Every once in a while I realize how lucky I am. Lucky to have a job that I love; heck, I’m actually twice as lucky since I have two jobs that I love – one selling auto parts and this one, writing to you about it.
My jobs often reward me in the most unforeseen ways, but by far the best rewards are when you connect with customers and peers at a profound personal level. One of the true axioms of sales is that “people buy from people,” and as such we all have to put ourselves out there, guts and all, ready to connect with others. In this age of remote relationships via Facebook, video calls and text messages, trade shows continue to offer some of the best opportunities to relate face-to-face.
This summer, I was honored to be invited as a speaker at the Latin Auto Parts Expo in Panama for the second year in a row. The chance to engage peers from all over the world at this global trade expo is truly unique. While it’s still a “young” expo, the networking opportunities have grown significantly from edition to edition.
Panama, often referred to as the hub of the Americas, is the ideal home for the Latin Auto Parts Expo, which has indeed grown into a hub for auto parts businesses to connect across the continent. At the 2014 show, we had the joy of meeting an eager and extremely hungry new entrepreneur: a longtime counterman from San Jose in Costa Rica. Just a few months before the expo, he took a leap of faith by quitting his steady paycheck at his salaried job, and ventured on his own to open a small parts store servicing shops and fleets in San Jose’s expanding auto parts industry.
As I saw him walk toward me, I focused on his name badge and to my surprise, I discovered that we shared the same last name. His name is Kenneth Aguilar; as far as we both can tell, we are not related to each other at all. Kenneth’s body language as he said hello exuded humility in spades. He wanted to talk about “más tecnología” — more about tech! Are you kidding me? A guy named like me also interested in technology! Coincidence or fate?
We had one of the most gratifying conversations ever at any trade show. Kenneth went on to tell us he drove from San Jose to Panama for 15 hours straight in a four-speed manual transmission ‘83 Toyota Tercel with no A/C. He wanted to save his hotel money and had only slept for a few hours in the parking outside of the expo that morning. Folks, at this time, please stop reading this, get on Google Maps and check out the route from San Jose to Panama; this was no joy ride, this was a pilgrimage.
Through the jungle, enduring epic Central American humidity and interminable winding bad roads … or “great roads” if you happen to sell chassis parts (I’ve always been a conscientious objector when it comes to criticizing road conditions — potholes for lack of a better word are good). Kenneth looked none the worse; he was high on information, high on enthusiasm, looking for opportunities to jumpstart his new jobber store.
We told him he could most certainly count on us and soon after the expo, Kenneth became a bona fide customer, a little customer, but a customer nonetheless. He now engages us daily via our eCommerce platform and has learned to leverage the many tools we offer to differentiate his budding business in San Jose. Fast forward to this year’s expo and lo’ and behold, guess who came to visit us on the very first day? None other than Sr. Kenneth Aguilar himself.
We hugged it out like good Latinos do and his very first words to me were: “Thank you for helping me. This year, I flew in on a plane!” I don’t want to lose my street cred here, but I got a little teary-eyed while feeling quite rewarded at that moment. Kenneth’s business had grown; he was now paying himself and he even had a bit of money to fly to Panama and stay in a hotel. He created a Facebook page to promote his business and developed the necessary logistics to buy parts in the States and import them for his customers, all within one year. At a deep personal level, nothing is as rewarding as partnering up with new customers in our industry and helping them fly. Muchas gracias, Kenneth.
Mandy Aguilar is a regional vice president for Jacksonville, Fla.-based The Parts House.
