Prefer to Order Auto Parts Over the Phone? Read This.

Your relationships with local parts suppliers are essential to your auto repair business. Whether your suppliers are independently owned or part of a larger chain, they often provide the fastest access to the parts you need. 

Typically, these relationships are established and nurtured through phone calls, where the sound of a trusted voice on the other end of the line is comforting and familiar. You know them, they know you, they know your shop, and they often create reoccurring discounts* and deals for you. 

One of the top statements we hear from shops hesitant to order from their suppliers through PartsTech is, “I prefer to order my parts over the phone.” And we get it: no shop wants to ruin a good thing they have going with a trusted supplier they have done business with for years.

But ordering from your suppliers online through an integrated parts ordering system is not saying goodbye to them —  it’s saying hello to a new and more efficient way to engage with them in one place.

*FAQ: “But what about my supplier discounts — will my pricing be the same in PartsTech?”

Yes. Your supplier discounts will still apply, and the pricing you receive from each supplier when you order over the phone will be the same pricing you get when you order from a supplier through PartsTech. When you add a supplier to PartsTech, you will enter your wholesale account credentials (i.e., Account ID/Customer Number), and all your negotiated pricing will automatically apply to your orders.

Enhance and Speed How You Interact with Your Favorite Suppliers 

Many shop owners express loyalty to their local suppliers, saying, “I don’t need PartsTech; I can just call up my guy.” This sentiment underscores the deep trust and personal connections that define local business relationships within the auto repair industry. 

While picking up the phone has its merits, it can also be time-consuming and a bottleneck to your shop’s productivity — limiting your daily capacity and vehicle throughput. When you call a supplier, how much time do you spend waiting on hold while they check to see if they have the parts you need or while they help another customer? If they don’t have a part, how much time do you spend calling other suppliers to find it? And how much time do your customer spend anxiously waiting for their vehicle to get the parts it needs so they can get back on the road? 

Integrating all of your suppliers’ inventory into one online lookup does not mean losing touch with your suppliers. Instead, it enhances and speeds up interactions with them — helping you service your customers much faster and turn more bays. 

I have been calling my vendors for years, but I have found a better way with PartsTech. It allows me to search quickly across several vendors with multiple options, pricing, and availability — helping me and my customers get the best option every time! I love the relationship I have with my local part vendor, and using PartsTech gives both my favorite vendor and myself more time to do what we do best!

Tony Villapiano, Owner, Tuffy Tire & Auto Service, Gallatin, TN

You Can Still Pick Up the Phone 

By freeing up time from calls related to parts ordering, you can reallocate that time towards more strategic initiatives in your businesses — including ones that involve picking up the phone and making personal connections (with your customers instead of your suppliers). 

By quickly finding the parts you need through the ability to search all your suppliers in one lookup, you can get parts faster, turn bays faster, and free up time to use the phone to call customers to get them back in for routine maintenance, nurture your relationships with them, and more. 

And guess what? If your shop has more vehicles coming in each day, you will order more parts from your suppliers — creating a mutually beneficial cycle for all parties.

One of the biggest benefits of using PartsTech is the speed of time to look up parts and order parts. Prior to PartsTech, an estimate would take us 20-30 minutes to create. Using PartsTech, it takes us 5-10 minutes, saving 2-3 hours a day. We can now [use that time to] call our customers to get them back into the shop for their maintenance and, of course, boost our profitability and car count. We’ve actually ordered at least 20% more in parts over the previous months that we weren’t using PartsTech.

Stephen Leal, General Manager, Gomez Auto Repair, Salinas, California

Preserve your valued connections with your supplier while spending less time on the phone to find and order the parts you need. 

Put all of your suppliers in one place with PartsTech.