Get Active In Training Your Customers
How many times have you said that Joe at Joe’s Auto Repair is a great tech, but what does he know about running a business? By Allen Markowitz and Allan Gerber For those of you who do not know our backgrounds, both of us were independent jobbers for more than 40 years, second generation in
Counter-Tech: Using Apps To Sell Parts
Counterman columnist Mandy Aguilar gets faxed orders on his smartphone without even owning a fax machine. My uncle Armando has been in my mind a lot lately; more so than usual. In a way he is always around as I’m named after him, as is my grandfather and so is my kid; we are
Miles Driven Continues To Trend Downward
Northcoast Research, a Cleveland-based firm that tracks miles driven and presents data about six weeks ahead of the government, isn’t convinced that miles driven will reverse the decline it’s been experiencing.
Counter-Tech: Using Apps To Sell Parts
Counterman columnist Mandy Aguilar gets faxed orders on his smartphone without even owning a fax machine.
Keeping It Simple: Attitude Is An Attitude
Over the past several years, I have been afforded the opportunity to share my thoughts on a wide variety of subjects through Counterman magazine. Through this, I’ve delved into the topics of leadership and attitude as a subject more often than any other. If you’re familiar with Counterman.com, you’ve probably seen “Ask the Counterpro,” where
Get Active In Training Your Customers
How many times have you said that Joe at Joe’s Auto Repair is a great tech, but what does he know about running a business?
2011’s Top Stories In Review
At the beginning of each year, we review the top stories of the previous year in automotive aftermarket parts distribution. We gauge this by reviewing the most-read stories from our sister e-newsletter, aftermarketNews.com. One of the most-read stories of the year came in July when Advance Auto Parts would introduce home delivery in two markets
Why Some Shops Fail
Repair shops come and go and often we look around and wonder why they failed. Sometimes the economy gets them and sometimes a vast combination of negative factors point to a failure. Good technicians don’t necessarily make good business owners, no more than good parts people necessarily make good store managers. As a student of
Are You Trained?
By now, many of you have figured out from some of my references in this column that I have spent time as a counterperson. Yes, it was a while ago but not long enough that I can’t relate to what all of you go through on a daily basis. All I can say is, it
Counter-Tech: Three Tech Trends… at SEMA 2011
I never thought the words, “I’m a writer for Counterman magazine” would ever roll off my tongue; but here I am. For several months now, I have been fortunate to be given the opportunity to write a column for you folks and going forward we will continue to do this under a monthly section in
Deliver Consistent Service in 2012
By Allen Markowitz and Allan Gerber As 2012 begins, here are a few business concepts that should be reviewed and reinforced annually. First, follow up with your customers. Customers need to know we care about them. They need to know that we look forward to building long-term business relationships and we are genuinely concerned about
Younger People Prefer Smartphones Over Cars?
It used to be that to stay in touch with friends, teens would drive somewhere to interact with their friends. In-person.