Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/93063
FEATURE STORY By Catherine Lukas-Ter Horst USE ELECTRONIC PARTS CATALOGS TO ATTRACT AND KEEP CUSTOMERS Three ways to retain and grow your repeat business - If you have an online store, promote and sell your customized kits on your website. To make it even easier for your online customers to identify the parts they need, use pictures to illustrate what's included in the kit. Also, make sure that your online parts finder enables customers to add all these items to their cart without requiring them to leave the specific page they're on. This will help minimize cart abandonment. The faster you get customers in and out of your store, with the right part in their hands or with their serviced equipment, the better their experience, and the more likely they are to return. The same goes for online shoppers. The less work they have to do to find the product and the information they need, the faster they'll go from cart to paid order — and back to your website for future purchases. 2. Upsell the essentials Another interesting insight from my D 22 This image illustrates an OEM kit provided within the manufacturer' eCatalog. It allows the dealership's team to quickly see the information they need to save time and better serve customers. uring the past few months, I visited outdoor power equipment dealers who use electronic parts catalogs to better serve their customers. All the dealers I spoke with told me that about 75 percent of their customer base is built on repeat business. When you consider that the cost of acquiring a new customer is six to seven times more than retaining an existing one (Source: Flowtown), it's clearly important to draw people back to your store and website. Three simple ways to do just that are as follows: 1. Sell more stuff with kits A kit is a great tool for pieces of equipment that you regularly repair or service. You can either create your own kits or use the ones included in the parts catalogs that your OEMs provide. - OEM-created kits. A kit can be made up of consolidated parts that are needed to complete standard types of service, such as a brake, deck or spindle assembly. Some manufacturers provide kits — as a single part number, or with their own diagram — within their electronic parts catalogs. Take advantage of what's already there by bookmarking those kits for easy retrieval so your service team can quickly access them. - Customized kits. You can also create your own kits, made up of common consolidated parts that you use to complete standard types of service, such as an oil change on a lawn mower. Identifying these items ahead of time in a kit — for the most frequently serviced models — saves time. For example, with winter fast approaching, now's a great time to create "Winter Tune-up Kits." To make it even faster, you can save them as quotes or pick lists. conversations with dealers is that it's easy to forget about the essentials, such as "wear parts," lubricants, oil filters and more. You often get so busy pulling the parts you need to service your customers that you forget about upselling the essentials. They don't necessarily display in a diagram when you're looking for parts, so you don't always remember to leverage them as a tool to grow your business. - Add these essentials to kits, and remember to display them close to your checkout counter. - Promote essentials online — not just in a banner ad on your website — but as automatic "add-ons" to the cart, so you can entice customers to buy more. 3. Be the local and friendly expert your customers rely on Today's customers are information seekers. They're doing their homework Make sure you know your products and why your product knowledge and quality stand above the rest; then, promote that in your dealership. OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com