September 30, 2024 • 40 mins
Episode 338: We’ve been working hard at the Heavy Duty Consulting Corporation to create the only business development system of its kind that is exclusively dedicated to the heavy-duty parts industry. We are proud to announce that we have developed a training program specifically for Parts Managers.
In line with that new course offering, in this episode we are going to talk to Dan Larlee, Parts Director at Falcon Equipment, about:
- What it takes to be a successful parts manager.
- What some of the common areas parts managers struggle with.
- Why being a great parts technician doesn’t automatically make you a great parts manager.
Listen to the end for a discount on our new Parts Management course!
Show Notes: Visit HeavyDutyPartsReport.com for complete show notes of this episode and to subscribe to all our content.
Sponsors of this Episode
Heavy Duty Consulting Corporation: Find out how many “fault codes” your heavy-duty parts business has. Meet with us today. Visit HeavyDutyConsulting.com
Hengst Filtration: There's a new premium filter option for fleets. If you're responsible for a fleet, you won't believe how much using Hengst filters will save you. But you've got to go to HeavyDutyPartsReport.com/Hengst to find out how much.
Diesel Laptops: Diesel Laptops is so much more than just a provider of diagnostic tools. They’re your shop efficiency solution company. Learn more about everything Diesel Laptops can do for you today by visiting DieselLaptops.com today.
HDA Truck Pride: They’re the heart of the independent parts and service channel. They have 750 parts stores and 450 service centers conveniently located across the US and Canada. Visit HeavyDutyPartsReport.com/HDATruckPride today to find a location near you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jamie Irvine (00:00):
You're listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andthis is the place where we have
conversations that empowerheavy-duty people.
Welcome to the Heavy-Duty PartsReport.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin.
In this episode, we're going totalk about what it takes to be
a successful parts manager, whatsome of the common areas parts
(00:23):
managers struggle with and whatwe can do about it, and why
being a great parts techniciandoes not automatically make you
a great parts manager.
Let's get into it Now.
We've been working at theHeavy-Duty Consulting
Corporation to create the onlybusiness development system of
its kind that is exclusivelydedicated to the heavy-duty
parts and service industry, andreally what we're trying to do
(00:44):
is help empower heavy-duty partsand service industry, and
really what we're trying to dois help empower heavy-duty
people and the companies theywork for to thrive.
Now, education is a big part ofthis initiative and the podcast
really the Heavy-Duty PartsReport was the first step in
putting this initiative together.
We produce these episodes.
We have created a platform forindustry experts and heavy-duty
(01:09):
parts people to really sharetheir expertise with the entire
industry, so that part we'vebeen doing for a long time.
Our consulting business camenext and we've been consulting
with dozens of heavy-dutycompanies.
We've developed an entireconsulting program that can take
you from starting a businessfrom scratch all the way to
selling the business rightthrough the natural arc of a
(01:31):
business starting it, growing it, scaling it and selling it.
And we've developed a specificprogram that is exclusively
dedicated to heavy-duty partsand service companies and, like
I said, we've worked with dozensof companies in that capacity.
Now one of the things that I'vebeen working on with some
clients to develop some trainingprograms that are on their
(01:51):
learning management systems andalso a training program that we
would be able to then bring toour clients, and we've been
working on several differentapproaches to this for a few
years and we decided recentlythat we were going to take all
of this work that we've done andwe're going to put it into a
unique format that really, Ithink, is going to make us stand
(02:13):
out as different.
So over time, we've developedan executive leadership training
program, we developed anoutside sales training program,
we developed a program forhiring people, for recruitment
and retaining people, and wereally looked at and said you
know, what's needed now is aparts management program, and so
we have now developed that aswell.
(02:35):
So I'm really excited to talkto you about these training
programs that are available and,more specifically, about this
parts management trainingprogram.
What makes our training programsunique?
Well, unlike some onlinetraining programs that are kind
of a self-paced learning andpeople can do it on demand,
there's definitely a time andplace for that.
(02:55):
Our programs are a littledifferent, though, because what
we observed is that a lot oftimes, people don't just need
knowledge, they need coaching,they need help to put the
knowledge into some format wherethey can actually go and try it
.
Then they can ask questions,they can practice, they can get
better, and then they canimplement what they're learning
(03:16):
immediately to try to improvetheir overall performance.
And so that is exactly how wehave structured our training
programs.
Instead of an online program,we are going to still do it
remotely through video calls,but we are going to meet with
your people for 13 weeks in arow, an entire quarter.
Once a week, they're going tospend an hour with our
(03:38):
instructor.
They're going to receivetraining and then, in addition
to that training, they're goingto be given assignments so that
they can put into practice whatthey're learning immediately,
try it out.
They run into any problems.
There's a coaching component inthat weekly meeting and in
addition to that, we offerunlimited support for all of the
attendees via email.
(03:59):
So this is a very in-depth,comprehensive training program
and we're so excited to announcetoday that the parts management
course is now available inaddition to those other programs
.
I talked about Pricing rangesdepending on how many people you
have enrolled in the program,but if you want to get access to
(04:20):
an early bird discount, listento the entire interview, because
I'm very excited to offer avery special offer in today's
program.
It's time to hear from oursponsors and after our break to
hear from our sponsors, we'regoing to have our interview with
one of the individuals that wasinstrumental in the development
of our parts management course.
We'll be right back.
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(06:05):
We're back from the break.
Before the break, I was talkingto you about the dedication
that we've had at our company totry to build this business
development system exclusivelyfor heavy-duty parts people, why
training and education is sucha big component of that, and we
announced our new partsmanagement course.
We could not have built thiscourse without the help of our
(06:25):
guest today that we are going tointerview, so I'm really
looking forward to sharing myconversation with Dan Larley.
My guest today is Dan Larley,parts director at Falcon
Equipment.
Now Dan has worked his entire20 plus year career in heavy
duty parts.
He has worked in the warehouse,he's worked on the parts
counter, he's been an assistantmanager, a branch manager and
(06:48):
now a parts director.
His management experience isextensive and we are very happy
to have him on the podcast.
Dan Larlee (07:00):
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
So glad to have you here.
Hey.
Jamie, Thanks for having me.
Jamie Irvine (07:03):
It's good to see you.
Good to see you as well.
Now, for some of you, youalready know this, but for most
they won't know this.
Dan and I are actually brothersand it only took 330 plus
episodes to get you on thepodcast.
Yeah, thanks for that.
Yeah, you should have been likeepisode one, right?
Dan Larlee (07:19):
You'd think so, but no favoritism, right.
Jamie Irvine (07:22):
Yeah, that's right .
We had to show no favoritism,exactly, so I'm really happy to
have you here today.
We're talking about partsmanagement, and I wanted to
start our conversation off todaytalking about parts management,
specifically the key areas thatare critical to success in that
role.
So let's kick it off with this,dan.
(07:42):
How important is it for a partsmanager to have parts knowledge
?
Sounds like a pretty obviousquestion, but I think that's
where we have to start.
Dan Larlee (07:50):
Yeah, I mean, of course it's a.
It's an obvious question,obvious answer.
Because you have to have thattechnical knowledge.
You need to know what you'retalking about.
You need to have the confidenceto portray that you know what
you're talking about to yourcustomer, but also to your staff
, so that you can train andcoach and mentor but you can
also fulfill the customer'sneeds.
Jamie Irvine (08:09):
Right.
So when you have that base ofknowledge in the parts
department, that gives you, Iguess, one of the foundational
pieces to be a good partsmanager.
Now, customer satisfaction issomething that is an important
part of being a counter person.
When you're working on thecounter, you know your job is to
take care of the customer,whether that's at the counter in
(08:32):
the store they phoned in anorder, or maybe you're just
doing email or text.
At any rate, if you're acounter person, you're
responsible for the people whoyou serve directly.
How is it different when youbecome the parts manager?
So customer satisfaction isvery important and it depends on
the interaction who you servedirectly.
How is it different when youbecome the parts manager?
Dan Larlee (08:45):
So customer satisfaction is very important
and it depends on theinteraction that you're having.
So when we're talking aboutthat individual counterperson,
they're responsible for thatone-on-one conversation with the
customer.
They're looking at thatcustomer satisfaction to the
person they're talking to or tothe person that they have
directly in front of them.
But when you're a parts managernow, you're involved in
(09:06):
customer satisfaction for yourentire department and you have
to look at more things as anoverall scope.
Jamie Irvine (09:12):
Yeah, and you're not just responsible for
yourself.
So, like when you're on thecounter, it's just one-on-one
you.
You're responsible for youractions, You're responsible for
helping that one customer infront of you.
You become a parts manager andall of a sudden it's less about
what you do as an individualperson and now it becomes about
what your team is doing andyou're also responsible for
customer satisfaction at abusiness level, which really
(09:35):
does change the game.
But it doesn't just stop there.
Speaking of being responsiblefor a team, how important is it
for the parts manager to be ableto build a team?
You know people in organization.
