Anybody read the minutes from the earnings conference call? TG actually cited weather as a reason for sales being off. I thought that excuse was reserved for CAM's, but apparently it works at the top as well. (I bet he heard it from a CAM! lol) Commercial sales is about aggressively taking market share from the competition. Using weather as an excuse clearly demonstrates complacency at all levels and the inability to cite the real reason for poor sales...the people on board.
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Next storm is coming. More to come.
As a shop owner, Advance is my last choice.. and that's only If I look up the part. Only parts supplier with a bunch of clerks behind the counter that could easily be working in fast food.
With the exception of MB, there are some at corporate that have some ability. The problem is they cannot implement with what is in the field. VP's are a joke in most cases just bobbing their heads.
If most of these CEO's had to follow the same rules they create for their employees, they would be gone fast, yet they continue to make horrible decisions and keep their jobs and get paid well to make mistakes.
These comments are so true. I guess this is what happens when you get a Mr Potato Head running an auto parts company.
Rinse. Repeat. I see that happen on a daily basis. Customer (diy or com, doesn't matter) calls, needs both front brake calipers. I can have the drivers side in the morning, oops, looks like the passenger side is fdo, looking at about a week. Looks like one of the brake hoses is fdo as well. And chances are, oreillys has it on the shelf. We can't sell it if we don't have it. It's that simple. A $1 project pack will not in any way make up for that lost sale. "But we're losing soooo much money but not selling them...." You're losing more money by not having the part the customer needs. I think it's this way by design. We're set up to fail. Apex is a failure. There is no way that it was tested. Constantly crashing. Cannot, will not let you use 2 computers at once. They don't give us the tools we need to succeed. And there is no denying that.
All the players, Advance, Autozone, O'reillys, sell the same low grade Chinese garbage. The only thing that will set them apart is price, service, and availability, that being said, the one that can deliver will get the sale. From my personal experience Advance is dead last failing often to Autozone and O'reillys with constant excuses as to why they can not get a part, or how long it takes, and inconsistent pricing. Lets be honest, pulling people, limiting man hours, and dropping inventory does not make sales.
I agree on just selling a part because you are the only ones that have it. I am talking about trying to sell a complete repair job. Harder to sell the project with 2/3 of the items the customer wants. Just had it happen twice today. On my call back I found out that AZ had both items I did not have and sold them everything.
If you sell an item because you were the only parts house that had it is not a win if that commercial customer does not buy the fast moving items as well. Knowing AAP, they probably priced matched a competitor that did not have the item in the first place. Dummies.
Millions in inventory reduction will not drive sales, reduction in hours and trucks will not drive sales. No idea what they are thinking but our customers are clearly telling us that it is not working and they are buying from the competition. Not matter how well I serve them I can't beat out someone who has the part today.
Just goes to show TG does not belong in auto parts. I wonder if Pepsi competitors sales declines were ever attributed to weather? I believe it's called customer preference as to where they spend.
Makes the salesfloor smaller which makes your back room larger. More parts instead of steering wheel covers and seat covers which never wor
It is A wire to win per T.G. ! What is that about? Many out work.
Yes, the project packs, perfect example of tripping over dollars to save pennies.
The answer is simple, we didn't sell enough project packs.
Still confused how less inventory and less man hours increases sales, am I missing something ?
If you read further into the call minutes, you will see that the plan is to reduce inventory even further. This is a turnaround?
Yeah, all 3 major chains had the same weather in each location. Lame.
Our loss of sales was due to lack of the proper inventory at the DC. My customers don't want fuzzy dice and steering wheel covers or oil filters with no part number on them.