Becoming a Customer of Choice: Securing Essential Parts in a Competitive Market
By: Eric Horton, Principal Business Consultant, CCC ELEVATE
How can shops influence relationships to be a "Customer of Choice" – someone that makes suppliers want to sell to them, even if they could sell it for more to someone else?
Over my career I've seen how shops interact with parts suppliers, from independents to large national MSOs. Shops of any size can influence these relationships, and it really comes down to remembering these five soft skills.
Becoming a Customer of Choice
Let's say we have a car in our shop and our primary supplier is the only supplier that has the hood we need. Issue is, they have other customers asking for the same hood. Who ultimately gets the part? Is your shop the customer of choice or does someone else get it and we are left waiting for months while the part is on backorder?
Set yourself up to be a customer of choice:
Give grace: Mistakes happen. You can threaten to pull your business when something goes wrong, or you can offer understanding and try to fix issues together. Try not to let emotions flare; becoming a customer of choice means treating suppliers as part of the team.
Ensure clean estimates: Incorrect part orders can hurt your cycle time, but it also creates huge headaches for your suppliers. Take the time to make sure you're writing the cleanest estimates possible. If you're unsure of which part is "right," consider something like CCC® Build Sheets to decode VINs and filter trim packages.
Don't jump the gun: While it may be tempting to start submitting parts orders before teardown to try to keep repairs moving, ordering before you know what you need increases the likelihood of returns (and all the delays and paperwork that goes with them).
Use technology: We say it a lot here but use your technology to smooth out the parts ordering process for you AND your suppliers. Save time on phone tag by ordering parts electronically.
Honor agreements: You ask your customers to trust you with their repairs, and that same trust is extended to your parts suppliers. If you have outstanding agreements with a preferred supplier, honor those agreements. This alone can help build that partnership to be a customer of choice.
In short, being a customer of choice means saying and doing the things that make you a good partner for your suppliers. The collision repair ecosystem is broad, and there are many players. But our shared goal remains the same: a safe and speedy repair that gets people back on the road.