How is that different from theregular counter position that
maybe that person came from?
Dan Larlee (09:52):
So, in order to build a team, you've got to look
at what fits with the entiredepartment.
You need to know the differentpersonalities that you're
working with and how they'regoing to work together or not
work together, right.
So we have to take a look atpersonality profiles.
We have to take a look at theirtraits.
We also need to know how to getthe best out of our people.
So everyone has areas thatthey're really great at.
(10:13):
Some have areas where they needa little bit of work, a little
bit of fine tuning, a little bitof coaching.
So we need to be able toidentify those areas and know
where and how we can build uponthem to get the most out of our
people.
Jamie Irvine (10:26):
Why is financials an important thing for a parts
manager to understand and reallybe able to master in order to
be successful in their position?
Dan Larlee (10:34):
Yeah.
So if we keep going back andforth with the example we're
using, as a, just a counterperson, you're involved in that
interaction.
You obviously want to make thesale.
You want to try to make as muchmoney as possible, but you want
to make the sale, so you'rewilling to take a little bit of
an eroded margin or maybe cut alittle bit off the top in order
to get that sale, but you'rehappy about that because you
just made that sale.
But now, as a parts manager, nowwe're looking at the whole
(10:56):
department.
Now, all of a sudden, we needto understand financials.
We need to understand how, bytaking a little bit of a margin
cut, you're affecting the entirebranch in the operation.
You need to understand assetsand how they play a part.
You need to understand all yourfixed costs, when it comes to
even things like rent andutilities and how it's all
playing a part, even when itcomes down to delivery vehicles,
(11:20):
gas, all the little tiny coststhat come into running
department.
All of these things play a hugeand crucial role and, as a
manager, you need to be able toread financials and understand
how you're affecting this.
Jamie Irvine (11:32):
Yeah, and being able to understand the
implications of the choices yourpeople are making on a
day-to-day basis.
Like you said, it's usually athousand little decisions that
add up to something that couldbe really good or not so good at
all.
In addition to that, I know asa parts person, at least once a
year you've got to do inventory.
I know as an outside sales guy.
I used to hate that, but stillthey'd bring me in and I had to
(11:54):
do it.
Inventory management is a wholedifferent kind of animal when
you are the manager.
So talk to me a little bitabout inventory management.
Dan Larlee (12:03):
Yeah, again, inventory management is a beast.
When you're just a counter guy,you're focused on what you have
on hand that you can sell ordeliver to a customer.
But when you're the partsmanager, now all of a sudden you
have things like a balancesheet where inventory is part of
an asset, asset is doing foryou and how you're making money
(12:28):
off of it.
Now you need to think aboutthings like fill rates, lost
sale ratios.
You need to understand whereyou're putting inventory in the
store to have it flow properly.
You need to think about thingslike loss prevention.
There's all kinds of avenueswhen it comes to inventory
management that you need to beaware of, and we're just kind of
scratching the surface here.
There's a lot more that we cantalk about.
Jamie Irvine (12:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
We're going to talk a littlebit more about how we are
preparing something very specialfor our audience today.
In addition to the wholeconcept of like a person with
adequate parts knowledge wetalked about that earlier in our
conversation with that that'sreally one of the foundational
pieces to being successful.
If we're talking about somebodylike yourself with 20 plus
years experience in parts, howis acquiring parts knowledge
(13:14):
different today than it wasperhaps in the past?
Why is it maybe more difficultdespite there being more
technology?
Dan Larlee (13:22):
Yeah, so there's definitely more technology that
helps.
I mean, google's a wonderfulthing.
I use it every single day.
When I first started out itwasn't necessarily that easy.
But also, when I first startedout, we had a lot of paper
catalogs.
We were able to have a lot ofmentoring and coaching by older
and professional parts peoplewho have been in the business
for 30, 40 years.
(13:44):
We don't often see that anymore.
It's kind of a dying trend.
40 years we don't often seethat anymore.
It's kind of a dying trend.
So we've lost a lot of industryknowledge with a lot of the
people that have retired overthe last five to 10 years, and
we don't see a lot of that gapbeing filled in the new parts
people of today.
So sure, we have technology, wehave great things like serial
numbers, we can go online, wecan check different parts, but
(14:05):
there's still a lot of things,especially in the heavy duty
trucking industry, that we can'tcheck online, that you either
need to know or have a baseknowledge of, or at least know
where to go and find the answer,as opposed to just being able
to, you know, ask somebodythat's right next to you.
That we used to.
Jamie Irvine (14:22):
Yeah that.
That, unfortunately, has been atrend that has just gotten
worse every year in the last 20plus years.
So when you're a parts managernow, you've got this added
responsibility of being able tohelp your people with perhaps
less resources available to you.
Parts managers of the past, toyour point, there might be three
(14:42):
, four, five people on thecounter, all with 10, 20, 30, 40
years experience, and you mighthave only had one or two junior
people you were training.
Now it's flipped you might havea majority of junior people
with not a lot of experience andonly one or two really
knowledgeable people.
And guess what?
Those people are so busybecause the customers know
(15:04):
they're the only two on thecounter who actually know what
they're doing.
It must be an absolutenightmare for parts managers
training people right now.
Dan Larlee (15:11):
Yeah, you're right, because oftentimes the parts
manager is the one with that youknow, 20, 30 years of
experience.
So they are busy, they'refielding all the calls.
They have that loyal customerbase that's been following them
for years and only want to talkto them.
So they're still trying to talkto customers while at the same
time trying to train and mentorand coach their junior people so
that they can get to thatposition themselves.
Jamie Irvine (15:31):
You know, that means that there's going to be
an added load on parts managersin the modern age to have the
skills necessary to build a team.
This involves retaining goodpeople, but it also involves
recruiting.
Now, obviously, if you work fora larger organization, there
are some resources thereavailable to you.
But generally speaking, in youropinion, dan, do you think most
(15:58):
parts managers have theeducation, experience and skills
to both recruit and retain?
Dan Larlee (16:00):
a great team?
That's a great question and Iwould have to say the answer is
no.
If we take a look at it alittle bit, a lot of parts
managers yes, they havetechnical knowledge, yes,
they've been doing the job for avery long time and, yes, they
have the confidence to know whatthey're talking about.
But at the same time, do theynecessarily have the right
people skills to train, tomentor, to coach, to bring about
(16:23):
this new generation?
A lot of them don't.
A lot of them don't have theright people skills to hire, to
recruit, to train and to coach.
They need a lot of help in thatrespect themselves.
Yes, they have technicalknowledge, but again, it's the
people skills that they arelacking.
Jamie Irvine (16:40):
And even if they do have some of that core
ability, naturally maybe theyhaven't been trained on things
like psychometric assessments,how to use them.
I know a lot of companies usethem in the hiring process and
then nobody ever talks about itafterwards.
That happened to me a couple oftimes.
So even if there are some toolsin place, they aren't always
trained on how to use them themost effectively and, to your
(17:02):
point, they're so busy justtrying to keep their head above
water on a day-to-day basis thatthis can be a real uphill
battle for the modern partsmanager.
Going back to that thing wherewe were talking about things
like financials and inventory,can you go into greater depth?
Why would a parts manager whoisn't maybe the CEO, isn't part
(17:24):
of the financial department?
Why do they need a goodunderstanding of things like
income statements, balancesheets?
Why do they need to know aboutreturn on assets, sales mix and
other financial metrics likethat?
Dan Larlee (17:37):
Well, when you become a manager, you have to
start taking a look at thefinancials and how you're
affecting them, because whileyou may not be either in the
accounting department or one ofthe leaders like a branch
manager, but you're stillresponsible for that.
You still need to have thoseanswers when the question is
being asked of you, because youdirectly involve the outcome on
a day-to-day basis.
So when you're asked why salesare down and inventory is up,
(18:02):
you need to have an answer forthat.
If there's a specific marketingprogram or a seasonal program
that you're putting in place andyou brought in extra inventory
to accommodate for thisseasonality, you need to be able
to explain how that's going toaffect, how much interest and
flooring rate that's going totake on for the branch, how much
extra income you're putting outinto that asset and what your
plan is in order to get thatproper ROI based on what that
(18:25):
marketing initiative is.
So all of these things comeinto effect and you really need
to know the numbers and how itaffects the bottom line each and
every month.
So all of those things play apart in it.
Jamie Irvine (18:37):
One thing I've seen a lot is the frontline
employees don't seem to have agood grasp on the why behind
certain strategic objectives,and so I think, if you're in
that middle management position,like parts managers and branch
managers often are having thatability to say, look, we have to
make these decisions to beconsistent with the overall
(18:59):
strategic initiatives laid outby our leadership this year, and
just having that understandingit helps you to communicate to
(19:22):
your frontline people why youneed them to do certain things
at certain times, why they ofmake sure that your management
decisions and your frontlineemployees who report to you are
able to do things that areconsistent with the overall
strategic objectives.
I'm sure you've encounteredthat yourself.
Dan Larlee (19:39):
Yes, absolutely.
