This month, David and Peter discuss the crucial relationship between factors and garages in terms of the distribution of parts, and why it is now more important than ever to maintain it.
DAVID CLARKE
Managing Director, Autosupplies (Chesterfield)
What does a garage want? I think a garage wants a motor factor to be, first and foremost, easy to deal with, to supply them quality parts and brands when they say they will, and at the right price.
Parts distribution is not overly complicated, and so we make it simple. Behind the scenes though there are a number of systems in place that enable us to grow and support our ever expanding customer base with more products and services.
Price is not the most important thing to a garage, nor factor for that matter. Availability and quality are the most important things to a garage and we have seen this first hand since acquiring Butlers Automotive of Barnsley. If you have the part on the shelf, you have more chance of making a sale. Again, that’s not complicated.
I’ve said since the very beginning that everything a garage purchases, we want to supply it, and our warehouse continues to stock more and more products. We’ve invested in areas such as logistics, online ordering and staff. Our sales team visits customers every day. We’re interested in their business and want to know how we can better serve them.
As the vehicle parc becomes more complex, we work closely with our garages to bring them the latest technology and equipment to help them service and repair modern vehicles. We’ve always seen it as critical to bring garages closer to our supplier base so that they can access the technical support they need.
We don’t wait for the phone to ring; we are always proactive in all areas and want to play a big role in our customer’s growth and success.
PETER WELCH
Proprietor, Scotlands Ash Garage
As I regard independent garages as being on the front line of the automotive aftermarket supply chain, partners for our business, such as motor factors are critical.
I’ve been concerned for some time about the comings and goings further up the supply chain, and it has impacted on my business with poor deliveries and problems with accounts. We want deliveries to arrive when they are supposed to arrive – we want quality parts. We don’t want to fit the product twice after a problem. There are so many new brands as well in the market – I’m finding a factor’s view of a quality brand is different to our own. Some are tinkering with a winning formula and changing brands all too readily.
We want our motor factor to be reliable, to have the products in stock and see us for what we are, the lifeblood of their business. We are an independent garage that visits trade shows up and down the UK and invests in the latest equipment so that we can continue to compete with the main dealer. I would welcome more effort on the part of the motor factor to get us more involved, tell us more about what they stock and the technical support available from suppliers.
In short, those businesses that put independent garages as the most important thing in their business will do very well.
