How much efficiency does your shop lose while you’re waiting for parts? For many shops, it’s a necessary evil – shops can’t simply stock every part that a car might need. In fact, they probably don’t stock much beyond the absolute essentials. So how do you lose less time to the parts delay, when time means money?
Here are a few tips:
Order Local Parts Online
If your local parts store offers online ordering, you should take advantage of it! It’s not just that ordering online avoids the wait to talk to someone. Online ordering ensures that the parts store understands exactly what it is you’re looking for. This prevents a misunderstanding over the phone turning into an even longer delay when the wrong part arrives at your door and gets returned. Make sure you’ve got a quick link to your local parts website on all of the computers that are used to order parts!
Expect Great Service
Ideally, you shouldn’t be waiting more than one to two hours for locally-available parts to be delivered. If you’re regularly waiting longer than this, talk with your parts rep about it. Part of it may just be the need for them to understand how important this can be to your bottom line. If you ask, they may even have suggestions on what your employees can do to help them get you the parts you need more quickly.
Build a Process around Parts
Because it’s not uncommon for a part delivery to put a job on hold, make sure you’ve got processes in place to minimize that delay, and minimize the impact it can have on your shop. For instance, technicians should consider the likelihood that they’ll face a part delay before they put a vehicle on the lift. If they’re likely to face a part delay, it may impact whether work is done off the lift, or if a different car goes up first. The worst case scenario is a car without tires stuck on a lift while you wait for parts – that lift is going to be out of commission for a while!
Also, consider having a shelf easily visible to all technicians where delivered parts are placed. This ensures that they’ll notice when their parts come in the door, and won’t be reliant on a busy service writer to let them know.
To learn about how Repair Shop Websites will help you increase your car count, give us a call at 855-219-7506 or email us at Team_RSW@repairshopwebsites.com