I've had lots of thoseexperiences myself where we've
had to be able to communicateproperly to our teams what's
being asked of us.
So all of branch managers andassistant managers, parts
managers everybody has their ownmetrics, has their own KPIs
that they need to be able to hitevery single month, every
single quarter and year.
So we need to be able tocommunicate that to our teams
(20:00):
properly.
But we also have to get theirbuy-in of it, so we have to be
able to explain it to them.
We have to be able tounderstand what those metrics
are through the financials.
So if you don't understand it,how are you properly going to
communicate that to your team?
So that's a big thing of whythis base knowledge is very
important.
Jamie Irvine (20:17):
Yeah, 100%, 100%.
So, when it comes to inventorymanagement, what are some of the
hurdles that parts managers areexperiencing today that make it
particularly difficult to keeptheir inventory in line with
strategic objectives?
Dan Larlee (20:30):
So I mean, we don't necessarily like to keep talking
about the pandemic, but it didkind of have a cascading effect
a couple of years ago.
When it came to lead times itabsolutely decimated the market.
So we're still recovering incertain different areas for long
lead times for parts, when itcomes to bringing stuff in
overseas, so when it comes tofreight and couriers.
(20:51):
So we're still trying to take alook at this in a lot of
different facets.
So we have to look at properbulk purchasing from our
different vendors and suppliersso that we can leverage the best
costs that we can.
Oftentimes, you know you'retaking into account for
discounts and other things thatwe can get, whether it's free
freight.
But we have to take a look athow much inventory we can handle
(21:13):
if we're doing these largerorders.
So we have to look at fillrates, we have to look at lead
times, we have to look atseasonality when things can come
in and how long it's going totake for them to come in.
And then we have to look at ourcustomer base and what their
needs are.
So there's a lot of individualcomponents that go into it to
have the proper mix of inventoryin place, and that's just
(21:33):
scratching the surface of whatwe have to do when it comes to
larger warehouses, largerdepartments, not just an
individual store.
Jamie Irvine (21:41):
Yeah, I agree 100% .
And not only are we stilldealing with the hangover, if
you will, or the after effectsof the pandemic, but we also
have these geopolitical thingsthat are happening that are
causing policymakers in theUnited States to make
significant changes to thingslike tariffs that are going to
have an adverse effect onpricing.
(22:03):
So we've had the pandemic andthe supply chain collapse,
followed by inflation, and nowwe've got these policies that
are being influenced bygeopolitical moves by different
countries that are reallyradically changing the landscape
of your inventory costs and youcan quite easily get stuck with
a container load of product atthe wrong price, which is
(22:25):
devastating to your numbers.
Dan Larlee (22:27):
It really is, absolutely.
There's a lot of times wherewe're quoted a certain price,
but based on lead times, itdoesn't come in for six or eight
months and then all of a suddenyou're being charged what that
today's rate is not where youwere quoted back then.
That, along with extra freightcosts, fuel surcharges, all
kinds of extra tariffs, that,along with extra freight costs,
(22:49):
fuel surcharges, all kinds ofextra tariffs, depending on
which country you're bringing itin from, it all really is
affecting our bottom lines,especially when it comes to
inventory management.
Jamie Irvine (22:54):
It's now time for us to talk about a special offer
for our listeners.
So, dan, when we started thepodcast, we always wanted to
provide that educational contentand have subject matter experts
like yourself on the show.
But now that we are operatingthe Heavy-Duty Consulting
Corporation, we have started todevelop very specific training
(23:18):
programs that take it to a wholeother level, and we are so
excited to announce that we havedeveloped a parts management
training program incollaboration with none other
than yourself, dan, and we arevery excited to offer our
listeners an early bird special.
So the first 10 companies thatsign up to this training program
(23:39):
are going to receive a 20%discount over the regular price.
Pricing is based on the numberof employees you enroll.
So if you want to talk to usabout that, I want you to head
over to heavydutypartsreportcomforward slash PMT.
Now, pmt stands for partsmanagement training.
That's heavydutypartsreportcomslash PMT.
(24:02):
You're going to be able to booka meeting with with myself, and
we will talk through thedetails and get you your quote
and get you that 20 percentdiscount.
Now this is a 13 week trainingprogram where I'm going to meet
with you once a week and I'mgoing to provide you with one
hour of training and coaching toyour parts managers.
We're also going to offer youunlimited email support during
(24:25):
the duration of the course andyour parts managers.
We're also going to offer youunlimited email support during
the duration of the course, andyour parts managers are going to
receive weekly assignments toensure that they're grasping the
concepts and to give them anopportunity to put what they're
learning into action right away,so you can start getting a
positive return on investmentfor investing in this training
program.
I also would like to just kindof let people know that Dan's a
(24:49):
subject matter expert.
He contributed to this programand without him we wouldn't have
been able to really build it,and I have a funny feeling he
might be available from time totime to help parts managers, but
you're going to have to sign upto find out.
So, again, head over toheavydutypartsreportcom slash
PMT.
That stands for partsmanagement training.
Heavydutypartsreportcom slashPMT.
(25:11):
Links are in the show notes.
So, dan, that's an excitingannouncement, and thank you so
much for your participation, notonly in our conversation today,
but also in the development ofour parts management course.
We would not have been able todo it without your support, dan.
I'd like the listeners to havean opportunity to get to know
you a little better and reallyI'd like an opportunity to share
(25:35):
a little more about yourpersonal story how you got into
the industry, what was yourpathway to being in a director
role?
Dan Larlee (25:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
We can break it down a littlebit, because when I was younger
since you brought up the factthat I'm your brother I had
Uh-oh, the truth is going tocome out.
Yeah, I had a fun introductioninto heavy duty because it was
summertime.
I'd come to visit you and you'dput me to work.
Right, we were relining brakeshoes at the time.
We're rebuilding air valves and, uh, there's even some fun when
(26:08):
I was making too much noise andyou put me outside in the rain
oh, you always bring that up Ialso made you use an outdoor
sandblaster, which was uh yeah,that was, that was fun yeah, it
was, but it was fun, you knowwhat, dan?
Jamie Irvine (26:22):
Dan, listen, when I started at Contech, they put
me on a sandblaster for what wasat least three days, just to
see if they could break me.
So you know, I had to pass onthe introduction to heavy duty.
The same way I learned.
How else was I going to do it?
And you were my brother.
I had to do it.
Dan Larlee (26:39):
Yeah To a teenager outside in the rain that was
great.
Jamie Irvine (26:42):
Yeah, yeah, the rain, that was great.
Yeah, yeah, you still haven'tlet it go.
Dan Larlee (26:45):
No, but no, it was good because it honestly did
give me an introduction into theheavy duty trucking industry
and something that I'veappreciated and something that
stuck with me obviouslythroughout my entire career.
It gave me that kind of firsttaste of it and I did actually
enjoy it.
So when I turned 18, you know,I started in the industry myself
.
I started doing outside.
I did that for a few years andI transitioned inside.
(27:06):
So I was an inside sales orparts technician and then I
became an assistant branchmanager I was actually the
youngest in the company for allof Canada and then I was able to
move into a branch manager roleand I was a branch manager by
the time I was 30 as well.
So I've had a lot of ambition.
I've had a lot of kind ofrunning through the ropes and
doing all the different roleswhen it comes to warehouse parts
(27:28):
sales management, and nowthat's led me to my position
where I'm a director of parts onour way up through our career
in heavy duty, we also benefitedfrom mentoring from certain
people.
Jamie Irvine (27:47):
So, dan and I, we benefited from some of the same
mentors.
I'll throw out a few names AlanFelling, general manager of
contact products.
I think about Grant Taylor,director of sales at Traction
Heavy Duty.
We both reported to him at onetime.
Ron Kane he was an operationsmanager, although I worked for
him at a later date at adifferent company.
(28:07):
We both benefited, and evenyour brief time visiting me
where I live now, when I workedat Ardor Truck, you got to meet
Hank Fisher with like 50 yearsof parts experience and I know
yourself you also had somementors that helped you directly
and specifically, kind ofstepped up at just the right
time to help you move throughyour career.
(28:29):
How important was it to havethose mentors and you know, do
you think that's one of thereasons that you were able to
achieve so much at such a youngage?
Dan Larlee (28:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's very important to havethose mentors because you think
about things and you get theirknowledge in a completely
different perspective.
You get to have their years ofindustry experience passed down
to you in a few short sentences.
There's some things where I hadone of my mentors just sit me
(28:59):
down and say hey, listen, as amanager you have to understand
people's limitations and then beable to work around them and
with them, because a lot ofpeople can't do what you can do.
So that was one of the veryfirst things that I learned as
an assistant manager and itstuck with me all these years
because he was absolutely rightJust because I could do
something quicker or faster thanmost people doesn't mean I can
(29:20):
hold everyone else to the samestandard and vice versa when it
comes to a lot of differentthings.
Hold everyone else to the samestandard and vice versa when it
comes to a lot of differentthings, right.
