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2009: The Year of The Truck Enthusiast!

This past year sure kept our Stylin' staff busy. Our experts helped more than thousands of customers to keep their custom rides humming along on the inside and showstoppers on the outside.

One of our sales coaches, Dave Steciw, gave his take on what made 2009 a Stylin' year for our call center and, most importantly, our customers.

1. Working in the call center, you're able to talk directly to our customers. What underlining themes have been the topic of conversation (products, installation, trends) this year?

Gas mileage has been a trend this year. Two products that people were asking for were intakes and programmers. First time truck buyers are pretty new to the idea of toying with their fuel output. A lot of people were hesitant on installing these items on new trucks because of warranty issues and such, however with laws in place to protect the consumer, this shouldn't be a concern.

People are amazed that buying an intake or programmer will get them better horse power AND gas mileage with something they can install themselves. The feedback from consumers is overwhelmingly positive. Especially with some of the 30-day test drives that some suppliers are willing to offer the customer too.

2. At Stylin', we pride ourselves in being more than just "order takers" on the phone. How has that been a contributing factor in sales during the year?

It has been huge. You have to understand that there aren't full-service companies like Stylin' Trucks around in the aftermarket field. You can call an "order taker" or you can self-shop through services like eBay, but what you're missing is the advice from the factory-trained experts like us. 

Let's take programmers, for instance. We sell various brands of programmers. Each one is tuned a little different for specific customers.  When you don’t have the advice from specialists, it makes the shopping experience very difficult. When customers call us, we try to find out what they want to accomplish, then we suggest the correct product for them.

Most companies will just try to sell you the most expensive item and may not even know how it works.  The best thing is we share our knowledge for FREE. How can you even think about shopping anywhere else?

3. When our customers call Stylin', they are very particular in what they want. From your experience this year, elaborate on the general knowledge of our customer base.

The knowledge from our customers has increased dramatically in the past few years. With the explosion of information over the Internet (i.e. vehicle forums, truck club Web sites) customers know what they are looking for.  Even if they don’t have a specific brand, they know what benefits they need from products and know the direction they want to go in.

On the same token, there are some customers who are new to the truck world, typically buying a truck for the first time.  They need guidance. We not only can guide them to purchase the correct item, but we can explain how to install and use the product as well.

4. In your opinion, how would you compare this year in the call center to last year? Customers, trends, products, etc.

This year in the call center, we have been talking to a lot of price-conscious customers; a lot of "budget builds." With our lower prices and price-match policies in place, we provided a big help for our customers. Believe me, I have customers thanking us all the time for the assistance on pricing.  As far as trends go, LED lighting kits seem to be a big player.  From LED Fiber Optic Taillights to the new and improved Fire And Ice Light Strips, LED lighting seems to be a trend that’s here to stay.

5. What was the most interesting call this year? Describe how it was interesting. Did it lead to a sale? Notable tidbit? Etc.

There are many calls that stand out.  One experience I remember involved a Marines’ parents. They wanted to trick out their son’s truck by time he came home from active duty overseas.  There wasn’t a lot to go by.  The parents had a picture of a Silverado that their son had kept because he wanted his truck to look like that. They e-mailed the photo and recited their son’s wish list. 

After about an hour on the phone, we had a plan to get their son’s truck slammed with a 4/6 drop kit. Also, we had a ram air hood, front SS bumper, projector headlights, roll pan, intake, programmer and new wheels.  A lot was on that wish list.  Remember, this was all from a single picture.

The parents were so thrilled because they had been calling around for weeks trying to find a place that would help guide them in the right direction. They had no success in finding someone that would take the time to help them. I never heard back from them, but I know that when their son got back home from overseas, he had to be ecstatic.