MONROE, MI — This week we talk with Joe Pomaranski, vice president-sales, North American Aftermarket, for Tenneco Inc., manufacturer of Monroe shocks and struts, Monroe premium brakes, Walker exhaust products, DynoMax performance exhaust, Rancho performance suspensions and shocks, and DuPont Car Care appearance chemicals.
Pomaranski was named vice president of sales, North American Aftermarket for Tenneco Inc. in May of 1999. In this role, he is responsible for sales and customer care activities for aftermarket ride control and emission control business, as well as DuPont Car Care chemicals and Monroe brake products in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Pomaranski began his career in 1978 as a territory manager with Champion Spark Plug. With Champion, he held various management positions such as district manager, regional manager, and VP of sales for retail and traditional aftermarkets. He joined Tenneco after Federal-Mogul acquired Cooper and Moog.
Historically, Tenneco has been known for its strong in-house sales force. How has the company’s sales structure changed in recent years and why?
It’s true that our field sales force has long been one of our most valuable assets, and I’m happy to say this hasn’t changed. In fact, as the industry has become more complex and competitive, Tenneco’s unique ability to reach out to thousands of service dealers through talented, knowledgeable, hardworking sales professionals has become even more important. I’m a very lucky guy, because I know that every day, in virtually every market, our sales team is partnering with distributors, jobbers and service dealers to grow the ride control, brake, exhaust and car care categories. And in doing so, we’re helping our customers capture new sales and increase their profitability.
You asked about any changes we’ve made; all I can say is that we’re working harder and smarter every day to be the best partners we can be to our customers. And that’s exactly what the aftermarket has come to expect from Tenneco – we’re the guys who are constantly finding new ways to support the service dealer’s sales efforts through innovative merchandising tools, training clinics, ride-and-drive events, dealer meetings and other activities designed to energize our product categories. No other manufacturer has placed as much emphasis – or invested the capital – to train tens of thousands of technicians on an annual basis. So, if you were to ask shop owners and technicians about who really drives their sales in ride control and exhaust, I’ll bet a vast majority mention Tenneco. That’s one of the most important roles we play, and our team does it exceptionally well.
Tenneco has dramatically expanded its Walker, DynoMax and Monroe product lines this year and has indicated plans to continue investing in certain categories. What was the impetus behind such a major expansion?
We’re viewed, justifiably I think, as the clear market leader in ride control and exhaust. And let’s face it, customers have come to expect our Monroe, Walker and DynoMax brands, in particular, to play a proactive role in growing their businesses through aggressive investment in technology, industry-leading coverage, innovative promotions and sales training that’s bigger and better than anything else in the industry. Our management team embraces this responsibility and has continued to provide more capital to develop, deliver and support game-changing products.
I think it’s important to step back and look at who is investing in the future of the aftermarket. Who is pouring capital into application-engineered ride control technologies for the changing vehicle population? Who has increased its investment in the exhaust category with hundreds of new direct-fit SKUs each year? Who invented the concept of a “Quick-Strut” to help shops achieve breakthrough productivity and profitability in the strut replacement category? And who has leveraged its dominant brand position and engineering expertise to introduce an entirely new brake-repair alternative? Each of these investments is, above all, an investment in the future of our customer’s profitability and satisfaction.
On the same subject, as Tenneco continues to expand its product offerings, what do you do to keep your customers informed and up-to-date on the latest technologies?
I often tell people that the Monroe and Walker sales team is like the Internet – we cover every inch of territory to spread the word on new market opportunities. And in truth, there’s no better way to help service dealers grow their sales than through face-to-face contact at their shops, at one of our thousands of training clinics or regional installer meetings or at a Tenneco ride-and-drive event. Some manufacturers might be happy to train a few hundred or even a thousand technicians each year, but we’re hitting those numbers each week, in many cases, because that’s the sort of investment that truly drives sales for our customers.
We also equip our sales team with sophisticated, hands-on selling tools that help the service dealer see and feel the difference represented in our products. When technicians get a chance to look inside our shock versus a competitor’s product, for example, they can sell the Monroe advantage with greater confidence. When they see all of the extra features we build into a Walker Quiet-Flow muffler, they understand the added value. And when they look at what’s included in every box of Monroe Brakes, they appreciate the time and effort they’ll save during the repair.
