Drive higher parts and service profits, and manage your CEO (Customer Experience Optimization)

By Campion Jaques

Access to OEM parts information has drastically changed since the days of bulky paper catalogs for every manufacturer line you carried. Today’s electronic catalogs play a significant role in improving your operational efficiencies. What used to take minutes, now takes seconds; and time matters when you’re trying to meet the ever-growing demands and expectations of consumers. If you save time, you will ultimately improve the customer experience, decrease costs, and make more money.

Time is money… Dealers know what it’s like to see productivity come to a screeching halt because parts can’t be looked up quickly and reliably. Service technicians or — worse — customers quickly become frustrated as they wait for the Parts Counter person to locate the right part. Using an electronic parts catalog will make a difference in your profitability.

Productivity. Electronic parts catalogs are designed for rapid location of the right information or parts, regardless of how much (or how little) identification you are provided by your customer or service team.

Following are the top three benefits:

Robust search. An electronic parts catalog with a robust search feature allows you to simply enter the information you have, such as a part number (full or partial), model number, assembly or part description, making it easy for you to find the part and all of its associated information — fast. Don’t meet customer expectations; exceed them. By ordering the right parts the first time, the service department can deliver the repaired unit on the promised date; do–it–yourself (DIY) customers can get their parts quickly; and your internal and external customer experience is optimized!

Illustrated diagrams. A model diagram is worth a thousand words. It makes it much easier for your team to identify, order, or sell the right part, the first time. A parts lookup system makes it easy for you to help customers identify the part they need. Showing the customer a diagram can help you find the required part. Take the next step and print the diagram for the customer to take home and use for future reference. Anything you can do to help customers will help you build loyalty.

Create user notes. Sharing important information about a specific model or assembly with your entire team (recall notices, appropriate product use and service alerts) goes a long way toward helping your team select and use the right part.

Accuracy. All the important information you need about a model, assembly or part can be easily accessed and is up–to–date, so you can reduce errors that can lead to costly restocking fees or delays in equipment delivery. It’s a win–win for you and your customers.

Comprehensive content. Whether you’re trying to identify a part that a customer brought in, check pricing, or locate service bulletins and manuals, an electronic parts catalog will provide your team with immediate access to all the detailed information and diagrams with just a click of a button. And today, many parts catalogs can be updated on a daily basis, ensuring that you have immediate access to the most up–to–date parts, service bulletins and pricing information.

Inventory. If you integrate your business management system with your electronic parts catalogs, all the data you need is quickly available in one place. The integration allows you to streamline your parts lookup and ordering system, so you can serve your customers better and faster, with no risk of re–entry errors.

24/7 parts lookup. The advent of electronic parts catalogs has also opened the door to turning your brick–and–mortar store into a 24/7 dealership. When you integrate a parts lookup system with your website, consumers can easily look up parts and order online, or identify the part they need before visiting your store. Either way, it makes buying from you easier and keeps customers coming back for more.

Successful dealers naturally gravitate to tools that make their job easier and support their sales efforts. Electronic parts catalogs deliver greater accuracy and increased productivity, so you can offer the highest level of customer service and build loyalty. The positive impact of your overall efficiency will help you sell more stuff and drive more profits.

 Campion Jaques has nearly 40 years of experience in publishing manufacturers’ technical documents. Early in his career, he developed microfiche systems for many of the major OPE manufacturers and subsequently published the first electronic parts catalogs in the industry. As Director of Content Services at ARI, Jaques works with manufacturers worldwide to enrich and publish data for their distribution channel. He can be reached at (877) 798-8260 or Jaques@arinet.com.