So we have to look at it and wehave to take all of those
experiences from all of thosedifferent mentors and it's
really helped kind of shape theperson you are, because it
carries with you and then youall of a sudden end up teaching
that to those people who areinexperienced and who you're
(29:41):
trying to help.
Mentor and coach now.
Jamie Irvine (29:43):
Let me ask you something.
I know.
I know personally some of thechallenges you've had.
I think I think you know youmight not want to admit it, but
I've probably been a mentor toyou as well over the years.
I know there was many timeswhen we were both selling parts
at the same time.
We had a lot of windshield time.
That was awesome because we gotto talk all the time and we got
to kind of riff on each otherand bounce different things we
(30:04):
were running into off each other, and I know that was a big help
to me as well as I'm sure itwas to you.
Now I'm specifically thinkingof a time in your management
career when you had a lot ofopposition internally.
How did you overcome thosechallenges?
What did you learn from thattime in your management career
and how would you do thingsdifferently today, now that you
(30:25):
have that knowledge?
Dan Larlee (30:26):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I mean there's a lot of thingsthat you might be told and
there's a lot of things thatsomeone might try to teach you
or show you, but a lot of thingsthat you just have to
experience for yourself and kindof work through.
So I had some hurdles toovercome because there was a lot
of people that weren'tnecessarily cooperative or that
didn't like the fact that I waskind of a young manager trying
(30:48):
to tell them what to do.
So you have a lot of that kindof change management that takes
into effect and people you knowfor better or worse are a little
stubborn and don't necessarilywant to change or listen to
somebody younger than them.
But that is definitely all partand parcel when it comes to
management.
You have to take those thingsinto account.
But there's a lot of times thatsomebody can try to teach you
that.
But you have to live throughthose experiences in order to be
(31:10):
able to come out on top.
Jamie Irvine (31:12):
So how are you doing things differently as a
parts director now that you'vegone through those types of
experiences?
Because now you're not justresponsible for change
management at one branch, youare responsible for the entire
department, which, in yourparticular company, spans many
branches across Western Canada.
So how did you change yourapproach when you got this job?
Dan Larlee (31:34):
Yeah.
So at first you always kind oflook at what's wrong and how
you're going to fix thesituation, but it's not always
necessarily that black or white.
So now, when I look at it, it'shuman nature, it's people, it's
how you're going to affect thatchange.
But be able to delegate it andhave those people affect the
(31:56):
change, because it's somethingthat you can't do just yourself.
It's something that you have tobe able to like we were talking
about before get the most outof your people so that they have
the buy-in and they're willingand wanting to have that change
themselves.
So, like I said, it'sdefinitely more focused and what
I would teach people now andwhat I go through now is
definitely on those peopleskills, that human nature side.
Jamie Irvine (32:18):
Yeah, how important was patience for you
to learn and develop as youbecame you know.
Progressively you got moreresponsibility assistant manager
, branch manager, now partsdirector.
Dan Larlee (32:31):
Oh, patience is definitely key.
One of the things that Ilearned early on as well was if
there's ever a situation thatarises where you know emotions
run hot, then you have to stop.
Take a minute really plays acritical role.
(32:57):
You have to understand thesituation, but there's times
when emotions run hot.
You have a lot of differentpersonalities and flare-ups, but
you can't act at the time.
So intelligence in theworkplace is actually inverse to
emotion.
So when your emotions areflaring up, then intelligence is
going down.
So you have to take that timeto cool off so that you can have
the proper patience answerthings properly, you can respond
(33:18):
in a better way, because that'sthe last thing you want to do
is kind of jump the gun andanswer in an emotional state.
Jamie Irvine (33:25):
Yep, yep.
Every time that I've sent anemail too quickly, I've always
regretted it, so thank you foryour candid and open and honest
answers on that.
I really appreciate it.
We've talked about a lot ofdifferent things today, dan.
If there's one thing that youwant our listeners to really
remember from our conversationtoday, what's that one thing.
Dan Larlee (33:44):
So definitely that.
One thing is there's alwaysmore to every situation.
There's always things that wecan be learning, we can be
improving on and we can be doingbetter in our day-to-day
operations.
Whether it's understandingthose financials, those KPIs and
those metrics, whether it'sunderstanding people and human
nature, there's always somethingto be learned and there's
always more growth to be had.
Jamie Irvine (34:06):
Yeah, I think that's so important.
A little bit of humility goes along way to help you be
successful.
And hey, I've been in this for26 years.
I run a company that consultswith other companies.
I have people reporting to meand I'm learning something new
every single day.
It's one of the things,actually, that I like the most
(34:27):
about the heavy-duty partsindustry.
Regardless of whether I was inthe shop, on the floor, in the
front lines, all the way up tobeing in an executive leadership
position, I feel like everysingle day I've learned
something new and I really,really appreciate that about the
industry.
You've been listening to theHeavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andwe've been speaking with Dan
(34:47):
Larley Parts Director of FalconEquipment To learn more about
their company.
I want you to go tofalconequipcom.
Links to their website is alsoin the show notes.
They have a really fascinatingcompany.
They do truck cranes and theydo a lot of interesting things
in the heavy duty space.
In addition to that, don'tforget that this parts
(35:09):
management training program isavailable now and if you want to
take advantage of that earlybird special, you have to do so
and be one of the first 10companies to take advantage of
that early bird special.
You have to do so and be theone of the first 10 companies to
take advantage of that, sodon't delay.
Heavy duty parts reportcomslash PMT.
Dan, thank you so much forhelping me build the course and
thank you so much for being ontoday's episode.
Dan Larlee (35:30):
Yeah, thanks, Jamie.
It was great being here andgreat spending some more time
with you and building thiscourse.
I think it's going to be great.
I think you guys are going toreally love it.
Jamie Irvine (35:37):
Well, it was really great to have Dan finally
on the podcast and, like I said, he was an instrumental part of
building this parts managementcourse.
I don't think we could havedone it without his expertise,
so we are really, really excitedto bring this to you.
It's now time for our segmentthat's not Heavy Duty.
In this segment of that's NotHeavy Duty, I want to talk about
(36:04):
something that unfortunatelyhappens all too often.
Let me lay out the situation.
You have an amazing partsperson.
They have come up through theranks.
They started as a deliverydriver, they became a junior
counter person, then a juniorcounterperson, then a senior
counterperson, and they arecrushing it Over time.
You have people leave thecompany, people retire and a
management position opens up.
(36:25):
You look around and you say,who should I promote into that
position?
And you pick your star partsperson or maybe your parts
person with the longest runningtenure.
That intuitively seems like theright thing to do, but I'm
telling you that can't be theheavy duty way any longer,
because it oftentimes leads to amajor problem.
(36:45):
Why is that?
Well, as we talked about in theinterview, doing the job of
being a counter person is verydifferent than managing a parts
department or even a branch,which is even a bigger job.
These are completely differentjobs and they take a different
skill set to be truly successful.
When you're a counter person,you have people coming to you.
(37:07):
They're phoning you for help.
They're coming to your counter.
They're asking for help.
There is not as much of a needto be highly assertive in that
role.
You have to be social, but youdon't have to be that assertive
because everybody's coming toyou.
You do need to bedetail-oriented and be able to
process some detailed stuff andsome complex things like part
(37:29):
schematics and things like that,and you have to be able to
understand how to identify parts.
True, in the parts position youalso have to be extremely high
paced right, because you've gotone phone on hold, the other
phone is ringing, you've gotmaybe your cell phone in your
hand, you're texting, you'reresponding to email and you have
three people at the counter.
Plus you have delivery driversand warehouse people and other
(37:52):
parts people.
It's a really dynamic job.
Now in the management part ofthe business, it also has some
of those characteristics, butthey're in a different
configuration.
You need to be more assertive.
You need to be social, but notas social because you actually
need to be more assertive, to beable to push initiatives
forward, and that forces yoursociability down a little bit.
(38:12):
You have to be fast-paced aswell, and you have to be detail
oriented, but in a different way.
So just because you're good atbeing a parts person doesn't
mean you're going to be good atmanaging parts people and
running a parts department, andso if you want to do this the
heavy-duty way, you've got toidentify the person who has the
right traits, combination andpersonality.
(38:36):
They have the right educationexperience to step into that
management role, and it'sunlikely that it's going to be
your star parts person.
It's probably going to be oneof your other parts people that
are pretty good at their job,but maybe they're not excelling
the way that your star partsperson does.
Well, that's possibly becausethey don't have the same
personality type, and so theyactually have more of what it
(39:02):
takes to manage than to do, andso you've got to be able to
identify that in a reliable way.
We help people with that, so ifyou're interested in learning
more, reach out to us.
Thank you so much for listeningto this edition of that's Not
Heavy Duty and our episode todayabout parts management.
If you want to take advantageof that early bird discount, you
have to be one of the first 10companies to sign up to the
program.
You're going to get a 20%discount.
