The Secrets to Taking Customer Relationships to New Heights

This article on Customer Relationships originally appeared in the September 2026 issue of THE SHOP.

Relationships with your customers are the most important part of sales—especially if you are selling to car dealers or other business-to-business (B2B) customers. Why is that, and how can you ensure those relationships are successful?

WHY ARE RELATIONSHIPS IMPORTANT?

In any type of sales or service industry, the products or services offered among competitors are usually very the similar, if not entirely the same. Pricing, too, is often in line with other companies, as they each try to win business or make themselves competitive.

So, what is it that will help you get over the top and gain continual repeat business from your customers? It is your relationships.

We’ve heard many times that the automotive aftermarket is a “relationship business,” and that is truer now than ever before. When you not only provide a quality product or service at a fair price, but also do it in a way that makes it easy time after time and then, when an issue or problem does come up, you handle it professionally, your customers are much more likely to do business with you.

HOW TO BUILD PARTNERSHIPS

Just like it sounds, building anything takes time. If you were to build a wall, for instance, you would have to start at the bottom and build a foundation and then, piece by piece, you’d start to construct.

It isn’t until you’ve been working for a while that you can actually step back and begin to see some of the results of your construction project. And it’s the same with building a relationship with your customers—it must start from scratch and slowly (sometimes, painfully slowly) grow over time.

However, there are some secrets that can help make sure you capitalize as you continue to grow:

Secret 1: Make It Easy

We all know about the so-called “Easy” button. The reason that resonates with us is because it’s true—we all appreciate when buying something is as easy as pushing a button.

So, take a step back and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. How “easy” is it to do business with you and your company? Is it easy to get information when needed? Is it easy to get the correct price or quote? Is it easy for them to then turn around and present that information to their retail customer? Is it easy to schedule or coordinate? Is it easy to get a problem handled when it arises? Is it easy to get paperwork (digital or physical) to flow smoothly?

How easy is it to do business with you? If it’s not as easy as it could be, then what can you do to fix it? Perhaps suggestions from your customers or others in the industry can help.

Meanwhile, if you answered “yes” to all the above questions and you really do make things easy, then (loudly) sell this fact to your customers. Make sure they know how easy it is to do business with you and provide examples.

Secret 2: Put Time Into It

Aftermarket restylers can’t just snap their fingers and have relationships be in full bloom. It takes time and effort.

This usually includes visiting your customers in person—sometimes even when you don’t have anything to sell them. It requires good communication, which takes time. It isn’t about just giving a price but actually listening to what their real needs are and trying to accommodate when you can.

Taking phone calls or texts after hours or answering an email at an inconvenient time is simply a cost of doing business in our modern world. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Hi Josh, I know you aren’t working but I have a quick question…” Whether it was on a weekend or during a vacation or trip out of town, my customers knew they could still count on me.

Putting time into customer relationships can sometimes mean doing a bit of heavy lifting for them. Focus on customer service as much as possible, and if you’re missing a small piece of information try to get it without their help. Look for any way you can help facilitate the sale to make it easier on them.

One example that comes to mind was when a dealer once wanted to give me a package to do on a truck. It was his idea and after we discussed it, he said he would send me the info for the type of truck he wanted to do.

He, of course, got busy and never got back to me. But, instead of calling and asking him for the information I decided to just go to the dealership and walk his inventory and help him find the right one.

What I realized is that he had a lot of choices and didn’t have the time to go through his inventory. Me doing that “heavy lift” for him finalized the sale quicker and easier than if I would have just waited. So, how can you spend time building your relationships?

Secret 3: Try Not to Say ‘No’

I used to say I wanted to be the “Yellow Pages” for all my customers, but then phone books disappeared, so I changed it to say I wanted to be the “Google” for my customers. These days, of course, I have to say that I want to be the “AI” or the “ChatGPT” for my customers.

It all references the same mindset—mainly, that whatever their need, they ask me first and either I can do it for them or I can give them a reference. And if it can’t be done, I explain why and, by the end of the conversation, they have given up on the idea instead of calling around to my competitors.

With strong relationships, those customers trust me because of the extra miles I have gone for them in the past. So, if it is in your power to help them—even if the request is out of the ordinary—try to do what you can. And if you can’t do it, make sure they understand.

The goal is to become their source of information and, by doing this, continue to grow the relationship.

Finally, this same principle applies to handling issues when they arise. If there’s anything you can do to ease their pain or take more of the blame than you probably deserve, by all means do it and know that you will get that money or business back as you grow the relationship.

I understand that sometimes you have to stick to your guns during a disagreement, but even when you have to do that can you lessen the blow by offering some other solution or a way for them to make up the loss in the future? Anytime you can work with your customers instead of against them you will grow the relationship.

SOLID RELATIONSHIPS

How will you know when you’ve built a solid relationship? The answer is, you’ll just know!

Sometimes customers will directly mention things showing their appreciation. Sometimes you will find out from your competitors or your staff that the relationship is good. Other times it will be in the numbers—the sales or the referrals that you gain as a result or working with a dealership or wholesale client.

However your customers show it, you will know when you have built a strong relationship and, from there, the key is maintenance. We’ll discuss that in our next article.