What do you look for in your jobber?

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:53 am
I am a automotive, industrial and marine equipment and supplies jobber in the New England area who is actively working on expanding my network. What are the most important factors to you when selecting a jobber to work with? Price, service, availability of product? Would love your feedback of what you feel the most important factors are.



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:43 pm
Are you looking to BECOME a paint/body jobber or BUY from one? There are, I think, different circumstances for each situation.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:34 pm
I have 3 or 4. I keep up with and compare prices esp on clears. I like S/W and Marrix clear. Dupont and Matrix base. Matrix is way less in cost for base in blending and does fine. Napa has a good point. I look for quality and price. You can get both if ya talk enough. Lol
Never argue with an idiot, he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

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Location: Canberra
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:33 pm
I have two suppliers (we don't call them jobbers) but I buy all my paint from one because firstly I really like the Dupont Centari system which avoids duplication yet gives me a full range of basecoats and, secondly, Canberra is not such a big city that there is more than one supplier for each major paint company. So, while price is important to me I have no choice but to pay what they charge or change my paint system, something I don't want to do. I just need to charge so that I recover costs plus a margin. My secondary supplier can provide all the non-paint items and they have a 5 times per day delivery service so, at times I've ordered and had delivery within 30 minutes, whereas my primary supplier can take 2, sometimes 3 days. Just means I need to order before I run out but it is annoying.

So, service is important, along with quality products. So long as price is reasonably competitive it isn't a really high item on my list. There are some items that both my suppliers stock but I buy elsewhere because of significant price savings. For example, I have recently bought a new gun (Tekna Copper) and was able to source out of America for nearly half the price that my local suppliers wanted. Am doing the same for an SRi Pro and would have bought both from this site but for the ridiculous policy of only supplying domestic customers. See how fickle a customer can be, despite loyalty on the products that I'm locked in to or loyalty to a forum that I enjoy participating in? Yet, I refuse to satisfy simple greed and pay $800 for a gun I can get for $400 and I'll pay a bit extra for the guy who's prepared to get off his arse, go down to the Post Office and fill out a form or two to get my purchase away.

Both my suppliers have no issues with stock levels so availability of product is not a problem for me. If it became one then I would start to look at alternatives.

Beyond that, though, is communication and contact. It makes me feel important and valued as a customer if I'm kept up to date on new products, developments, procedures and information. Conversely, being left out of the loop and finding out later that I could have been told something that would impact on my business really rankles. I don't want to see the rep 3 times a week but a phone call or email saying "Hey we have this new product that, even though it's more expensive, might actually have some benefits for you..." means that my supplier cares about my business and that really is important.
Chris



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PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:48 am
Thank you so much for your feedback. We are a supplier and have been since 1947. We are looking to expand outside of our current network and appreciate your valuable feedback on what you feel makes one supplier stand out against from another.

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