Head over toheavydutypartsreportcom slash
(39:25):
PMT that'sheavydutypartsreportcom slash
PMT PMT stands for partsmanagement training and have a
meeting with us.
But you got to hurry up becauseonly the first 10 will qualify
for that discount.
Thank you so much for listeningto the entire episode today.
I really appreciate it.
If you don't want to miss outon future content that we make,
(39:45):
go to our website.
Sign up to our weekly email.
We never spam you, just sendone email a week with our new
content.
You'll listen on your podcastplayer of choice.
Make sure that you hit thatfollow button for free.
It gives you the option.
Give us a five-star rating andreview and, lastly, if you are
watching the video version onYouTube, make sure you hit the
subscribe button and hit thatbell notification so you never
(40:06):
miss out.
Thank you for listening and, asalways, I want to encourage you
to be heavy duty.
You're listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andthis is the place where we have
conversations that empowerheavy-duty people.
Welcome to the Heavy-Duty PartsReport.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin.
In this episode, we're going totalk about what it takes to be
a successful parts manager, whatsome of the common areas parts
(00:23):
managers struggle with and whatwe can do about it, and why
being a great parts techniciandoes not automatically make you
a great parts manager.
Let's get into it Now.
We've been working at theHeavy-Duty Consulting
Corporation to create the onlybusiness development system of
its kind that is exclusivelydedicated to the heavy-duty
parts and service industry, andreally what we're trying to do
(00:44):
is help empower heavy-duty partsand service industry, and
really what we're trying to dois help empower heavy-duty
people and the companies theywork for to thrive.
Now, education is a big part ofthis initiative and the podcast
really the Heavy-Duty PartsReport was the first step in
putting this initiative together.
We produce these episodes.
We have created a platform forindustry experts and heavy-duty
(01:09):
parts people to really sharetheir expertise with the entire
industry, so that part we'vebeen doing for a long time.
Our consulting business camenext and we've been consulting
with dozens of heavy-dutycompanies.
We've developed an entireconsulting program that can take
you from starting a businessfrom scratch all the way to
selling the business rightthrough the natural arc of a
(01:31):
business starting it, growing it, scaling it and selling it.
And we've developed a specificprogram that is exclusively
dedicated to heavy-duty partsand service companies and, like
I said, we've worked with dozensof companies in that capacity.
Now one of the things that I'vebeen working on with some
clients to develop some trainingprograms that are on their
(01:51):
learning management systems andalso a training program that we
would be able to then bring toour clients, and we've been
working on several differentapproaches to this for a few
years and we decided recentlythat we were going to take all
of this work that we've done andwe're going to put it into a
unique format that really, Ithink, is going to make us stand
(02:13):
out as different.
So over time, we've developedan executive leadership training
program, we developed anoutside sales training program,
we developed a program forhiring people, for recruitment
and retaining people, and wereally looked at and said you
know, what's needed now is aparts management program, and so
we have now developed that aswell.
(02:35):
So I'm really excited to talkto you about these training
programs that are available and,more specifically, about this
parts management trainingprogram.
What makes our training programsunique?
Well, unlike some onlinetraining programs that are kind
of a self-paced learning andpeople can do it on demand,
there's definitely a time andplace for that.
(02:55):
Our programs are a littledifferent, though, because what
we observed is that a lot oftimes, people don't just need
knowledge, they need coaching,they need help to put the
knowledge into some format wherethey can actually go and try it
.
Then they can ask questions,they can practice, they can get
better, and then they canimplement what they're learning
(03:16):
immediately to try to improvetheir overall performance.
And so that is exactly how wehave structured our training
programs.
Instead of an online program,we are going to still do it
remotely through video calls,but we are going to meet with
your people for 13 weeks in arow, an entire quarter.
Once a week, they're going tospend an hour with our
(03:38):
instructor.
They're going to receivetraining and then, in addition
to that training, they're goingto be given assignments so that
they can put into practice whatthey're learning immediately,
try it out.
They run into any problems.
There's a coaching component inthat weekly meeting and in
addition to that, we offerunlimited support for all of the
attendees via email.
(03:59):
So this is a very in-depth,comprehensive training program
and we're so excited to announcetoday that the parts management
course is now available inaddition to those other programs
.
I talked about Pricing rangesdepending on how many people you
have enrolled in the program,but if you want to get access to
(04:20):
an early bird discount, listento the entire interview, because
I'm very excited to offer avery special offer in today's
program.
It's time to hear from oursponsors and after our break to
hear from our sponsors, we'regoing to have our interview with
one of the individuals that wasinstrumental in the development
of our parts management course.
We'll be right back.
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(06:05):
We're back from the break.
Before the break, I was talkingto you about the dedication
that we've had at our company totry to build this business
development system exclusivelyfor heavy-duty parts people, why
training and education is sucha big component of that, and we
announced our new partsmanagement course.
We could not have built thiscourse without the help of our
(06:25):
guest today that we are going tointerview, so I'm really
looking forward to sharing myconversation with Dan Larley.
My guest today is Dan Larley,parts director at Falcon
Equipment.
Now Dan has worked his entire20 plus year career in heavy
duty parts.
He has worked in the warehouse,he's worked on the parts
counter, he's been an assistantmanager, a branch manager and
(06:48):
now a parts director.
His management experience isextensive and we are very happy
to have him on the podcast.
Dan Larlee (07:00):
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
So glad to have you here.
Hey.
Jamie, Thanks for having me.
Jamie Irvine (07:03):
It's good to see you.
Good to see you as well.
Now, for some of you, youalready know this, but for most
they won't know this.
Dan and I are actually brothersand it only took 330 plus
episodes to get you on thepodcast.
Yeah, thanks for that.
Yeah, you should have been likeepisode one, right?
Dan Larlee (07:19):
You'd think so, but no favoritism, right.
Jamie Irvine (07:22):
Yeah, that's right .
We had to show no favoritism,exactly, so I'm really happy to
have you here today.
We're talking about partsmanagement, and I wanted to
start our conversation off todaytalking about parts management,
specifically the key areas thatare critical to success in that
role.
So let's kick it off with this,dan.
(07:42):
How important is it for a partsmanager to have parts knowledge
?
Sounds like a pretty obviousquestion, but I think that's
where we have to start.
Dan Larlee (07:50):
Yeah, I mean, of course it's a.
It's an obvious question,obvious answer.
Because you have to have thattechnical knowledge.
You need to know what you'retalking about.
You need to have the confidenceto portray that you know what
you're talking about to yourcustomer, but also to your staff
, so that you can train andcoach and mentor but you can
also fulfill the customer'sneeds.
Jamie Irvine (08:09):
Right.
So when you have that base ofknowledge in the parts
department, that gives you, Iguess, one of the foundational
pieces to be a good partsmanager.
Now, customer satisfaction issomething that is an important
part of being a counter person.
When you're working on thecounter, you know your job is to
take care of the customer,whether that's at the counter in
(08:32):
the store they phoned in anorder, or maybe you're just
doing email or text.
At any rate, if you're acounter person, you're
responsible for the people whoyou serve directly.
How is it different when youbecome the parts manager?
So customer satisfaction isvery important and it depends on
the interaction who you servedirectly.
How is it different when youbecome the parts manager?
Dan Larlee (08:45):
So customer satisfaction is very important
and it depends on theinteraction that you're having.
So when we're talking aboutthat individual counterperson,
they're responsible for thatone-on-one conversation with the
customer.
They're looking at thatcustomer satisfaction to the
person they're talking to or tothe person that they have
directly in front of them.
But when you're a parts managernow, you're involved in
(09:06):
customer satisfaction for yourentire department and you have
to look at more things as anoverall scope.
Jamie Irvine (09:12):
Yeah, and you're not just responsible for
yourself.
So, like when you're on thecounter, it's just one-on-one
you.
You're responsible for youractions, You're responsible for
helping that one customer infront of you.
You become a parts manager andall of a sudden it's less about
what you do as an individualperson and now it becomes about
what your team is doing andyou're also responsible for
customer satisfaction at abusiness level, which really
(09:35):
does change the game.
But it doesn't just stop there.
Speaking of being responsiblefor a team, how important is it
for the parts manager to be ableto build a team?
You know people in organization.
How is that different from theregular counter position that
maybe that person came from?
Dan Larlee (09:52):
So, in order to build a team, you've got to look
at what fits with the entiredepartment.
You need to know the differentpersonalities that you're
working with and how they'regoing to work together or not
work together, right.
So we have to take a look atpersonality profiles.
We have to take a look at theirtraits.
We also need to know how to getthe best out of our people.
So everyone has areas thatthey're really great at.
(10:13):
Some have areas where they needa little bit of work, a little
bit of fine tuning, a little bitof coaching.
So we need to be able toidentify those areas and know
where and how we can build uponthem to get the most out of our
people.
Jamie Irvine (10:26):
Why is financials an important thing for a parts
manager to understand and reallybe able to master in order to
be successful in their position?
Dan Larlee (10:34):
Yeah.
