Professional Distributor - 28

Whaddaya mean the
warranty has expired?!

An unhappy customer should not be a lost customer.

BY ALAN SIPE
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Alan W. Sipe has spent the last 42
years in the basic hand tool industry
including positions as president of
KNIPEX Tools North America, senior
vice president of sales and marketing at Klein Tools, manager of special
markets at Stanley Tools, and sales
manager at toolbox manufacturer
Waterloo Industries. Currently, Sipe
is the owner of Toolbox Sales and
Consulting, a company specializing
in sales strategy, structure, development, and training. Sipe can be
reached at alansipe@gmail.com or
847-910-1063.

n 43 years of selling hand tools, I have been
lucky enough to work with just about every skill
of tradesman you can name: automotive technician, oil field roughneck, electrician, plumber,
carpenter, maintenance, HVACR, etc. All of these
professional tradespeople have the same unusual
idiosyncrasy. They will purchase a $40,000 pickup truck or van and treat it fairly well with regular
maintenance, then trade it in three years later, get
a paltry $12-$15,000, and be happy. Those same
tradespeople will purchase a $10 screwdriver, torture the hell out of it for ten years, and finally break
it. Then they get upset when the mobile jobber
says, "no free replacement." It is certainly odd,
but that's the way the tool world is. And as we all
know, no one has invented a tool that a technician
can't destroy. So how does a mobile jobber deal
with a less-than-happy customer?
During my research for this month's article, I
spoke with several current, successful jobbers, and
they agreed that expired product warranties create
the most common friction with their customers.
Basic hand tools normally are not a big issue since
most have a lifetime warranty. The most frequent
problems flare up with power tools, air tools, electronics, and other costly items with less than lifetime warranties.
One important thing to understand is that, in
most cases, the customer is not upset with you personally. They are probably upset with the product,
the manufacturer, your company, or an unusual
situation. It may also be something that has absolutely nothing to do with anything you're involved
in - such as home issues, work issues, or relationship issues. They could just be having an unusually
bad day. Unfortunately, it almost always feels like
they're mad at you.
If you can calmly accept that your red-faced
customer is not actually upset with you personally,
it will be much easier to deal positively with the
situation at hand. This is hard when the veins on a
customer's forehead are sticking out directly at you.

28 Professional Distributor I June 2020 I VehicleServicePros.com

In these situations it's just human nature to want
to defend ourselves, but don't do it.
A less than perfect way to handle the situation
would be this:
Customer: I can't believe these impact guns only
have a one-year warranty! It really ticks me off.
Jobber: You should have known that when you
bought the impact gun, so don't come to me with
your complaint.
You have now picked a fight, and I guarantee
things will go downhill from there, as will your
sales to that technician.
A better way to handle this situation is this: As
you quietly and without interrupting listen to the
customer's problem, you should first respond like
you do when you correctly handle an objection in a
sales presentation. Make sure you are dealing with
a real problem, and not just a throw-away gripe.
For example:
Customer: I can't believe these impact guns only
have a one-year warranty! It really ticks me off.
Jobber: Yes, I sure wish the warranties were longer. Let's try another good brand with your next one,
and I'll give you a bit of a discount on it.
This answer accepts and agrees with the customer, lets them know you have empathy with the
situation, and that you are giving them a little discount for their trouble. Then, you move on to selling
them another one.
The customer got the gripe off their chest and
they are now ready to move on.
Once you relax a bit and understand that this
isn't a personal attack, you are then able to listen
to what your customer is saying. You are also more
likely to be able to develop a plan to solve this issue
the best you can.
I spoke with a jobber in Canton, Ohio who said
that when he knows he is going to face an unhappy
customer he will develop his game plan before he
enters the conversation. Since you know most of
your customers' personalities pretty well, if you use
good listening skills you will be able to ascertain if

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