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How to increase sales without adding Salespeople

Paul D’Adamo, (the ‘Recall Guy’), Yard Recall Manager at Rebuilders Automotive Supply in the US, gave his view on how your business can increase sales without hiring more Salespeople.

 

Paul D-Adamo - increase sales without hiring salespeople
Paul ‘Recall Guy’ D’Adamo

For Auto Recyclers nationwide, the issue of increasing sales is always at the forefront. Beyond hiring more Salespeople, have you looked at the supporting players lately?

Inventory – Increase Sales by decreasing Inventory Issues. 

How reliable is your data? What is your cancellation rate? (orders that can’t be filled because they are missing, weren’t inventoried properly, and/or they are damaged).

Your business has invested substantially in the purchase and transportation of the inventory, the human investment in inventorying the vehicle for quality auto parts, the manpower to harvest those parts and the cost of packing and shipping or delivering them to your customer. 

Wow! Do some quick math on that equation. Especially when the part gets returned because a bracket was broken. Can you feel your bottom line dropping under the weight of those costs? 

Questions to ask:

  • When was the last time you ran an Overstock report? Eliminate Deadweight.
  • When was the last time your inventory was verified? Missing parts are a Salesperson’s worst nightmare.
  • Do you perform a basic hulk/vehicle inventory audit every month? You’ve never lost a car?
  • Is your Inventory/Production Manager understanding not only the actual dismantling of vehicles but the flow of information on performance and shrinkage due to inventory issues or damage?

Returns and Credits – Customer Satisfaction is paramount to any business. It costs a lot more to bring in new customers than satisfy the ones we already have. So why don’t we spend much time on the returns?

Who is in charge of returns and credits at your business? Is it a single person or do you have it split amongst several employees? It might be a good time to review your system, policies, and people.

  • Have you run the returns report to identify and prioritize what the main problem is? 
  1. Part not as described
  2. Part damaged
  3. Lost Sale or don’t need?
  • Is someone in charge of analyzing our returns and the reasons why? Who is held accountable?
  • Are your Warranty Terms current with the industry trends? 30-day warranties are so 1970
  • Is your Warranty/Return/Refund/Credit policy written down? “Everyone knows”

The shrewd business owner will:

  • Allow the Sales Manager or “Return” person to negotiate and mitigate issues with an unsatisfied customer.  Letting the “Policy Czar” handle customers is the best way to lose, not gain customers.
  • Establish a Return Policy that says “GO THE EXTRA MILE, WE DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOUR BUSINESS”, not “You’re five minutes over warranty, I can’t help you”. 
  • Process Returns/Credits/Refunds in a timely fashion.

To contact Paul, visit Rebuilders Automotive Supply

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