Are You a Victim of Jobber Jibber Jabber?

Remember as a child when you stood in a line shoulder to shoulder with your friends. The first person in line whispered a sentence to the person next to him and so on down the line until it reached the last person. The person at the end of the line then said the sentence aloud. Remember how drastically the message changed from what came out of the first person’s mouth?

For manufacturers of branded automotive aftermarket products, the traditional distribution channel poses very similar communication problems.

Do you think the product and brand story you communicate to the WD is being passed along accurately to the jobber (if at all)? Continue down the channel and it’s easy to imagine that what the jobber is telling your end-using customer (if anything) is not consistent with your original message.

Now factor that hundreds of other manufacturers are looking for the distributors and jobbers to get their messages out as well, and your communications problem grows exponentially. You're fortunate if the WD or jobber advocates on your behalf at all, much less with effective messaging and branding.

What needs to change long term is our reliance on the distribution chain to relay our product and brand message to the end using installer.

Start providing YOUR end using shops with the product and brand information they need to have. Aftermarket Rewards enables manufacturers to communicate directly with their end using shops. When you have the ability to communicate directly with your end using installers, you'll be able to provide targeted and relevant product and brand information to the person with the ultimate purchasing authority.

And because your end using installers will have been receiving relevant information from you, the next time they call the WD for a fuel pump (or a starter, alternator, brakes, etc…) they'll call for your product by name. They'll know that your brand is what’s best for their customer and ultimately for their business.