Western Bearing and Auto Parts has been selected as the 2017 Jobber of the Year.

Based in Portage la Prairie, Man., Western Bearing is headed up by president Doug Borland, who took over the business from his brother eight years ago. It was originally started by their father, Ian, in the 1960s.

The key to Western Bearing’s long-time success is a combination of service, products and price, Borland said. “Service is a huge part of what we do. Anybody can walk into a Canadian Tire and buy a can of chemicals, go pay and leave. That’s not what the Western Bearing is about. The majority of people that are walking in here are looking for what I would say is a higher level of service. They want somebody to talk to, they want someone that they can ask questions to and get their questions answered.”

Long-time customers such as Miles Graff, parts manager at Portage Transport, and Rick Hebert, stores manager at Moon Construction, highlight the service they’ve received from the Western Bearing team as essential to their relationship. For example, Graff noted how Western Bearing has gone out of its way to get him parts the business doesn’t normally carry.

Going the extra mile for customers is just part of the job, Borland said. “When a customer trusts you, and they call and say ‘I need this, this and this,’ they know that they’re getting a fair price, they’re getting a quality product and service both at the point of sale and after sales day in and day out. It’s really what we strive to do.”

That’s how you build relationships and trust with customers and ensure success for the long-haul, he added. “If we really want to continue to be profitable and successful and grow as we have for the last 51 years, we need to have relationships and quality relationships, not only with our customer base, but also with our vendors.”

Check out the July/August issue of Jobber News for a full profile on Western Bearing.