GPC North America Group President Randy Breaux on Defining a Winning Formula

Well, the meeting is going fantastic. I mean, and the reason we're back here is really to celebrate our 100-year anniversary. Yep. And back in 2022 when we had the meeting here, we made the commitment then that we would be back here in three years to celebrate our 100th. And here we are. And this year, we decided to do something a little bit different. Rather than bring all of our associates in that are Napa employees, we made it all about the customer, in particular the repair shop customer and the Napa Auto Care centers that we serve. Yeah. So, it's been a great event. The venue is something like I've not seen before in the way that we've set it up. And the feedback and the vibe on the floor has just been fantastic. And we got about 8,000 people here plus or minus about 8,000 total. There are over 2,000 of our Auto Care partners here plus their associates. And there's also about a thousand of our Napa sales associates here. Um, and then a number of other people that are here from various associations and whatnot.

Well, in general, I think that you have to have those four things in place for a company to be successful. If you don't have the four of them in place, it's going to be very difficult to be a longstanding successful company. Um, with regard to our vision, you know, we created a new vision and that was to be the trusted provider of automotive parts and solutions and that remains the vision and it's very simple. There's a key word in there, trust and that's very important in our business because we are in a relationship business in this automotive aftermarket. Yeah. Um from a strategy standpoint, we did redefine our strategy that supports that vision and we continue to implement on that strategy today. From a structure standpoint, we have been going through a process where we are making sure that our structure is correct from an operational standpoint, but also from a sales and sales support standpoint to support that strategy. And then lastly, you have to underpin it with a really good culture.

Well, I mean, my mentor taught me long ago and actually wrote a book about it and it was relationships for success follows. And he defined the relationships that matter most are the relationships you have with your employees, the relationships you have with your customers, and the relationships you have with your stakeholders. If you're a public company, it would be your shareholders. And the premise is that you have to balance those relationships equally. And if you don't, then you don't have a stable foundation to build the company on. When he passed away, he said that there was one right before he passed away, he said there was one relationship he left out. And he told me that if I were to write the next book that I needed to include it, which I may one day, and that is the relationship with your supplier partners. Because none of these things can happen without great relationships with the supplier partners. And you can see on our exhibit floor here at the conference, we have a great relationship with our supplier partners. So when we think about those relationships, you know, we have to include the four relationships and I think we've done a really good job of that.

Yes, I do talk about that a lot.

Um, and I think that for any successful company, you really have to look at the team members that are on the team. And what you find is the best companies have what I call A players on the team. And A players are players that just are not going to be satisfied with status quo. And to take it a step further, you know, you have some players on the team that are C players or you might call them average players. And the reality is average players don't like A players and A players don't like average players, right? So what I try to do is I try to remove the average players and stack the team with A and B players. And when we can do that and they have a clear understanding of what the strategy and the vision are, then you just turn them loose and they go tear it up. And that's what we try to do. And for me, that's the winning formula. So, you know, it starts at the top setting the stage and then you just kind of work your way through the team. And over the course of the last couple of years since I've been running the company, that's kind of what we've been focused on with regard to the team. Stacking the team with A players. And as a result of that, you know, you start to get wins that you didn't anticipate and one win builds on another win and then another win. And I think that's how you play the game.

Customers will tell you what they value if you listen. And one of the first things I did when I took over is went on about a two-month listening tour to understand what the customers truly valued. And then we came back and we broke that down and said, 'Okay, here are the variables that create value, what's most important to the customers that we serve.' Yeah. And we figured that out and most of our attention and focus in the last couple of years has been to drive more value in what they want, what they value, if you will. Um, that's kind of redundant, you know, in the wording, but ultimately find out what they value most. And typically what they value most is how they make the most money, right? So figure out what that is and then give them more of that. And that's kind of what we do. Um, you know, without getting into a whole lot of details, we know where our customers make money. Sure. So, let's do more of that to help them be more successful.

Well, it's gone well. I mean, and we don't want to give the impression that that DIY customer is not important to us because they are. Yeah. But when you look at our business, we are more of a B2B business than a B2C business. Therefore we've spent more time in the last two years creating the value proposition around that B2B customer. Yep. And it's been very well received by our customers and it's been good for the business and we will continue to do that both from an operational standpoint and from a sales standpoint to make sure that we're reaching out to the right customer and making sure we are doing the right things to service that customer better than our competitors.

That I'm more comfortable wearing jeans and boots like I am today than wearing a suit.

Oh, boy. You've probably been a lot of places. Yeah, but you know, um, where and why? Let's see. That's a really good one because I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. Um, you know, I don't think the where is as important as maybe the why and the who. Yeah. For me, I enjoy spending time with my family. And it really doesn't matter where we are as long as we're together. Yep. And, you know, enjoying each other because when you're busy like I've been my entire career, I just don't get as much time with the family as I would hope to. Right. Um, so the where is not as important as the why.

Well, for me, what it means is that you reach out to everybody within your sphere, if you will, and you treat everybody equally, understanding that we all get up in the morning, put our pants on the same way, want to be successful, you know, and most people are not looking for you to give them a handout. They just might want a hand up. So, I try to be that every day. And I think that's part of what makes me approachable from just about anybody is that, you know, I'm just a regular guy, you know, and they have a story just like I have a story, right? And sometimes people just want to be heard. And if you just take a moment to listen, you build that bridge very quickly with anybody that you're conversing with. And a lot of times those bridges last a long, long time.

That they can. I mean, I was taught that a long time ago by a plant manager and we were talking about some changes that we were going to make in the plant and there was a big concern about how much information should we let out in advance and he just pulled me aside and said, 'Bro, people can handle the truth. What they can't handle is not knowing.' Right? And I've always taken that on as part of my everyday operating skills, if you will, or whatever. Just tell people the truth. They'll figure a way to handle it. I think that was particularly true during COVID. Yeah. You know, there was a lot of uncertainty during COVID and I decided early on in COVID to give a weekly update to the employees about what was happening and what was going to happen. And that gave everybody a comfort that we're going to be okay. Yeah. And if I didn't know what was going to happen, I told them that too, you know. So I do believe that people can handle the truth and there's no sense in hiding it from them whether it's personal or professional, you know, because the truth eventually comes out.

Well, I'm pursuing flying right now and I'm just about to finish my private pilot's license so that was on the bucket list. Yeah. Um, there are some things that I want to do down the road that probably involve my children and helping them, you know, achieve their dreams. Um, spending more time with my grandkids down the road. Yeah. Both my father and my wife's father passed away early. My kids did not get to know them all that well. So that's important to me down the road. So, my bucket list is probably different than a lot of others, but I've been very fortunate, very, very blessed to be able to do pretty much whatever I decided was important to me. And, um, now I just want to pay it forward, you know, pass it along. Today, I find myself coaching more than managing a business, and I get a lot of joy and excitement out of that. So, the more people that I can reach, whether it be within the company or even outside the company, you know, that's fun and that's what I hope I can continue to do for many years to come.