Special Forces: Setting Yourself Apart with Special Orders

[Counterman]

The majority of our everyday sales come directly from our in-stock inventories. Our customers have an expectation that the parts and products they require for a wide variety of vehicle repairs will be waiting for them when they call or stop into our store locations. Inventory is our most valuable physical asset aside from storefront real estate, but it is the investment that arguably has the most direct effect on success. 

The harsh reality is that no inventory, no matter how carefully curated, can fulfill every customer’s needs on every visit. We can blame the proliferation of parts categories or the complexities of today’s repair environment, even attribute it to the number of vehicle brands for which we provide coverage, but today’s inventory programs must provide a breadth of offerings unlike anything we’ve supplied before. Special orders are a necessity in today’s marketplace, and effectively handling this portion of our business is critical for our success.

Special orders come in many forms, from a simple out-of-stock situation that requires immediate fulfillment, to a request for a rare or hard-to-find component that may take an extensive search to source. For a warehouse-class mover, we will likely only need to place an order from our distribution center and wait for the next regularly-scheduled delivery window. These same-day and next-day orders still count as special orders, but aren’t the ones that really set us apart from the competition.

Finding “needles in haystacks” is where our special order skills are the most in-demand. Connecting a customer with a hard-to-find part often requires us to work outside of our usual warehousing system, which comes with its own set of unique challenges. When we work within our own familiar system, we usually know how long of a lead time to expect, what return and core policies may be in effect, and have an established framework for tracking and billing these items. Having a network of secondary or “one-off” vendors can complicate matters, but is critical for fulfilling many of the more “oddball” customer requests. 

Setting clear expectations when providing “outside-the-box” solutions is essential to keeping customers (and your accounting department) satisfied. When we choose to offer an “outside part,” we assume some level of responsibility for that item in terms of warranty or suitability, and we must be able to follow-up if something goes wrong, sometimes at our own expense. Establish clear guidelines for how you’re willing to compensate your customer in the event that a special order is defective, damaged, or no longer needed. Your “occasional” vendors may have different terms from your primary suppliers, so be sure that a promise made can be a promise kept!

When it comes to billing special order parts, it is important to figure all associated costs when arriving at the final resale price. The purchase price of the item, any core charges, shipping fees (including costs associated with return shipment of cores) and even handling charges all contribute to the final cost, and need to be considered when calculating the resale value. Prepayment in full will help prevent abandoned orders and protect your bottom line, but does require you to calculate your total cost before completing the transaction. A best practice is to invoice the part separately from the charges involved in getting it to you. If you are forced to take the part back later, those separate “acquisition charges” aren’t automatically forfeited. 

Considering that most special order policies offer limited or no refundability, it is doubly important that we get things right the first time! Your customer understands that you are going “above and beyond” to assist them in their search for the perfect product, but their appreciation for your efforts quickly disappears if the results don’t match the expectations which you have set.

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