But being last call does have its advantages. If your service is superior, your pricing comparable and availability within reason, you can make every last-call sale. You may have to try a little harder to remind this account of just how smart you are. Remember, that other first-call jobber may become complacent and forget about the basic human aspects of dealing with first-call accounts. How you handle your products and yourself will help form an overall impression with these clients.
My grandfather often said, "First or last, because nothing between gets noticed." With your first-call accounts and customers, you must always be diligent, sharp and quick to act. When handling last call customers, remember they've called you because no one else has lived up to their expectations. Remind yourself and your staff of things you are good at, and use those skills with each and every customer. First or last, they still called you.
Like Stuart Smalley of Saturday Night Live fame, start your day with a daily affirmation: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." It helps me to make sense of why I sell spark plugs for a living and why everyone should buy them from me. Mark Smith is president of Wholesale Auto Parts, Summersville, W.V. Active in the industry and in his community, Smith most recently served on the Auto Value/BTB National Advisory Council and on his town's Rotary Club as president. He says he grew up working on cars, dreaming about them and crashing many of them.
