Make sure to share this information with all salespeople. If your staff doesn't understand that you broker parts, they are likely turning away customers!
Do you broker parts, either on Car-Part Pro or on your own website? Brokering is a program that allows you to establish relationships with other recyclers or vendors, to show their parts under your own business name in search results on your website (including MyPartsApp) and/or Car-Part Pro. Brokering allows you to display parts as available from you not only when you physically have them in stock, but also when you have access to them. Today, approximately 45% of parts added to estimates through Car-Part Pro are brokered parts! (Don't have brokering, but want to learn more? Contact your salesperson or call our main line at 859-344-1925.)
We have a short 3-minute video available that explains more about how to identify and sell brokered parts when your customers call. Click here to watch it and share with your team! (You'll need your Products site login information - if you don't have it, follow the information above the video at that link, or send an instant message to your support rep. Your login information unlocks nearly all training materials on the site!)
Prefer to read the information instead? Here's what the video explains:
When a customer searches for a part that you broker (and that displays under your business name online), the stock number displayed with the part might be unrecognizable to you. If a customer contacts you about a part with a stock number that starts with the letter "e" that means they're calling about a part you are brokering from another recycler or vendor!
A brokered part's stock number appears in search results like this: "e1234 98765"
The "e" indicates that this is a brokered part. The numbers following the "e" (1234) note the supplier's account number with Car-Part.com. The second string of numbers (98765) indicate this supplier's stock number.
It is important that you recognize that this part is a brokered part, because it won't show as "in stock" in your management system - you need to look it up through Trading Partners. Here's how:
1. Look up the part in your inventory management system, and perform a Trading Partners search with your Price F-key (so you don't post a request). (You can also look up the part through iCPM's Interchange tab and click the Price button.
2. In the top menu of your Trading Partners results, click the Brokered Parts button.
3. The Broker results display all of the parts you are brokering for this year/model/part from other recyclers or from vendors. It includes your brokers for both Car-Part Pro and your own website. Look for the supplier's stock number to match the part your customer is requesting (in the example above, the stock number is 98765).
The prices displayed in the Broker results are the total price for the part only - including the supplier's price as well as your own markup. These prices do not include delivery or warranty charges, so the price you see here may not match the price displayed on Car-Part Pro.
If you have this part in stock, your parts will also show in this list! Maybe your customer is calling about a brokered part because of a price difference - but if you have the same part, in similar quality, you might want to suggest the part you already have in stock.
Tip: If the customer calling you about a brokered part is a Car-Part Pro user, you can ask them to click the Confirm Availability button for this part. This will send their search information instantly to your iCPM's Verify tab. (Your parts will only have a Confirm Availability option if you are signed up for Real Time Part Verification.)
Have questions? Want to learn more about brokering or the Confirm Availability button? Contact your support rep directly, or call our main line at 859-344-1925. We look forward to talking with you!
|