By the way, there’s no better way to demonstrate product value than by putting the customer behind the wheel and letting them see and feel the difference for themselves. That’s what we do at the dozens of Tenneco ride-and-drive events each year, where technicians sign up to learn how to sell Monroe , Walker and DynoMax products. By the end of this year, we’ll train more than 5,000 technicians through the ride-and-drive experience alone. That’s 5,000 more professionals who will have the skills and confidence necessary to take their undercar businesses to the next level by relying on our brands.
With so many great products on the market today, how do you convince counter professionals and technicians that Tenneco’s products are the right products to choose?
We support the jobber by providing the on-site training they need to grow their sales in each of our product categories. More importantly, we help them establish stronger relationships with local service dealers through differentiated products, great promotional programs and results-driven sales training. Since I joined Tenneco back in 1999, we’ve consistently increased our investment in programs that directly benefit the jobber and service dealer. We’ve made hundreds of thousands of shop visits, conducted hundreds of local and regional ride-and-drive events, hosted thousands of shop owners and employees at training clinics and worked behind the scenes to help promote the long-term growth of the ride control and exhaust categories.
Obviously, great products have also played an important role in our success. Jobbers and technicians are far more likely to specify and sell products that add confidence to the repair. In ride control, that means an application-engineered shock or strut that will help restore “OE feel” rather than deliver a ride that’s too harsh or too soft. In exhaust, it means components that provide a premium, direct fit and OE-type sound. And in brakes, it’s all about saving the customer time and money by providing everything the technician needs to perform a high-quality repair. In each case, we offer the brand that’s best known for delivering on these expectations.
Tenneco brands frequently offer sales promotions. Do your customers respond well to these promotions and what kind of an impact have they had on sales?
When you have the right product matched with a demonstrated consumer need, promotions can have a huge impact on the service dealer’s sales and profitability. Above all, our consumer promotions are opportunities for shops to establish new customer relationships and to help them close more sales. In fact, I’d argue that our promotions are more valuable than ever due to the changing mix of domestic and foreign-nameplate vehicles; service dealers are leveraging these promotions to reach out to consumers who might otherwise rely on their car dealerships or an import specialists. Establishing relationships with this new generation of vehicle owners is a huge focus for us because it will ultimately determine whether independent service providers become the preferred source of repairs for all makes and models.
Another key initiative that has impacted our success – in both promotions and sales – is Expert Plus, one of the industry’s largest and most successful installer marketing programs. With 20,000 installer and jobber members in 2006, the Expert Plus program continues to drive member shops and technicians to participate in trade and consumer promotions plus offers another opportunity for us to “touch” the installer for training. There’s no other program that’s this successful in the aftermarket.
Tenneco recently added brake products to its product lineup. What prompted the company to begin offering brakes? What kind of reception had Tenneco’s brake products received in the marketplace thus far?
It’s been our strategy for many years to leverage the Monroe brand’s dominant position in ride control to help shops grow the rest of their undercar service portfolios. In looking at this opportunity, it became pretty clear that there was a huge disconnect in consumer thinking when it came to ride control and brake services. Let’s face it, the best brakes in the world can’t do their job unless they are matched with four fully functioning shocks or struts. Our marketing team captured this message in what we call the Monroe Safety Triangle, which connects ride control, brakes, tires and chassis parts to their three primary safety benefits: steering, stopping and stability.
Once we established this communication platform at the trade and consumer levels, it made sense to become the only company that could help service dealers deliver all three safety benefits with a single brand. When we first took the Monroe Brakes concept to service dealers, they were extremely enthusiastic and offered some great insight to the unaddressed needs that existed in the friction market. Their input helped us develop a premium brake offering that provides everything the technician needs to complete the job, all packaged in one box. This unique approach has made Monroe Brakes very popular among distributors, jobbers and service dealers. It’s been a huge success for us, and the energy is only continuing to grow.
Tenneco announced several major restructuring initiatives in June. Has this restructuring had any impact on sales efforts?
Not at all. Our restructuring largely reflected changing demand patterns in the OE marketplace, where we’re a leading manufacturer of ride control, emissions and other products. We view the aftermarket as an opportunity for significant growth and we’re investing in the products and people to capture even more market share. Some companies have shied away from the aftermarket, but we see this industry as a great investment. In fact, we expect to grow our field sales force by 5 to 10 percent in the next year to increase our presence at the service dealer level. Why? Because that’s what helps our customers grow their sales, and that is what it’s all about.
