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I wonder
how many people in the parts department know what the end
cap in an oil filter is made of anymore? I wonder how many
dealerships have a filter cutter in the parts department,
or for that matter in the service department, or with the
product support salesmen?
Does undercarriage
wear more when the tractor is traveling in reverse or in forward?
Why does it wear faster in that direction? What is the most
significant cost element when selling cutting edges against
your competitor? What is an important feature that makes one
air filter better than another?
Simple
questions right? How about the answers?
Many parts
departments conduct regular product training sessions for
their employees. These sessions will include serious training
on the features and benefits of the parts families. Is your
dealership one of those? If it isn't, you are missing a very
important aspect of the support services that your dealership
should be providing to your customers. How can we expect to
be able to differentiate ourselves from other suppliers if
our employees do not know the features of our products and
what those features translate to in the way of benefits for
the customer?
In the
product support business we have two very important functions
of which we must not lose sight. We are asked to assist in
reducing owning and operating costs of the equipment for the
machine owner and we are trying to protect the residual value
of the machine.
How can
we do our job without knowing the benefits provided by the
features built into our products? It is impossible! Many of
you by now have become familiar with my standard question
to the parts departments. Are you in the "parts business"
or the "part number business?"
SO
WHAT BUSINESS ARE YOU IN?
If you are in the part number business--which means that if
your customers know the part numbers, you can help them by
processing their order--you are an order taker. The only method
through which you can provide a differential advantage to
your customers, as an order taker, is with a low price. Do
you want to be known as the price house? I am sure you all
consider yourselves to be providing value to your customers
and not just a low price.
Filters,
hardware, bearings, sealing, cutting edges, tips, teeth and
bits, undercarriage, filtration, fluids, hydraulic hose and
fittings, and many, many more families of parts make up the
parts business. Sure we have prices and availability, systems
and facilities and a whole lot of investment to support the
customer. But if the person who answers your phone in parts
or who greets the customer at your counter is not a hero who
knows the parts business you are missing the boat.
The field
service mechanic who is out doing a repair for the customer
at their location is also an important emissary for the dealership.
Do your technicians understand and can they communicate what
these features and benefits are in the products that are being
consumed by the machine. Do they truly believe that your products
are technically superior to the corner store, or is that just
a nut or a bolt or a seal or packing? Imagine if your mechanics
believe that there are other parts at the corner store that
are "just as good" as yours? Perhaps you think they are just
as good as well. Do you?
Lets take
fluids just as a small example. Ask your mechanics whether
a high TBN is an advantage in engine oil. Ask them if they
know what the TBN is and what it means. What do you suppose
the answer will be? Engine oil normally breaks down with high
temperature and becomes acidic. Acid wears metal. Wear out
metal and you wear out an engine. The feature in the oil which
absorbs acid is the alkalinity or total base number (TBN).
MEANINGFUL
MEETINGS
I hope that your parts department has regular (as in monthly)
meetings. Perhaps these meetings last 1 1/2-2 hours. Maybe
there are only eight of these meetings--skip December and
the summer months for to vacations. These meetings should
typically cover specific product training, process reviews
and selling techniques.
In the
product training portion we need to cover in good detail the
features and benefits that are present in the particular family
under study. Maybe it is one of the employees who conducts
the training or perhaps it is a supplier's representative.
Sometimes
there should be a test taken after the training to determine
the retained knowledge. But one thing is for sure. There is
regular and persistent and consistent training on product
features and benefits.
Part of
what makes the work fun is competence. Part of what makes
the job rewarding is helping customers. We can become more
competent through training, which will allow us to better
help our customers reduce the owning and operating costs of
their equipment.
Passionate,
competent, caring people really can and do make a difference.
Are you helping your parts department hold their competence
edge?
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