What main issues were on your members' minds during the recent National Pronto Association spring meeting in Atlanta?

One of the highlights of our membership meeting was the time our members spent together discussing issues and opportunities because it allowed them to share ideas and efficiencies with one another.

Certainly, the higher cost of fuel, as well as the higher cost of operations in general, is a concern. When vendors have price increases, they may have a nominal 3 percent increase. But as a distributor, we only get a portion of that 3 percent, and we're very concerned that those incremental price increases aren't enough to cover our costs.

At the end of the day, we need to provide tools — at an affordable cost — that allow shops owners to do what they need in order to grow business because a successful shop is a successful customer for us. One of these tools is our Smart Choice Advantage Service Center program, which includes the Protection Plus Parts & Labor Warranty Program that guarantees repairs with a 12-month/12,000 mile-Nationwide Warranty. Car owners must be allowed to choose who they want to repair their car, and this eliminates their fear that the investment they make into a repair could be lost.

We've also partnered with Delphi on their TechSource AutoIQ program, a tool that will help service writers explain a repair to a car owner through the use of a short video.

Our goal is that these programs will offer the independent service center the tools necessary to help his customers feel comfortable doing business with him and improve his business overall.

How does Pronto help its members reduce rising costs and improve margins?

From a technology standpoint, we have implemented Pronto DX technology initiatives to take cost out of the distribution channel. One initiative is implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) invoices from our vendors that are matched with purchase orders from our members. This eliminates the need for the manufacturer to print, sort, mail and process paper invoices and reduces costs not only for our distributor members, but for manufacturers as well. We have had good feedback so far and expect 100 percent implementation by our fall membership meeting in October.

In addition, we have a Pronto DX price format, where all the purchase orders and invoices will be reconciled by dollars. It works across many different computer platforms and our electronic invoicing partner CorCentric does all of the mapping, so it's very easy to use.