Be my partner; treat my business as if it is yours.  

That is short and sweet, but that is what we need. There were times when jobbers thought if they provided shop owners incentives, we would jump and sign their contract. Some of your customers changed jobbers as soon as their contract expired so they could get more “shop improvements.”

Times have changed; shops need more from a jobber than a paint booth or a frame machine. Long after the newness of that paint booth, frame machine or other subsidization has worn off, we are both still fighting for profitability.

Today shops need more than gifts to meet their bottom line; they need processes to improve their abilities to work through the narrow material margins allowed on estimates.

SOPs
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are the first step in jobber assistance that will add to net profits. As a jobber, do you have a program available to instruct your customer’s people how to do the same thing the same way each time? Do you have a way to test them to make sure their people stay current? Establishing SOPs is an excellent way for you to be their partner and treat their business like it is yours. SOPs develop consistency and your involvement will develop trust. A jobber with this capability will grow as its customer’s production grows and they are adding that one more paint cycle to their day.

KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a necessary tool to identify problem areas that your customers cannot see because they are in the middle of the forest and can’t see the trees. Maybe they are mixing just a little too much paint or they are not getting the required flag hours per repair order. Can you provide them KPI information that is deciphered, problem areas identified, and recommended corrective action available?

Again, this is a great way for the jobber to be your partner and treat your business as if it were theirs. Jobbers create loyalty by becoming more involved in the customer’s processes and become a part of their team.

Inventory control
There are several schools of thought about inventory control and all of them work. I prefer the pro-active approach. As a jobber, you know what I use and how I use it. You are able to tell when I am buying too much of a product or using the wrong product. You’re also in tune enough to tell me when a product change is necessary.