Are you potentially turning away customers without even realizing it? In the fast-paced world of auto recycling, understanding your inventory and how it’s presented online is crucial. Many businesses utilize brokering programs to expand their online presence, offering a wider selection of parts to potential buyers. If your sales team isn’t fully versed in identifying and handling brokered parts within your Car-part.com Stock, you might be missing out on valuable sales opportunities. This article will clarify how to recognize brokered parts on car-part.com and ensure your team can confidently sell from your extended stock.
Brokering is a powerful tool that allows your business to partner with other recyclers and vendors, effectively showcasing their inventory under your dealership’s name on platforms like car-part.com and your own website. This system significantly increases the number of parts you can offer, displaying items as available even if they are not physically in your immediate car-part.com stock. By leveraging brokering, you tap into a much larger pool of potential car-part.com stock, boosting your visibility and appeal to a broader customer base.
So, how do you identify these brokered parts within your car-part.com stock listings? The key lies in the stock number. When a customer inquires about a part they found through your online listings, pay close attention to the stock number format. If the stock number begins with the letter “e,” this is your signal: it’s a brokered part! This “e” prefix is a simple yet crucial indicator that the part originates from a partner recycler or vendor, not directly from your immediate car-part.com stock.
For example, a brokered part’s stock number will appear as “e1234 98765”. The “e” is the identifier. The subsequent numbers “1234” represent the supplier’s account number within the Car-Part.com network, and the final set of numbers, “98765”, is the supplier’s specific stock number for that part. Recognizing this “e” prefix is the first step in successfully handling inquiries about brokered car-part.com stock.
Once you’ve identified a part as brokered due to the “e” stock number, the next step is to locate it within your system. These parts will not appear as “in stock” in your standard inventory management system because they are not part of your physical car-part.com stock. To access information on brokered parts, you need to utilize the Trading Partners feature within your system. Here’s a simple guide:
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Initiate a Trading Partners Search: When a customer asks about a part with an “e” stock number, begin by searching for that part in your inventory management system as usual. Then, access Trading Partners, using your Price F-key to conduct a search without posting a part request. Alternatively, you can navigate to the Interchange tab in iCPM and click the Price button to achieve the same result.
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Navigate to Brokered Parts: In the Trading Partners results menu, you will find a Brokered Parts button. Click this button to specifically filter and view brokered car-part.com stock options.
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Review Broker Results: The Broker results page will display all parts currently being brokered for the searched year, model, and part type. This comprehensive list includes brokered parts from both Car Part Pro and your website brokers. To find the exact part your customer is asking about, match the supplier’s stock number (the “98765” in our example) to the stock number listed in the Broker results.
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Pricing in Broker Results: The prices displayed in the Broker results represent the total price for the part, encompassing both the supplier’s price and your pre-set markup. It’s important to note that these prices do not include potential delivery or warranty charges. Therefore, the final price quoted through Car Part Pro might differ slightly.
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Your Own Stock Visibility: Interestingly, if you happen to have the same part in your physical car-part.com stock, it will also appear within these Broker results. This is valuable information! If a customer is inquiring about a brokered part, perhaps due to a price discrepancy, you can quickly identify if you have a comparable part readily available in your own car-part.com stock and potentially offer that as an alternative.
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Pro Tip for Car Part Pro Users: If the customer contacting you about a brokered part is using Car Part Pro, instruct them to click the Confirm Availability button associated with that specific part listing. This action instantly transmits their search details directly to your iCPM’s Verify tab, streamlining the verification process and speeding up the sales interaction, provided you are enrolled in Real Time Part Verification.
Understanding how to identify and handle brokered parts within your car-part.com stock is essential for maximizing sales and providing excellent customer service. By training your team to recognize the “e” stock number and utilize the Trading Partners feature effectively, you can ensure no sales opportunities are missed due to a misunderstanding of your extended inventory. For further questions or to delve deeper into brokering and the Confirm Availability button, please reach out to your support representative or call our main line at 859-344-1925. We are here to help you succeed!
