Like many people in the retail end of the automotive parts business, Jerry Widmer loves his job. One reason is he gets to deal with his customers face-to-face.

“I’ve been in the business for more than 20 years,” Widmer says. “And I enjoy my work and dealing with my customers.”

Widmer is president of Front Automotive Parts Co., in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, about 50 miles south of Cleveland. His late father, Dale, who bought the business in 1962, indeed visited his customers personally, face-to-face on a regular basis.

However, things have changed dramatically for Jerry and the business. Jerry is typical of the small retail shop owner. He has an affiliation with NAPA that supplies “about 98 percent” of his products, and recently purchased another store in Copley, Ohio, a West Akron suburb. Front Automotive Parts is in NAPA’s Carrollton, Ohio, region and is among the wholesaler’s top five customers.

“I get good support from them,” he says. “They give me sales promotion and advertising help.” However, when it comes to getting new customers and keeping the long-time ones, Widmer relies primarily on a very traditional approach. “Really, I have only one salesman and he works our biggest accounts,” he says.

Widmer is referring to his brother-in-law, Gary McDonald, who has worked with the family for more than 23 years. McDonald calls on 118 customers –– two-to-three times a week for the best customers, twice a month for the next group and every two months for the others.

“Sometimes he’ll visit our best customers more often, but this is a good average,” Widmer says.

For each of his two stores, Widmer’s trade area is a three-mile focus. He estimates that 60 percent of his more than 200 customers lie within those boundaries. Approximately 80 to 90 percent of those customers are garages, shops and an automobile dealer or two. The remaining percentage are walk-in customers.

But while the face-to-face encounters with customers are always the preferred choice of building relationships, time and manpower often throw a wrench into those best-laid plans. Today’s aftermarket parts business person will use technology to retain his or her best customers and “clone” them to pursue new ones.

However, the problem that remains is how Widmer increases his business within his target areas.  How does he get more customers that resemble his best ones?

There are software products and processes available that help him understand his trade area better. They also help him profile his own customers and develop “customer potential indexes.” Mapping technology, software dedicated to performing these types of functions, are available from a variety of sources.

There are indexes available that will tell you how many batteries, etc., will be sold in a specific zip code in a year, but the wise and prudent business person will develop their own indexes and use them as a competitive advantage.

After all, you physically can’t visit each customer face-to-face as often as you want, so the next best thing is to use technology that’s available to secure your position in front of the people you’re trying to reach.