Why After-Sales Services and Genuine Part Sales Should Be a Strategic Priority in the Current Economy
The initial equipment sale between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their customers is merely the beginning of the relationship. With your business model, you are likely selling a mix of configurable, standard, and genuine spare parts through direct, distributor, or online channels. Whether your approach or desired approach includes one or all of the channels, there is likely hidden revenue to be uncovered in the friction of the parts procurement process.
The current economy demands strong after-sales services from OEMs as customers are keeping capital equipment longer. Market Research Intellect predicts that the spare parts market will nearly double by 2031, driven by the routine maintenance of aging machinery, combined with digital solutions that make it easier for customers to identify and purchase parts.
For many of our customers, post-sale services and parts revenue can account for 30-40% of their annual revenue. The long-term value in genuine spare part sales is clear to industry leaders who want to nurture their relationships with customers by removing friction from their part sales process, giving users the ability to quickly identify and procure parts to repair machines and reduce downtime.
Capitalizing on this opportunity requires a strategic approach that starts with a spare part management and sales solution that removes the friction for your customers, partners, technicians, and anyone looking to acquire a replacement part.
Many OEMs Spare Part Sales Experiences are Full of Friction that Requires Heavy Support
When speaking with our customers, it’s clear that they are aware of the pains and expected outcomes and are seeking solutions that support their current needs and future desired states. I recently had a conversation with a new CDS Partable customer who initially required a serial number to identify a replacement part correctly.
If the customer or technician did not have access to the serial number, they would be forced to act as a parts detective to identify the part through various catalogs. If they were unable to identify the part correctly, they would pass the customer to “tier 2” technical support. The friction between two tiers of parts sales support, combined with a high probability of selling an incorrect part, creates a costly process that leaves the customer with a poor experience and a potential for increased machine downtime.
The reality is that customers, technicians, and partners are increasingly expecting the convenience and ease of use they’ve come to expect from the B2C experience they’re accustomed to in everyday life. It may seem daunting, but industry leaders are taking a strategic step-by-step approach to offering the ease of a B2C-like experience across all sales channels.
Searching for industrial machine parts can be challenging because you need to identify the exact parts and components required for complex, customer-configured machines. Considering that you likely have millions of genuine spare parts available for purchase, it becomes quickly difficult for customers to know where to start.
The disjointed experience results in wasted labor hours for customers and support staff trying to identify the part, abandoned carts, and frustration for everyone. When genuine spare parts procurement experiences are fraught with friction, customers can become frustrated and seek counterfeit aftermarket parts that are faster and easier to obtain. The frustration can lead to lost revenue, eroded margins, and broken trust with your customers.
Leaders Recognize the Profitable Revenue Opportunity for their Genuine Parts Business
Industry leaders recognize the lucrative opportunity to capitalize on the market need for replacement parts. Delivering a frictionless genuine part sales process will help your business increase low-touch, high-margin revenue when you implement the right digital solutions. Our customers are working towards creating a similar experience to Amazon, whether by providing a portal for various user personas or adopting a full e-commerce approach for both named and anonymous users.
Just as Amazon enables you to search for products easily with keywords, part numbers, or image search, leaders are separating themselves from the competition by implementing digital solutions to provide a similar frictionless experience for buying genuine parts.
The Top Benefits of Simplifying Part Identification and Search for Frictionless Genuine Part Sales
Removing obstacles from your sales process makes it easier for customers and all users to obtain what they need correctly. With the right solution, you can create a seamless digital parts sales experience that enhances revenue and margins, fosters brand loyalty, and future-proofs your genuine parts business.
- Frustration-Free Genuine Replacement Parts Identification
A user-friendly spare part identification and search solution is foundational to a frictionless sales experience. By integrating visual identification capabilities, such as interactive 3D models with exploded views, BOM navigation, and AI-powered image search, within your digital catalogs, you can empower customers and end-users to quickly and confidently identify the right parts they need. An intuitive user experience minimizes frustration, increases purchase confidence, and fosters trust.
- Reduced Returns and Improved Part Sales and Service Operations
It’s easy to understand how a user could mistakenly order the wrong part if they didn’t have a serial number or if the proper description wasn’t clear enough. Whether your users are end customers, technicians, partners, or support staff, your parts sales operations will remain costly and ineffective without the right digital tools. The unfortunate experience can lead to expensive returns, lost revenue, and negative customer experience. Visual search tools can significantly reduce these occurrences by allowing customers to visualize the part in the context of the entire assembly, which minimizes the chances of ordering errors and protects your margins.
- Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities: A Data-Driven Approach
Efficient genuine part sales operations help customers procure the right part they need quickly, while also presenting valuable opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. By analyzing customer behaviors and purchase history, you can generate personalized recommendations for complementary parts or service kits to complete the job. Providing customers with data-driven recommendations and reminders not only increases the average order value but also encourages them to proactively maintain their equipment, resulting in longer product uptime, increased lifespans, and more repeat business.
- Building Brand Credibility and Customer Trust
Investing in your part sales business demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction and transparency. Detailed product visuals with hotspots, exploded views, and interactive 3D visualizations provide customers with an intuitive experience that builds trust and positions your brand as an industry leader in innovation and customer experience. Providing customers, technicians, partners, and support staff with a self-service experience that fosters confidence sets you apart from most of your competitors. Helping your end customers reduce equipment downtime through a streamlined part procurement process builds trust, ensuring you capture service revenue and repeat business.
CDS Partable is Built for OEMs to Simplify their Genuine Part Sales Experience and Unlock Revenue
CDS Partable is an AI-powered solution built to enable OEMs to unlock hidden revenue by simplifying genuine part sales and providing a frictionless customer experience. By offering intuitive visual identification tools, like interactive 3D models and AI-powered image search, it drastically reduces the effort required for customers, technicians, and partners to find the right part. Partable minimizes costly returns, increases sales conversion rates, and opens doors for upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
With Partable, OEMs can transform a traditionally frustrating process into a self-service, B2C-like experience that fosters brand loyalty and a future-proof genuine parts business.
If you would like to schedule a personalized consultation or request a demo, please contact us today.
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