Success for independent distributors is often equally found in both what the business does and in what it does not, serving specific market needs and finding a niche for specialized products and services.
VIPAR Heavy Duty helps its more than 115 member companies representing 500 plus locations throughout North America focus on those strengths by providing non-core nuts-and-bolts support, as well as the leveraged resources of an aftermarket marketing group.
“We need to do for the distributor what they can’t do individually,” says VIPAR President and CEO Steve Crowley. “We work on those areas, whether it is technology, putting programs together of a national scope with vendors, or programs of a national scope with fleets or repair networks.”
VIPAR, he says, always is looking for ways to make members more efficient, even if that means finding programs and products that may be considered non-traditional. As a result, it provides a large and diverse portfolio, ranging from a VIPro TruckForce-branded service network to an online training library, and from group insurance programs to corporate automotive fleet leasing. What VIPAR offers, Crowley says, “may be non-core to their business in that they’re not reselling the products, but they are core to the everyday expenses and operation of the distributor.”
Mirroring the precise and selective business models of its stakeholders has proved successful, and the Crystal Lake, Ill.-based VIPAR consistently adds new members each year. “We’ve looked for better ways, more efficient ways to do things,” Crowley says. “We’ve also found area’s where we didn’t belong, where the distributors were much better doing it themselves on a local basis. So we focus on where we can have the most positive impact.”
TYING TOGETHER TECHNOLOGY
Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than with technology.
According to Crowley, VIPAR was at the forefront in developing an e-commerce system for independent aftermarket distributors, and it continues to innovate in this area. “In the mid-90s, VIPAR and some of its stockholders had the foresight to build this industry’s first electronic commerce platform. We have taken that base platform and reinvented it through utilizing new technologies. It keeps evolving and now it is certainly the largest e-commerce suite in the heavy-duty aftermarket,” he says.
The system, v-Enterprise, facilitates communication and commerce throughout the chain – vendors, distributors, installers and customers. It creates a complete paperless loop throughout the order-and-fulfillment cycle, and hosts a wide array of support programs and information.
v-Enterprise also has end user features, such as customizable parts catalogs developed specifically to fleet customer requirements. “We can produce a custom electronic catalog for the customer with their own prices, their own products – all of the spec’d items for them,” Crowley says. “It has only their part numbers and only their prices and it is available only for them. It’s a point-and-click order interface made just for them.”
The next stage of technological advancement is helping members using older or less sophisticated business systems upgrade to a state-of-the-art platform without a major investment in infrastructure.
“We’re in the process of putting a hosted business system together for any stockholder who would like to convert their business system or change to a very modern, very updated business system,” Crowley says. “They have the ability to go on a hosted solution without a large cash outlay. The economy of scale is huge.”
Among the features of the new system, developed in conjunction with AutoPower, are centralized pricing updates and third-party, professional IT support.
EXTENDING TO SERVICE
VIPAR extends its marketing and branding to service providers, creating a large network of installers.
“VIPAR keeps the focus on the customer and we have two kinds of customers,” Crowley says. “Our stockholders are our customers and receivers of the programs and products VIPAR Heavy Duty provides, but we also do a great deal of work both at the repair end of the business with VIPro TruckForce and through national accounts. Both are fast growing segments for us and both are very important to VIPAR’s overall strategy to take care of customers first and work with our distribution base to make sure we provide the best market solution. We want to be the go-to network.”
VIPro TruckForce creates alliances between distributor members and installers to create a preferred network of service providers. The relationships generate business for both ends, and VIPAR, in addition to providing other tools and resources, helps drive customers to the network through national advertising and both a printed and web-based directory.
The group also helps drive business by formalizing relationships with carriers at the national level. Among the well-known clientele are fleets such as Allied Waste and Heartland Express. The national accounts program provides carriers with consistent parts and service pricing at VIPAR locations.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
At the heart of every aftermarket marketing group is its ability to create relationships, both among members and vendors. VIPAR represents premium brands across the range of product lines.
“We work with leading manufacturers,” Crowley says. “If you’re out in front of customers every day, you don’t want to have to explain what’s in the box. The most efficient way to get through to customers is brand recognition.”
The loyalty to premium brands is something VIPAR also expects from its members. This approach leads to very selective private labeling, but VIPAR does co-brand with manufacturers such as Bendix and Exide. When it comes to sourcing, Crowley says, “Where necessary, we’ll do what we have to in order to make sure stockholders stay competitive, but we never sacrifice quality for that.”
The strength of its vendor relationships is second only to the relationships among its members, an often overlooked, but invaluable, resource.
“The ability to network with a peer group, to be able to talk openly because we have the same vendor base and we’re all working together for the same common goal, that’s a very strong piece of the glue that holds VIPAR together,” Crowley says.
For example, when a member wants to expand their business or venture into new areas, the collective wisdom of stakeholders can help guarantee success. “If you are a distributor who wants to open a driveline shop, we can introduce you to 10 distributors who have a driveline shop and know what equipment works best, what layout works best and what you can expect to do, without the trial error,” he says. “We have some of the best experts throughout most facets of this business within the VIPAR stockholder base, and they’re all a band of brothers who can talk to each other and we facilitate those kinds of conversations.”
As VIPAR approaches its 20th anniversary in 2009, Crowley says it will continue to bring the various aftermarket channels together through better communication and mutually beneficial programs, while keeping the needs of customers first and foremost. The programs and services VIPAR provides all are designed to give distributors a competitive advantage by allowing them to extend those advantages to their customers.