So if we keep going back andforth with the example we're
using, as a, just a counterperson, you're involved in that
interaction.
You obviously want to make thesale.
You want to try to make as muchmoney as possible, but you want
to make the sale, so you'rewilling to take a little bit of
an eroded margin or maybe cut alittle bit off the top in order
to get that sale, but you'rehappy about that because you
just made that sale.
But now, as a parts manager, nowwe're looking at the whole
(10:56):
department.
Now, all of a sudden, we needto understand financials.
We need to understand how, bytaking a little bit of a margin
cut, you're affecting the entirebranch in the operation.
You need to understand assetsand how they play a part.
You need to understand all yourfixed costs, when it comes to
even things like rent andutilities and how it's all
playing a part, even when itcomes down to delivery vehicles,
(11:20):
gas, all the little tiny coststhat come into running
department.
All of these things play a hugeand crucial role and, as a
manager, you need to be able toread financials and understand
how you're affecting this.
Jamie Irvine (11:32):
Yeah, and being able to understand the
implications of the choices yourpeople are making on a
day-to-day basis.
Like you said, it's usually athousand little decisions that
add up to something that couldbe really good or not so good at
all.
In addition to that, I know asa parts person, at least once a
year you've got to do inventory.
I know as an outside sales guy.
I used to hate that, but stillthey'd bring me in and I had to
(11:54):
do it.
Inventory management is a wholedifferent kind of animal when
you are the manager.
So talk to me a little bitabout inventory management.
Dan Larlee (12:03):
Yeah, again, inventory management is a beast.
When you're just a counter guy,you're focused on what you have
on hand that you can sell ordeliver to a customer.
But when you're the partsmanager, now all of a sudden you
have things like a balancesheet where inventory is part of
an asset, asset is doing foryou and how you're making money
(12:28):
off of it.
Now you need to think aboutthings like fill rates, lost
sale ratios.
You need to understand whereyou're putting inventory in the
store to have it flow properly.
You need to think about thingslike loss prevention.
There's all kinds of avenueswhen it comes to inventory
management that you need to beaware of, and we're just kind of
scratching the surface here.
There's a lot more that we cantalk about.
Jamie Irvine (12:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
We're going to talk a littlebit more about how we are
preparing something very specialfor our audience today.
In addition to the wholeconcept of like a person with
adequate parts knowledge wetalked about that earlier in our
conversation with that that'sreally one of the foundational
pieces to being successful.
If we're talking about somebodylike yourself with 20 plus
years experience in parts, howis acquiring parts knowledge
(13:14):
different today than it wasperhaps in the past?
Why is it maybe more difficultdespite there being more
technology?
Dan Larlee (13:22):
Yeah, so there's definitely more technology that
helps.
I mean, google's a wonderfulthing.
I use it every single day.
When I first started out itwasn't necessarily that easy.
But also, when I first startedout, we had a lot of paper
catalogs.
We were able to have a lot ofmentoring and coaching by older
and professional parts peoplewho have been in the business
for 30, 40 years.
(13:44):
We don't often see that anymore.
It's kind of a dying trend.
40 years we don't often seethat anymore.
It's kind of a dying trend.
So we've lost a lot of industryknowledge with a lot of the
people that have retired overthe last five to 10 years, and
we don't see a lot of that gapbeing filled in the new parts
people of today.
So sure, we have technology, wehave great things like serial
numbers, we can go online, wecan check different parts, but
(14:05):
there's still a lot of things,especially in the heavy duty
trucking industry, that we can'tcheck online, that you either
need to know or have a baseknowledge of, or at least know
where to go and find the answer,as opposed to just being able
to, you know, ask somebodythat's right next to you.
That we used to.
Jamie Irvine (14:22):
Yeah that.
That, unfortunately, has been atrend that has just gotten
worse every year in the last 20plus years.
So when you're a parts managernow, you've got this added
responsibility of being able tohelp your people with perhaps
less resources available to you.
Parts managers of the past, toyour point, there might be three
(14:42):
, four, five people on thecounter, all with 10, 20, 30, 40
years experience, and you mighthave only had one or two junior
people you were training.
Now it's flipped you might havea majority of junior people
with not a lot of experience andonly one or two really
knowledgeable people.
And guess what?
Those people are so busybecause the customers know
(15:04):
they're the only two on thecounter who actually know what
they're doing.
It must be an absolutenightmare for parts managers
training people right now.
Dan Larlee (15:11):
Yeah, you're right, because oftentimes the parts
manager is the one with that youknow, 20, 30 years of
experience.
So they are busy, they'refielding all the calls.
They have that loyal customerbase that's been following them
for years and only want to talkto them.
So they're still trying to talkto customers while at the same
time trying to train and mentorand coach their junior people so
that they can get to thatposition themselves.
Jamie Irvine (15:31):
You know, that means that there's going to be
an added load on parts managersin the modern age to have the
skills necessary to build a team.
This involves retaining goodpeople, but it also involves
recruiting.
Now, obviously, if you work fora larger organization, there
are some resources thereavailable to you.
But generally speaking, in youropinion, dan, do you think most
(15:58):
parts managers have theeducation, experience and skills
to both recruit and retain?
Dan Larlee (16:00):
a great team?
That's a great question and Iwould have to say the answer is
no.
If we take a look at it alittle bit, a lot of parts
managers yes, they havetechnical knowledge, yes,
they've been doing the job for avery long time and, yes, they
have the confidence to know whatthey're talking about.
But at the same time, do theynecessarily have the right
people skills to train, tomentor, to coach, to bring about
(16:23):
this new generation?
A lot of them don't.
A lot of them don't have theright people skills to hire, to
recruit, to train and to coach.
They need a lot of help in thatrespect themselves.
Yes, they have technicalknowledge, but again, it's the
people skills that they arelacking.
Jamie Irvine (16:40):
And even if they do have some of that core
ability, naturally maybe theyhaven't been trained on things
like psychometric assessments,how to use them.
I know a lot of companies usethem in the hiring process and
then nobody ever talks about itafterwards.
That happened to me a couple oftimes.
So even if there are some toolsin place, they aren't always
trained on how to use them themost effectively and, to your
(17:02):
point, they're so busy justtrying to keep their head above
water on a day-to-day basis thatthis can be a real uphill
battle for the modern partsmanager.
Going back to that thing wherewe were talking about things
like financials and inventory,can you go into greater depth?
Why would a parts manager whoisn't maybe the CEO, isn't part
(17:24):
of the financial department?
Why do they need a goodunderstanding of things like
income statements, balancesheets?
Why do they need to know aboutreturn on assets, sales mix and
other financial metrics likethat?
Dan Larlee (17:37):
Well, when you become a manager, you have to
start taking a look at thefinancials and how you're
affecting them, because whileyou may not be either in the
accounting department or one ofthe leaders like a branch
manager, but you're stillresponsible for that.
You still need to have thoseanswers when the question is
being asked of you, because youdirectly involve the outcome on
a day-to-day basis.
So when you're asked why salesare down and inventory is up,
(18:02):
you need to have an answer forthat.
If there's a specific marketingprogram or a seasonal program
that you're putting in place andyou brought in extra inventory
to accommodate for thisseasonality, you need to be able
to explain how that's going toaffect, how much interest and
flooring rate that's going totake on for the branch, how much
extra income you're putting outinto that asset and what your
plan is in order to get thatproper ROI based on what that
(18:25):
marketing initiative is.
So all of these things comeinto effect and you really need
to know the numbers and how itaffects the bottom line each and
every month.
So all of those things play apart in it.
Jamie Irvine (18:37):
One thing I've seen a lot is the frontline
employees don't seem to have agood grasp on the why behind
certain strategic objectives,and so I think, if you're in
that middle management position,like parts managers and branch
managers often are having thatability to say, look, we have to
make these decisions to beconsistent with the overall
(18:59):
strategic initiatives laid outby our leadership this year, and
just having that understandingit helps you to communicate to
(19:22):
your frontline people why youneed them to do certain things
at certain times, why they ofmake sure that your management
decisions and your frontlineemployees who report to you are
able to do things that areconsistent with the overall
strategic objectives.
I'm sure you've encounteredthat yourself.
Dan Larlee (19:39):
Yes, absolutely.
I've had lots of thoseexperiences myself where we've
had to be able to communicateproperly to our teams what's
being asked of us.
So all of branch managers andassistant managers, parts
managers everybody has their ownmetrics, has their own KPIs
that they need to be able to hitevery single month, every
single quarter and year.
So we need to be able tocommunicate that to our teams
(20:00):
properly.
But we also have to get theirbuy-in of it, so we have to be
able to explain it to them.
We have to be able tounderstand what those metrics
are through the financials.
So if you don't understand it,how are you properly going to
communicate that to your team?
So that's a big thing of whythis base knowledge is very
important.
Jamie Irvine (20:17):
Yeah, 100%, 100%.
So, when it comes to inventorymanagement, what are some of the
hurdles that parts managers areexperiencing today that make it
particularly difficult to keeptheir inventory in line with
strategic objectives?
