Raymond Guffey III becomes Counterman‘s 28th Counter Professional of the Year, sponsored by Affinia Group Inc., Raybestos Chassis and WIX Filters.

Guffey is an operations manager for The Parts House (TPH) in Jacksonville, Fla., a member of the Automotive Distribution Network, under the Parts Plus program.

Guffey and his wife, Jillian, received an all-expenses-paid trip in November to attend Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week. In addition, he was the guest of honor at Babcox Media’s special recognition dinner, The Night of Excellence, as well as recognition luncheons held by AWDA and Northwood’s University of the Aftermarket.

Guffey is the fourth Network Counter Professional of the Year recipient, joining Dennis Call (2005), Scott Flowers (2007) and Tom Dayton (2009), since 2005.

“At the Network, we offer ongoing training programs to help our professionals behind the counter develop their knowledge and expertise so they can outhustle and outperform the competition while reflecting well on the aftermarket as a whole,” said Mike Lambert, Network president. “Raymond has worked hard to hone his craft to complement his passion for cars and helping people. Along with our three past recipients of this prestigious honor, Raymond’s win is indicative of our group’s commitment to providing consistent excellent service at our stores nationwide.”

Mike Monahan, TPH’s regional vice president, compares Guffey to a first-round draft pick.

“Raymond is my go-to guy,” Monahan said. “If I were starting a counter professional team, Guffey would be the employee I’d build everything around. He’s that good.”

Interview with Raymond Guffey III

What first attracted you to automotive parts and the industry in general?

While in high school, I took a half-day automotive technology program at the local community college. The teacher assigned the high school students to the task of ordering the automotive parts each morning for the college students performing the technician duties. It was there that I learned to love the automotive parts industry.

What experiences have you had serving customers that solidified in your mind that this is the career for you?

I really enjoy the challenge of finding the hard-to-find or rare parts. Being able to reach out to our network of part suppliers and research parts that I don’t have knowledge about is fun for me. Calling the customer back and telling them that I will have their part ASAP and hearing their gratitude on the other end of the line is gratifying.

What makes a good counter professional?

The consummate counter professional is able to pay attention to detail, proficiently relay parts catalog information to the customer and is able to apply previous knowledge of situations to the current caller to quickly solve their parts needs.

Why did you decide to become ASE certified?

ASE certification was important to me because I wanted my customers to know that I was qualified to handle all their needs. ASE certification is well-known in our industry and customers have faith that I am knowledgeable about my profession.