I have had the privilege of knowing and working with many progressive jobbers. I also have known several jobbers who, quite frankly, many people just wish would get up and leave in order for our industry to progress.
Common character attributes identify a weaker jobber in trouble or going in the wrong business direction. It is important for shop owners, WDs, manufacturers and progressive jobbers to recognize these characteristics within other jobber owners, because if they choose to deal with this individual, in the long run it will become a tremendous waste of time and money.
It is this group of jobbers that cause industry "inertia" to settle in.
The jobber level of our industry has a lot of issues it must address. Perhaps it is time for all levels of our industry to speak up more frequently about these common characteristics that tear our industry apart and force us to waste millions of dollars. Too many WDs get caught in the rut of executing a smoke and mirrors show while trying to please every jobber they meet. This ends up only providing some short-term sales and, in the end, wastes the WDs' time and resources, which could have been used or focused on creating positive company initiatives.
Consider the following attributes that identify the weaker jobbers:
- He fights change. He struggles to maintain the status quo within his store and defends what is, but more importantly, he opposes the new. This individual strives always to repeat the past and lives in the past. He does not talk about our exciting future and its opportunities.
- He is fixed and inflexible. He takes a position and totally refuses to move from it; he will not bend at all. He is incapable of compromise.
- He becomes defensive. He will guard against attacks of any kind. He never wants to be questioned or challenged and never moves forward or sticks his neck out.
- He has personal problems. He drinks to excess, he has a "family problem" or has developed a neurosis. He comes up with a secret problem about which he will say nothing.
- He has no team spirit. He wants to do it all himself. He wants no suggestions, criticism or help of any kind. Even a helper appears to be a threat to him.
- He is lazy. He has the attitude that his time has "arrived." He is secure and confident of his corporation and its complete willingness to "carry him" for the rest of his time.
- He is without imagination. He cannot or will not think creatively. He refuses to reach out and stretch his mind to the broad horizons.
- He won't take a risk. To enter into competition of any kind, or to suggest a new product or system, are actions too great to bear.
- He is disorganized. He jumps irrationally from job to job and is fragmented and wasted. He begins a job in the middle, works on two jobs at the same time and always does unimportant work first.
- He has a poor understanding of people. He lacks the ability to listen to and to hear the people with whom he works. He can't be sympathetic, empathetic or kind, and therefore rarely is helpful.
- He flies into rages. He fails to exercise emotional control. He rants and raves, insults his subordinates and intimidates his peers. He is upset and unproductive.
- He passes the buck. Whether it's a minor mistake or a colossal catastrophe, he either can't or won't accept responsibility or even casual involvement in it.
- He refuses to learn. He knows it all and will always make an excuse to not attend new training sessions. The most common excuses used by this person are, "I'm too busy," "I'm short staffed," "I can't get away" and "It's too expensive."
- His hand is always out. He thinks it's good business practice to have someone else always subsidize his business. The fact is, his business is not profitable enough to stand on its own two feet without industry subsidies.
The best jobbers in the country are void in these characteristics. The best jobbers see the positive, see opportunities, go out of their way to appreciate good people, understand fully what return on investment really is, want to and make the time to participate, want to and make the time to contribute, are like sponges seeking out information to expand their personal and business horizons, are reliable and, most importantly, their word is their bond.
Do not let the weakest jobbers have such a high profile within the aftermarket industry. Our industry has so much to gain by working with the positive jobbers who really want to make a difference and addressing positive issues that contribute to our aftermarket's future.
Bob Greenwood is president and CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket E-Learning Centre Ltd. ( www.aaec.ca), a technology company based in Ottawa, Ontario. He has more than 30 years of business management experience in the aftermarket. He can be reached at [email protected].