Dan Larlee (20:30):
So I mean, we don't necessarily like to keep talking
about the pandemic, but it didkind of have a cascading effect
a couple of years ago.
When it came to lead times itabsolutely decimated the market.
So we're still recovering incertain different areas for long
lead times for parts, when itcomes to bringing stuff in
overseas, so when it comes tofreight and couriers.
(20:51):
So we're still trying to take alook at this in a lot of
different facets.
So we have to look at properbulk purchasing from our
different vendors and suppliersso that we can leverage the best
costs that we can.
Oftentimes, you know you'retaking into account for
discounts and other things thatwe can get, whether it's free
freight.
But we have to take a look athow much inventory we can handle
(21:13):
if we're doing these largerorders.
So we have to look at fillrates, we have to look at lead
times, we have to look atseasonality when things can come
in and how long it's going totake for them to come in.
And then we have to look at ourcustomer base and what their
needs are.
So there's a lot of individualcomponents that go into it to
have the proper mix of inventoryin place, and that's just
(21:33):
scratching the surface of whatwe have to do when it comes to
larger warehouses, largerdepartments, not just an
individual store.
Jamie Irvine (21:41):
Yeah, I agree 100% .
And not only are we stilldealing with the hangover, if
you will, or the after effectsof the pandemic, but we also
have these geopolitical thingsthat are happening that are
causing policymakers in theUnited States to make
significant changes to thingslike tariffs that are going to
have an adverse effect onpricing.
(22:03):
So we've had the pandemic andthe supply chain collapse,
followed by inflation, and nowwe've got these policies that
are being influenced bygeopolitical moves by different
countries that are reallyradically changing the landscape
of your inventory costs and youcan quite easily get stuck with
a container load of product atthe wrong price, which is
(22:25):
devastating to your numbers.
Dan Larlee (22:27):
It really is, absolutely.
There's a lot of times wherewe're quoted a certain price,
but based on lead times, itdoesn't come in for six or eight
months and then all of a suddenyou're being charged what that
today's rate is not where youwere quoted back then.
That, along with extra freightcosts, fuel surcharges, all
kinds of extra tariffs, that,along with extra freight costs,
(22:49):
fuel surcharges, all kinds ofextra tariffs, depending on
which country you're bringing itin from, it all really is
affecting our bottom lines,especially when it comes to
inventory management.
Jamie Irvine (22:54):
It's now time for us to talk about a special offer
for our listeners.
So, dan, when we started thepodcast, we always wanted to
provide that educational contentand have subject matter experts
like yourself on the show.
But now that we are operatingthe Heavy-Duty Consulting
Corporation, we have started todevelop very specific training
(23:18):
programs that take it to a wholeother level, and we are so
excited to announce that we havedeveloped a parts management
training program incollaboration with none other
than yourself, dan, and we arevery excited to offer our
listeners an early bird special.
So the first 10 companies thatsign up to this training program
(23:39):
are going to receive a 20%discount over the regular price.
Pricing is based on the numberof employees you enroll.
So if you want to talk to usabout that, I want you to head
over to heavydutypartsreportcomforward slash PMT.
Now, pmt stands for partsmanagement training.
That's heavydutypartsreportcomslash PMT.
(24:02):
You're going to be able to booka meeting with with myself, and
we will talk through thedetails and get you your quote
and get you that 20 percentdiscount.
Now this is a 13 week trainingprogram where I'm going to meet
with you once a week and I'mgoing to provide you with one
hour of training and coaching toyour parts managers.
We're also going to offer youunlimited email support during
(24:25):
the duration of the course andyour parts managers.
We're also going to offer youunlimited email support during
the duration of the course, andyour parts managers are going to
receive weekly assignments toensure that they're grasping the
concepts and to give them anopportunity to put what they're
learning into action right away,so you can start getting a
positive return on investmentfor investing in this training
program.
I also would like to just kindof let people know that Dan's a
(24:49):
subject matter expert.
He contributed to this programand without him we wouldn't have
been able to really build it,and I have a funny feeling he
might be available from time totime to help parts managers, but
you're going to have to sign upto find out.
So, again, head over toheavydutypartsreportcom slash
PMT.
That stands for partsmanagement training.
Heavydutypartsreportcom slashPMT.
(25:11):
Links are in the show notes.
So, dan, that's an excitingannouncement, and thank you so
much for your participation, notonly in our conversation today,
but also in the development ofour parts management course.
We would not have been able todo it without your support, dan.
I'd like the listeners to havean opportunity to get to know
you a little better and reallyI'd like an opportunity to share
(25:35):
a little more about yourpersonal story how you got into
the industry, what was yourpathway to being in a director
role?
Dan Larlee (25:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
We can break it down a littlebit, because when I was younger
since you brought up the factthat I'm your brother I had
Uh-oh, the truth is going tocome out.
Yeah, I had a fun introductioninto heavy duty because it was
summertime.
I'd come to visit you and you'dput me to work.
Right, we were relining brakeshoes at the time.
We're rebuilding air valves and, uh, there's even some fun when
(26:08):
I was making too much noise andyou put me outside in the rain
oh, you always bring that up Ialso made you use an outdoor
sandblaster, which was uh yeah,that was, that was fun yeah, it
was, but it was fun, you knowwhat, dan?
Jamie Irvine (26:22):
Dan, listen, when I started at Contech, they put
me on a sandblaster for what wasat least three days, just to
see if they could break me.
So you know, I had to pass onthe introduction to heavy duty.
The same way I learned.
How else was I going to do it?
And you were my brother.
I had to do it.
Dan Larlee (26:39):
Yeah To a teenager outside in the rain that was
great.
Jamie Irvine (26:42):
Yeah, yeah, the rain, that was great.
Yeah, yeah, you still haven'tlet it go.
Dan Larlee (26:45):
No, but no, it was good because it honestly did
give me an introduction into theheavy duty trucking industry
and something that I'veappreciated and something that
stuck with me obviouslythroughout my entire career.
It gave me that kind of firsttaste of it and I did actually
enjoy it.
So when I turned 18, you know,I started in the industry myself
.
I started doing outside.
I did that for a few years andI transitioned inside.
(27:06):
So I was an inside sales orparts technician and then I
became an assistant branchmanager I was actually the
youngest in the company for allof Canada and then I was able to
move into a branch manager roleand I was a branch manager by
the time I was 30 as well.
So I've had a lot of ambition.
I've had a lot of kind ofrunning through the ropes and
doing all the different roleswhen it comes to warehouse parts
(27:28):
sales management, and nowthat's led me to my position
where I'm a director of parts onour way up through our career
in heavy duty, we also benefitedfrom mentoring from certain
people.
Jamie Irvine (27:47):
So, dan and I, we benefited from some of the same
mentors.
I'll throw out a few names AlanFelling, general manager of
contact products.
I think about Grant Taylor,director of sales at Traction
Heavy Duty.
We both reported to him at onetime.
Ron Kane he was an operationsmanager, although I worked for
him at a later date at adifferent company.
(28:07):
We both benefited, and evenyour brief time visiting me
where I live now, when I workedat Ardor Truck, you got to meet
Hank Fisher with like 50 yearsof parts experience and I know
yourself you also had somementors that helped you directly
and specifically, kind ofstepped up at just the right
time to help you move throughyour career.
(28:29):
How important was it to havethose mentors and you know, do
you think that's one of thereasons that you were able to
achieve so much at such a youngage?
Dan Larlee (28:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's very important to havethose mentors because you think
about things and you get theirknowledge in a completely
different perspective.
You get to have their years ofindustry experience passed down
to you in a few short sentences.
There's some things where I hadone of my mentors just sit me
(28:59):
down and say hey, listen, as amanager you have to understand
people's limitations and then beable to work around them and
with them, because a lot ofpeople can't do what you can do.
So that was one of the veryfirst things that I learned as
an assistant manager and itstuck with me all these years
because he was absolutely rightJust because I could do
something quicker or faster thanmost people doesn't mean I can
(29:20):
hold everyone else to the samestandard and vice versa when it
comes to a lot of differentthings.
Hold everyone else to the samestandard and vice versa when it
comes to a lot of differentthings, right.
So we have to look at it and wehave to take all of those
experiences from all of thosedifferent mentors and it's
really helped kind of shape theperson you are, because it
carries with you and then youall of a sudden end up teaching
that to those people who areinexperienced and who you're
(29:41):
trying to help.
Mentor and coach now.
Jamie Irvine (29:43):
Let me ask you something.
I know.
I know personally some of thechallenges you've had.
I think I think you know youmight not want to admit it, but
I've probably been a mentor toyou as well over the years.
I know there was many timeswhen we were both selling parts
at the same time.
We had a lot of windshield time.
That was awesome because we gotto talk all the time and we got
to kind of riff on each otherand bounce different things we
(30:04):
were running into off each other, and I know that was a big help
to me as well as I'm sure itwas to you.
