Analyze This! Evaluating Performance
Sales don’t always mean profits. Therefore, an on-going analysis of your business’ financial health is essential to understanding your bottomline. After all, you can’t mind what you can’t measure.
Do You Know Your Breaking Point?
Every business wants to make a profit, right? An important key to making a profit is understanding a company’s break-even point. Figuring it out is a simple and necessary process for any store’s success.
Process Improvement: Creating Benchmarks
Great boxing champions don’t become winners without carefully studying their opponents. The same goes for great business owners. To maximize your business potential, always keep an eye on the competition.
The Best Bang for Your Buck
Looking for the best way to maximize your investments? Trade credits may be the answer.
Posting Lost Sales: Is Your Store Losing Business?
It’s a fact of doing business: If you want to capture total customer demand, lost sale posting is necessary. Unfortunately, it’s something that many parts store owners and managers don’t routinely perform. And that’s hurting business.
Lookin’ Good
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth article in a series on customer service. The first article, Creating Customer Loyalty: Are Your Customers Really Happy With Your Service, as well as the second, Bridging The Reliability Gap, and the third, Treating Customers with Empathy, can be found online at https://www.counterman.com. In the brick and mortar world
Treating Customers with Empathy
Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a series on customer service. The first article, Creating Customer Loyalty: Are Your Customers Really Happy With Your Service, as well as the second, Bridging The Reliability Gap, can be found online at www.counterman.com. A common mistake made by many businesses is a homogeneous approach to their
Are Your Customers Really Happy With Your Service?
These days, customers can obtain quality parts at good prices from a variety of sources. However, people still buy from people. What sets you and your store apart from the competition, now and in the future, is your quality of service. You have a well-stocked inventory, and what you consider to be a competent staff.
What do Creditors Really Want?
At some point, the majority of parts store owners have to secure funding in the form of loans from creditors. Whether it’s necessary for more inventory, store upgrading or expanding operations, how the creditor views your business determines the outcome of the financing you seek. Unlike the focus of the parts store, which is directed
Profit Margin or Markup: Understanding the Difference
Quite a few years ago, when I was new to the parts business, I was curious about finding the correct way to calculate profit margins. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know exactly how.
Planning Your Strategy
A thorough business gameplan warrants some critical assessment to think beyond the numbers. One of the best tools is an honest SWOT analysis.
Understanding the OE Dealer
By understanding the OE side better, you can begin to develop a strategy to help you retain market share.