Why you should care about your online spare parts catalogue now

The effects of Corona are being felt everywhere in the manufacturing industry also: according to a recent VDMA flash survey, almost all mechanical engineering companies (96%) are expecting a decline in sales that cannot be compensated for this year. Almost three quarters of the companies are considering cutting back on their investment plans. In this situation, customer service becomes very important in a specific area. What exactly is it about?

It's about the spare parts service: When companies reduce investments, this in turn means a longer use of the existing infrastructure. It also means that machines must remain in operation longer than planned. And this in turn leads to greater wear and tear on wearing parts and materials.

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to reconsider the framework conditions first: Digitization is receiving special attention due to the current situation, that’s obious. However, for the analysts of the global management consultant McKinsey, the crisis has also triggered another trend: regionalization. Both aspects have a major impact on the after-sales and service of manufacturing companies.

Let us look at the area of digitization first: Customers of all sizes will in future invest more heavily in the digitization of their internal processes - a trend that has been accelerated by crisis-related measures such as home office or automation. The same customers therefore also expect corresponding digital offers and services from their suppliers. An important question you should ask yourself now is: Do you already have an online service portal for your customers to order spare parts search for product documentations?

And of course, also afterwards - whereby the topic of regionality comes into play: Over the last few months it has become clear that global supply chains can cause serious problems. "Companies will be more secure," predicts McKinsey expert Knut Alicke. But not only individual companies - entire economies will increasingly switch to regional supply structures. Establishing and maintaining such structures is extremely challenging, and here too an efficient and customer-friendly online service portal will help to build a strong position.

By the way, the implementation of a web portal is no magic wand. With modern e-commerce systems such as the solution of our partner Sana Commerce, you can open up the digital world for your spare parts business within a few days. This means that you will be available for your customers 24/7 - for spare parts orders, placement of product information or individual offers.

Of course, personal contact still is important. And that is why e-commerce systems also offer a wide range of possibilities to initiate, maintain and systematically improve direct contact. One example is Sana Commerce's "impersonate a customer" function: This allows customer advisors and service technicians to give their customers remote assistance in using the service portal - i.e. not despite the virtual connection, but precisely for this reason to intensify direct contact with your customers.

In times of crisis, manufacturing companies would do well to pay more attention to the often-neglected spare parts business. At the same time, the increasing online affinity of customers makes digital offers a decisive competitive factor. Modern service web portals can be implemented quickly and do not cost much. So, it's best to take the opportunity now to get to grips with the subject of web shops.