Lately we have been doing a number of promotional vehicles for companies and an occasional sports personality. It is very challenging work because we are almost always under ridiculous time schedules that require second shifts or just very long first shifts to get the vehicles running and reliable with all of the eccentric options that are requested. As you might have guessed the UPS and FedEx overnight guys are on my Christmas card list.
With dozens of overnight items showing up at our shop each week I have found that the shipping guys have a very low failure rate. I can’t quite say the same of the suppliers. I thought you might like a buyer’s point of view when it comes to special order parts.
It seems to me that in the late 80s when we had a soft economy, everyone was going off the deep end to offer better customer service. Customer Service was the Holy Grail. In a much worse economy it seems like sales apathy is the new business model. The reason I am going back down a path I have recently visited in this column is that I think there are opportunities for savvy businesses. I am not the only guy who needs a part or service quickly. I just need them quickly more often than most. The following are a list of things that frustrate me when I am trying to pull off these sleepless miracles we have been working on.
The overnight shipping profit center
OK, I ship lots of things. I know that boxes, mailroom supplies and people cost money. This should be worked into your margin not a profit center. How come a box that weighs 10 pounds costs me $47 when one supplier ships it, but only $22 when I ship it?
The ‘in stock’ green checkmark that’s bogus
I order the part that shows “in stock,” and a day or so later (sometimes longer) I am informed that the part is out of stock and will be available in three to five days. Translated that usually means more like two weeks to a month. I am willing to pay for quick service –that is why I paid the bloated fee for “overnight shipping.” How about using some of that 50 percent margin to call your supplier and ask for a drop ship? If you impress me by assuming that when I pay for overnight it means I need it overnight, I will use you again, even if the price is a little higher.
We take returns, sorta
It is not uncommon that I have spent hours researching to find a specialty part that I cannot find in my trusted suppliers’ lines. Phone calls, web searches, product cross references and reviews are all helpful, and many suppliers could really help me find their products by learning to use meta tags in their web pages, but even after all of that effort, I still cannot touch the part or hold it up to the car to see if it is going to work until it is here, at the shop. Once in awhile I have to return a part. It really should not take three phone calls to get return goods authorization, your return address location and a follow up three weeks after someone signs for the return to find out why the part has not been credited back to my credit card yet.
Shopping cart with the loose wheel
Many e-commerce sites have horrible shopping systems. Just having one does not mean you are going to sell anything. Some of these systems are so bad that I actually have to hand write my list while searching and then add things to the cart manually. Apparently these systems are designed for selling only one part at a time and are far from intuitive. Pictures are often missing or “a resemblance of the item.” Hey, I want to be sure I am going to order the right thing so I don’t have to return it. Very few sites seem to have multiple shipping options. There are a few places in the country where only the U.S. Postal Service goes. What if I live there and I know it? I also may want to overnight an item even if you do offer free ground shipping. I seriously wonder if the owners of these sites have ever ordered a part from themselves.
The good – forget the bad and the ugly
There are a number of companies I have used that do an incredible job of handling all the items I have mentioned, and I am not afraid to mention them. The award goes to A-Tech Motorsports as the single most efficient supplier I work with. National Parts Depot has a great phone order department. You can actually place an order over the phone faster than online. My everyday parts suppliers really do a pretty good job most of the time, and a couple of the dealers we use do an excellent job. If your company does business like these companies I would love to know about you. I may even brag about you on my blog at SearchAutoparts.com.
Lately we have been doing a number of promotional vehicles for companies and an occasional sports personality. It is very challenging work because we are almost always under ridiculous time schedules that require second shifts or just very long first shifts to get the vehicles running and reliable with all of the eccentric options that are requested. As you might have guessed the UPS and FedEx overnight guys are on my Christmas card list.
With dozens of overnight items showing up at our shop each week I have found that the shipping guys have a very low failure rate. I can’t quite say the same of the suppliers. I thought you might like a buyer’s point of view when it comes to special order parts.
It seems to me that in the late 80s when we had a soft economy, everyone was going off the deep end to offer better customer service. Customer Service was the Holy Grail. In a much worse economy it seems like sales apathy is the new business model. The reason I am going back down a path I have recently visited in this column is that I think there are opportunities for savvy businesses. I am not the only guy who needs a part or service quickly. I just need them quickly more often than most. The following are a list of things that frustrate me when I am trying to pull off these sleepless miracles we have been working on.
The overnight shipping profit center
OK, I ship lots of things. I know that boxes, mailroom supplies and people cost money. This should be worked into your margin not a profit center. How come a box that weighs 10 pounds costs me $47 when one supplier ships it, but only $22 when I ship it?
The ‘in stock’ green checkmark that’s bogus
I order the part that shows “in stock,” and a day or so later (sometimes longer) I am informed that the part is out of stock and will be available in three to five days. Translated that usually means more like two weeks to a month. I am willing to pay for quick service –that is why I paid the bloated fee for “overnight shipping.” How about using some of that 50 percent margin to call your supplier and ask for a drop ship? If you impress me by assuming that when I pay for overnight it means I need it overnight, I will use you again, even if the price is a little higher.
We take returns, sorta
It is not uncommon that I have spent hours researching to find a specialty part that I cannot find in my trusted suppliers’ lines. Phone calls, web searches, product cross references and reviews are all helpful, and many suppliers could really help me find their products by learning to use meta tags in their web pages, but even after all of that effort, I still cannot touch the part or hold it up to the car to see if it is going to work until it is here, at the shop. Once in awhile I have to return a part. It really should not take three phone calls to get return goods authorization, your return address location and a follow up three weeks after someone signs for the return to find out why the part has not been credited back to my credit card yet.
Shopping cart with the loose wheel
Many e-commerce sites have horrible shopping systems. Just having one does not mean you are going to sell anything. Some of these systems are so bad that I actually have to hand write my list while searching and then add things to the cart manually. Apparently these systems are designed for selling only one part at a time and are far from intuitive. Pictures are often missing or “a resemblance of the item.” Hey, I want to be sure I am going to order the right thing so I don’t have to return it. Very few sites seem to have multiple shipping options. There are a few places in the country where only the U.S. Postal Service goes. What if I live there and I know it? I also may want to overnight an item even if you do offer free ground shipping. I seriously wonder if the owners of these sites have ever ordered a part from themselves.
The good – forget the bad and the ugly
There are a number of companies I have used that do an incredible job of handling all the items I have mentioned, and I am not afraid to mention them. The award goes to A-Tech Motorsports as the single most efficient supplier I work with. National Parts Depot has a great phone order department. You can actually place an order over the phone faster than online. My everyday parts suppliers really do a pretty good job most of the time, and a couple of the dealers we use do an excellent job. If your company does business like these companies I would love to know about you. I may even brag about you on my blog at SearchAutoparts.com.
