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This page is an archive of previously-published content. The information was accurate at the time it was published; however, the information may no longer be accurate or complete. If you have any questions about current Car-Part products, please contact your sales or support rep.
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| Volume 04 - Issue 8 |
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5 Ways to Sell More Parts
- Grade your parts. Insurance companies, body shops, and repair shops care about the quality of your parts. If you are not grading your parts, you aren't providing this huge customer base with the information they need when making a purchasing decision. You're also giving them a reason to skip over your parts and shop with recyclers who do provide that information. Part grading is especially important with the introduction of Car-Part Pro, our new search designed specifically for the professional collision repair industry. For more information about ARA part grading and how to grade your parts, visit the ARA website.
- Attend trade shows. They cost time and money, so trade shows and industry conferences are tempting to leave out of the budget and off the schedule. But attending trade shows is the perfect way to get out of your "bubble" and learn what the rest of the industry, and your competitors, are doing to stay on top. Not only that, but trade shows allow you to meet and network with other recyclers. Building these business relationships will be beneficial when your new contacts are using iCPM or Trading Partners to purchase or broker parts. When other recyclers confronted with a long list of local businesses who have the part they need, a personal relationship will make you stand out.
- Inventory the parts your customers want to buy. When retail customers use the part search on Car-Part.com or your own website, or when professional repairers use Car-Part Pro, our search engines can only show your parts if they are inventoried in your management system. The good news is that it's easy to see the most popular parts being searched for with your Hot Sellers report on your Car-Part.com Statistics and Reports page (part of the Car-Part Gold package). Once you open your Hot Sellers link, you can choose to see the hot sellers from your website, Trading Partners, the Car-Part.com website, or from websites in your region. Click a time period to view the report. When you first open the Hot Sellers report, you will see the Top 100 Models. Scroll down the page to see the Top 52 Parts. These are the parts your customers want to buy from you. If you aren't already inventorying these parts when you buy a vehicle, start now. When these vehicles are inventoried in your management system, they will be uploaded to Car-Part.com and your parts will be visible in the search results. Remember, a part does not have to have interchange to be listed on Car-Part.com, and there is no limit to the number of parts you can upload. While you are inventorying in Partmate, take advantage of how easy it is to quickly inventory and price many parts.
- Keep your website current. When you want to find a store near you, what do you do? You probably use Google or another search engine &ndhas; and that's exactly what your customers do, too. If you don't have a website, you will be invisible to anyone who is trying to find your store address, phone number, or store hours using a search engine. If you already have a website, make sure you keep the information current. Customers looking at your parts on Car-Part.com can click to visit your website, so you want to make sure all of the information is accurate.
- Update your prices. Your customers will pass over parts that are too expensive, and you lose money on parts you sell that are priced too low. When you're having trouble pricing parts that you've never inventoried before, ask your salesperson how CrashLink could help you. If you just haven't updated your Price Book in a while, there is an Advanced Management function in Checkmate that you can run to re-price and update your inventory. For more information about running a Maintain Inventory Pricing report, call us at 859-344-1925 to schedule a training appointment.
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Did You Know?
If you are a Car-Part Gold customer, we will host your website at no cost to you. If you don't have a website, we can help you build one inexpensively. Call us at 859-344-1925 for more information.
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