In July we celebrate 10 years of Positrak Pro. A lot of history has been made in 10 years, so let’s reflect on how we got here.
Positrak was founded in 1982, and our 40-year history is dotted with many significant milestones. Our office displays a number of plaques – an Inc. 500 fastest growing companies award, a copy of an advertisement featuring the one and only Michael Jordan, and many customer testimonials such as one stating “we wouldn’t open another store without Positrak.”
Despite all the success in the 80s and 90s, we came to a crossroads in the early 2000s. We had taken our Legacy system as far as we could go. In 2009 we made the bold decision to scrap that old system and redevelop something new from the ground up. We put Positrak Pro in the field for the first time in July 2012. Johnny Clark of Clark’s Automotive in Fairmont, NC was the guinea pig, and it was very fitting. He had built his business very literally from the ground up – starting out of his garage and concreting just 3 feet of floor at a time as he could pay for it. Johnny wasn’t intimidated and wasn’t afraid to try something new. It wasn’t long until Positrak Pro was off the ground.
We ramped it up slowly, upgrading an existing Positrak customer to a Pro system each month for the first six months. In January of 2013, we kicked it into high gear, installing 26 new Pro systems in that first full year. By the time the calendar flipped to 2014, we were full-force into cutting jobbers over from competitor systems. To date, we have:
- Sold and installed over 335 Positrak Pro systems,
- Converted over 220 jobbers from competitor systems,
- Converted 29 different types of competitor systems,
- And opened in 11 brand new stores.
Positrak has always been customer driven – a system by the jobber, for the jobber. Since the initial release we’ve published over 160 software revisions of Positrak Pro, each one a complimentary piece added to decades of customer knowledge and feedback.
So where do we go from here?
Rest assured, we’re not slowing down. We will continue to grow aggressively by providing value to the automotive aftermarket. Each year we save the industry a combined $1 million in IT costs over competitor systems. We have much more on the horizon: software updates, new features and integrations, and even new software for other segments of the automotive aftermarket – so stay tuned.
To our customers: thank you. We value your business.
To our manufacturer and vendor partners: thank you for your support and working with us to make our customers successful.
To prospective customers: the average jobber saves over $3,500/year in IT costs, all the while gaining high-end technology, connectivity, and quality customer service. How much longer should you wait?