By Renee Cormier
Contributor
When Rob Hillerich, owner of Future Automotive Warehouse in Wheeling, Ill., attended a new competitor’s open house, he saw some of his regular customers. And they were surprised to see him.
“A lot of people will bury their head and say ‘I don’t want to know.’ But I want to go look. Learn what they’re good at,” he explains. “It’s important to identify who our competitors are and how to compete against them.”
In the 14 years Hillerich has owned Future Automotive, he’s seen no less than 10 competitors open and close, so he knows what it takes to be successful at a time when many consider the business to be rather soft. Hillerich has been in the industry for 29 years and is an ASE certified master technician who still owns two repair shops in the area. Prior to opening Future Automotive, he was looking for a supplier for his shops, but no one had the complete package — value, quality parts and good service. So he decided to go into business for himself.
Not much has changed in that time. There are no secret tricks he uses to stay successful — he still feels that the ultimate goal is to provide all around value to the customer. But that includes more than a low price and good service. According to Hillerich, it requires a professional staff, an owner who understands how other technicians think and work, a grasp of the manufacturers and aftermarket parts available, knowledge of the competitors and the information and education to help technicians do their job better.
As Hillerich explains, “I doubt there is anyone else who owns a warehouse and is a master technician. I know what these guys want. The bottom line is that you need to have a part that will fix the car. You may have good service. Some customers will want to buy from the guy that’s cheaper. But technicians know what will work. If you have a high quality part, you won’t have comebacks.”
Although Hillerich’s repair shops are not affiliated with the warehouse, his experience with them is one reason Future Automotive continues to be successful. He considers his managers his best and worst customers. “They are a great sounding board. They’re honest with me, help me with recommendations and what to stock. And they tell me why they won’t buy something from me. When there is a groundswell of complaints about a part, we’ll find a new manufacturer.”
With 136 product lines and 96 suppliers, Future Automotive services approximately 200 shops in the Chicago area. All of his staff are professionals who have a combined 150 years experience in automotive mass merchandisers, parts house management and automotive parts counter operations. And Hillerich strives to provide not just fast service, the right part or a good price, but also education for the technicians who buy from him.
“A tech could spend a whole day fixing something that shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. If you spend half a day on a job, how are you going to charge for a job that should have taken 15 minutes? A tech that is educated and knows what he’s doing can get the job done in 15 minutes, charge the customer for an hour of labor and move on to the next customer. What makes shops fail is when they are inefficient. I’m concerned about my customers’ success.”
Hillerich holds 10 seminars each year for technicians at his warehouse, working with manufacturers to bring them a comprehensive series based on what they are interested in. He serves home-cooked barbecue and hosts 30 to 40 people for each seminar. He also offers free lunches regularly and hosts a customer appreciation day with a complimentary dinner.
“As the owner, I’m completely available to customers. People appreciate the time you spend with them. We don’t do a lot of advertising; what better advertising can you have than the technicians walking around your warehouse on their coffee break? Anything I can do to bring people in the door is great.” From there, word of mouth spreads and Hillerich’s business has grown.
Although his primary customer base is the technician, Hillerich has recently taken steps to grow the retail side, too. In the last year, Future Automotive doubled the size of its retail area, adding new automatic glass doors where an old steel warehouse door used to be. And he stocks new items such as seat covers and interior car care products. Now, Hillerich says, when you walk in, it looks like a parts house. And he has seen his retail business triple in the last year because of that.
Whether servicing his technician customer or building up walk-in retail traffic, Future Automotive has an owner who understands the entire business from the manufacturer’s point of view down through the needs of the technician and DIYer. It is this perspective that has helped Future Automotive maintain and increase its customer base while other businesses in the area have failed.
“You need to have that magic combination. Large players that are now gone, from what I hear, everyone is struggling. They just don’t know what to expect day to day. A large parts house down the street just closed. That’s got to have an impact on us. When you see those opportunities open, you have to go after them.”
