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Letter to the Editor

Supplyline Sponsors Conference to Increase Profits for Independent Jobbers

A conference aimed at creating an organization of independent paint and body shop equipment jobbers with marketing and buying advantages will be held in Marietta, Ga. on Sept. 20. The theme of the conference is "Grow Your Profitability."

"We're offering independent jobbers a chance to adopt e-commerce tools that will increase their sales while reducing their costs," says David Bourne, president of Supplyline USA, sponsor of the conference. "It will give them business advantages that are equal or superior to those of large jobber organizations."

Key to the proposed organization is a common website through which members can market and sell their products. The website would include products from all manufacturers who supply member jobbers. However, while the site's extensive database would be available to all members, each jobber would have access only to the product lines he sells.

"The website has all kinds of possibilities," says Bourne. "It can act as a strong pull-through device for manufacturers whose products appear on it. It's a great opportunity for second-tier manufacturers to put their products in front of this very lucrative market. And jobbers can use it to promote the products they carry. For instance, we can send a flyer on a new clear in PDF form to a jobber, he can print 20 copies, and send his sales reps out with the copies."

Jobbers can set up an account for each of their customers so that shops could place their orders through the website. The jobbers then can pull reports on each account, including sales by product, inventory, and usage.

A hand-held scanner, also offered by Supplyline, would facilitate ordering and maintaining inventory at each shop. With the scanner, a jobber salesman or shop employee could scan bar codes on products in the shop and send an order through the website.

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