Now I'm specifically thinkingof a time in your management
career when you had a lot ofopposition internally.
How did you overcome thosechallenges?
What did you learn from thattime in your management career
and how would you do thingsdifferently today, now that you
(30:25):
have that knowledge?
Dan Larlee (30:26):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I mean there's a lot of thingsthat you might be told and
there's a lot of things thatsomeone might try to teach you
or show you, but a lot of thingsthat you just have to
experience for yourself and kindof work through.
So I had some hurdles toovercome because there was a lot
of people that weren'tnecessarily cooperative or that
didn't like the fact that I waskind of a young manager trying
(30:48):
to tell them what to do.
So you have a lot of that kindof change management that takes
into effect and people you knowfor better or worse are a little
stubborn and don't necessarilywant to change or listen to
somebody younger than them.
But that is definitely all partand parcel when it comes to
management.
You have to take those thingsinto account.
But there's a lot of times thatsomebody can try to teach you
that.
But you have to live throughthose experiences in order to be
(31:10):
able to come out on top.
Jamie Irvine (31:12):
So how are you doing things differently as a
parts director now that you'vegone through those types of
experiences?
Because now you're not justresponsible for change
management at one branch, youare responsible for the entire
department, which, in yourparticular company, spans many
branches across Western Canada.
So how did you change yourapproach when you got this job?
Dan Larlee (31:34):
Yeah.
So at first you always kind oflook at what's wrong and how
you're going to fix thesituation, but it's not always
necessarily that black or white.
So now, when I look at it, it'shuman nature, it's people, it's
how you're going to affect thatchange.
But be able to delegate it andhave those people affect the
(31:56):
change, because it's somethingthat you can't do just yourself.
It's something that you have tobe able to like we were talking
about before get the most outof your people so that they have
the buy-in and they're willingand wanting to have that change
themselves.
So, like I said, it'sdefinitely more focused and what
I would teach people now andwhat I go through now is
definitely on those peopleskills, that human nature side.
Jamie Irvine (32:18):
Yeah, how important was patience for you
to learn and develop as youbecame you know.
Progressively you got moreresponsibility assistant manager
, branch manager, now partsdirector.
Dan Larlee (32:31):
Oh, patience is definitely key.
One of the things that Ilearned early on as well was if
there's ever a situation thatarises where you know emotions
run hot, then you have to stop.
Take a minute really plays acritical role.
(32:57):
You have to understand thesituation, but there's times
when emotions run hot.
You have a lot of differentpersonalities and flare-ups, but
you can't act at the time.
So intelligence in theworkplace is actually inverse to
emotion.
So when your emotions areflaring up, then intelligence is
going down.
So you have to take that timeto cool off so that you can have
the proper patience answerthings properly, you can respond
(33:18):
in a better way, because that'sthe last thing you want to do
is kind of jump the gun andanswer in an emotional state.
Jamie Irvine (33:25):
Yep, yep.
Every time that I've sent anemail too quickly, I've always
regretted it, so thank you foryour candid and open and honest
answers on that.
I really appreciate it.
We've talked about a lot ofdifferent things today, dan.
If there's one thing that youwant our listeners to really
remember from our conversationtoday, what's that one thing.
Dan Larlee (33:44):
So definitely that.
One thing is there's alwaysmore to every situation.
There's always things that wecan be learning, we can be
improving on and we can be doingbetter in our day-to-day
operations.
Whether it's understandingthose financials, those KPIs and
those metrics, whether it'sunderstanding people and human
nature, there's always somethingto be learned and there's
always more growth to be had.
Jamie Irvine (34:06):
Yeah, I think that's so important.
A little bit of humility goes along way to help you be
successful.
And hey, I've been in this for26 years.
I run a company that consultswith other companies.
I have people reporting to meand I'm learning something new
every single day.
It's one of the things,actually, that I like the most
(34:27):
about the heavy-duty partsindustry.
Regardless of whether I was inthe shop, on the floor, in the
front lines, all the way up tobeing in an executive leadership
position, I feel like everysingle day I've learned
something new and I really,really appreciate that about the
industry.
You've been listening to theHeavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andwe've been speaking with Dan
(34:47):
Larley Parts Director of FalconEquipment To learn more about
their company.
I want you to go tofalconequipcom.
Links to their website is alsoin the show notes.
They have a really fascinatingcompany.
They do truck cranes and theydo a lot of interesting things
in the heavy duty space.
In addition to that, don'tforget that this parts
(35:09):
management training program isavailable now and if you want to
take advantage of that earlybird special, you have to do so
and be one of the first 10companies to take advantage of
that early bird special.
You have to do so and be theone of the first 10 companies to
take advantage of that, sodon't delay.
Heavy duty parts reportcomslash PMT.
Dan, thank you so much forhelping me build the course and
thank you so much for being ontoday's episode.
Dan Larlee (35:30):
Yeah, thanks, Jamie.
It was great being here andgreat spending some more time
with you and building thiscourse.
I think it's going to be great.
I think you guys are going toreally love it.
Jamie Irvine (35:37):
Well, it was really great to have Dan finally
on the podcast and, like I said, he was an instrumental part of
building this parts managementcourse.
I don't think we could havedone it without his expertise,
so we are really, really excitedto bring this to you.
It's now time for our segmentthat's not Heavy Duty.
In this segment of that's NotHeavy Duty, I want to talk about
(36:04):
something that unfortunatelyhappens all too often.
Let me lay out the situation.
You have an amazing partsperson.
They have come up through theranks.
They started as a deliverydriver, they became a junior
counter person, then a juniorcounterperson, then a senior
counterperson, and they arecrushing it Over time.
You have people leave thecompany, people retire and a
management position opens up.
(36:25):
You look around and you say,who should I promote into that
position?
And you pick your star partsperson or maybe your parts
person with the longest runningtenure.
That intuitively seems like theright thing to do, but I'm
telling you that can't be theheavy duty way any longer,
because it oftentimes leads to amajor problem.
(36:45):
Why is that?
Well, as we talked about in theinterview, doing the job of
being a counter person is verydifferent than managing a parts
department or even a branch,which is even a bigger job.
These are completely differentjobs and they take a different
skill set to be truly successful.
When you're a counter person,you have people coming to you.
(37:07):
They're phoning you for help.
They're coming to your counter.
They're asking for help.
There is not as much of a needto be highly assertive in that
role.
You have to be social, but youdon't have to be that assertive
because everybody's coming toyou.
You do need to bedetail-oriented and be able to
process some detailed stuff andsome complex things like part
(37:29):
schematics and things like that,and you have to be able to
understand how to identify parts.
True, in the parts position youalso have to be extremely high
paced right, because you've gotone phone on hold, the other
phone is ringing, you've gotmaybe your cell phone in your
hand, you're texting, you'reresponding to email and you have
three people at the counter.
Plus you have delivery driversand warehouse people and other
(37:52):
parts people.
It's a really dynamic job.
Now in the management part ofthe business, it also has some
of those characteristics, butthey're in a different
configuration.
You need to be more assertive.
You need to be social, but notas social because you actually
need to be more assertive, to beable to push initiatives
forward, and that forces yoursociability down a little bit.
(38:12):
You have to be fast-paced aswell, and you have to be detail
oriented, but in a different way.
So just because you're good atbeing a parts person doesn't
mean you're going to be good atmanaging parts people and
running a parts department, andso if you want to do this the
heavy-duty way, you've got toidentify the person who has the
right traits, combination andpersonality.
(38:36):
They have the right educationexperience to step into that
management role, and it'sunlikely that it's going to be
your star parts person.
It's probably going to be oneof your other parts people that
are pretty good at their job,but maybe they're not excelling
the way that your star partsperson does.
Well, that's possibly becausethey don't have the same
personality type, and so theyactually have more of what it
(39:02):
takes to manage than to do, andso you've got to be able to
identify that in a reliable way.
We help people with that, so ifyou're interested in learning
more, reach out to us.
Thank you so much for listeningto this edition of that's Not
Heavy Duty and our episode todayabout parts management.
If you want to take advantageof that early bird discount, you
have to be one of the first 10companies to sign up to the
program.
You're going to get a 20%discount.
Head over toheavydutypartsreportcom slash
(39:25):
PMT that'sheavydutypartsreportcom slash
PMT PMT stands for partsmanagement training and have a
meeting with us.
But you got to hurry up becauseonly the first 10 will qualify
for that discount.
Thank you so much for listeningto the entire episode today.
I really appreciate it.
If you don't want to miss outon future content that we make,
(39:45):
go to our website.
Sign up to our weekly email.
We never spam you, just sendone email a week with our new
content.
You'll listen on your podcastplayer of choice.
Make sure that you hit thatfollow button for free.
It gives you the option.
Give us a five-star rating andreview and, lastly, if you are
watching the video version onYouTube, make sure you hit the
subscribe button and hit thatbell notification so you never
(40:06):
miss out.
Thank you for listening and, asalways, I want to encourage you
to be heavy duty.
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