your inventory in multiple places, such as APU PartsNetwork™ and HollanderParts.com which is included with a subscription to EDEN®, Hollander’s parts-locating network. Further broaden your efforts by marketing and promoting your yard locally on your own website, social media and specialized forums. When casting a wide net, make sure that your yard management system features real-time integration to ensure inventory accuracy and consistency across all your listing platforms. Nothing could be worse than the same part shown in stock on one platform yet out of stock on another.

Keep Improving The little things can spell the difference between

earning a sale and losing one or snaring a customer whobuys just once and onewhocomes back time and again. Evaluate each component of your online sales process – everything from listings to shipping – and strive to continually improve upon it. The Japanese call this process of continuous refinement kaizen. You can incorporate kaizen in virtually limitless

ways. Start with your response times. While two hours should be the outer limit for responding to online

Offer clearly spelled-out, hassle-free warranties and returns, and make a point of emphasizing that in your listings.

Be sure your parts are clean and shipped in professional-looking packaging.

inquiries, strive for one hour and then less. If that means hiring a staffer to tackle this task, consider making the investment; it may be worth the cost. Offer clearly spelled-out, hassle-free warranties and returns, andmakea point of emphasizing that in your listings. Be sure your parts are clean and shipped in professional lookingpackaging.Ensure that customers always receive their parts in the timeframe specified, and even earlier if possible. Offer free shipping to help close the deal.

Show Your Appreciation Repeat customers are a huge sales driver, which

makes them the Holy Grail all online sellers are chas-

November-December 2016 | Automotive Recycling 47