Understanding retail in the automotive industry

Danny Wiggins is the author of Surviving the Parts Counter: A Real Guide for New Parts Advisors, a story about the reality of the job. Full of real-world mistakes, laughs, frustrations, and honest experiences, the book explains the realities of working behind the counter of a motor factor. In his first column, he shares his experiences with retail customers and encourages how advisors should treat them.

Like it or not, retail customers are part of everyday life on the parts counter. Let’s be honest… there are the ones you genuinely look forward to seeing, despite the ten others you’d happily hide under your desk from the moment you spot their car pulling into the car park.

Either way, you’ll often be dealing with them. Sometimes you’ll spend 20 minutes helping someone with a service kit that your regular trade customer would order in a 30-second phone call. And, of course, you should always be prepared for the inevitable: “Oh, and also…” just moments after you’ve sent the invoice to print.

You have to admire their confidence, though. Whether they’re asking for a “rocket cover gasket” or the vocational “rear headlight”, part of being a good parts advisor is learning to translate what a retail customer actually needs rather than what they ask for. Sometimes it’s less about knowing the parts catalogue and more about speaking ‘fluent retail’.

It’s worth remembering that these people don’t live in our world. They don’t care about part numbers, VINs, or sales codes – they just want their car fixed and as quickly as possible. They’re spending their own money, not buying on a company account, so every pound feels personal. That’s why they’ll almost always ask the question you dread: “Can’t you do any better on the price?”

In most cases, it isn’t because they can’t afford it; they simply want to leave feeling they’ve been looked after.

Over the years, I’ve found you can give customers that feeling without compromising on price. Instead of selling parts, sell value and confidence. If you’re recommending a premium product, explain why. Tell them “we never have any problems with this brand” or “this is the same manufacturer that supplies Mercedes” or “these wipers will last three times longer than…” Before they realise it, you’ve reinforced that they’ve made the right choice – and people like feeling they’ve made a good decision.

The reality is that retail customers can be funny, frustrating, aggressive, or completely confused – sometimes all within the same five minutes. Your job isn’t to change them; your job is to stay professional, control the situation, and supply the right parts with as little drama as possible. If you can do that consistently, you’ll outlast most people in this trade.