Distributor speeds parts orders with Gearflow platform

When generators need parts or service, every minute counts. However, outdated ordering methods and manual customer service processes have been causing significant delays in the power generation industry.

This was the situation at Bay City Electric Works, one of the Rehlko’s (formerly Kohler Energy’s) largest generator distributors based near San Diego, Calif. Customers had to wait an average of three to five business days just to receive a quote for parts.

Recognizing the need for faster service, Bay City recently implemented Gearflow, a tool that automates parts ordering and streamlines order management. This technology has dramatically improved their efficiency and customer service.

“We went from being unable to answer the phone 30% at any time to less than 10% of the time now,” said Gillian Roberts, director of parts and service operations at Bay City. “Our customers are receiving far better service than they were a year ago.”

Outdated systems, overwhelmed teams

Historically, the parts transaction is an area that has remained largely unchanged for decades, with nine out of 10 inbound customer requests coming via calls, emails and walk-ins, according to MacKay & Company research. Across the industry, only a small percentage of orders come through ecommerce, often because a customer does not have enough information about the part they need to easily check out.

When Roberts joined Bay City in 2022 after 25 years in the automotive industry, she quickly saw how their manual processes were hindering service.

“You could not really help the customer on the spot,” she said. “The customer had to help you help them, which is definitely not an ideal customer service transaction.”

Parts teams were caught in a cycle of managing hundreds of customer requests each month, trying to track down information while juggling order follow-ups. The longer it took to respond, the less likely they could meet customers’ needs.

Roberts knew from her previous experience that while robust order management systems existed, they were often too complex and expensive for their needs. So, she sought a solution that would reduce the time to generate quotes; easily track all customer communications and orders; and eliminate the parts team’s reliance on their email inboxes.

In 2023, Bay City piloted Gearflow’s Sales Hub Pro with three wholesale customers. Customers could send parts needed with one click, enabling Bay City to generate quotes in minutes by checking prices and availability against their inventory. The quotes could then be sent back to customers for approval almost instantly.

Streamlining the parts process

With this new tool, Bay City can now:

• Instantly message customers and keep a record of all communications
• Track every stage of an order, from request to fulfillment
• Quickly generate quotes regardless of how the request was made

Source: Gearflow

After a successful pilot, Bay City integrated Rehlko’s entire inventory into Sales Hub Pro, automating the quoting process by matching requests to the parts in their catalog. With auto-quotes, what used to take days or even a week now happens in seconds — without any human intervention.

“The customers that are using that now are just like, “Oh, this is so much better than what we were getting,’” Roberts said. “And I don’t even know they’re being quoted. It’s all happening in the background.”

This automation allows the Bay City parts team to focus on customers who need more hands-on assistance, which Roberts sees as a major win.

“They’ve just given rave reviews,” she said.

Boosting sales and efficiency

Six months after rolling out this tool to their customers, Bay City’s parts and service team had achieved all their initial goals. Their average time to generate a quote has dropped from three to five business days to less than 30 minutes — a 98% reduction.

Moreover, their automated quotes are converting at three times the rate of regular quotes. “We’re having a huge conversion rate with auto-quotes,” Roberts said. “Last month was over 80%.”

Source: Gearflow

This helped increase their overall sales conversion rate by 52% in June 2024.

All communications and transactional information are organized within the Gearflow platform, accessible to any team member. “Now, it doesn’t matter who owns it, because we all have it,” Roberts said. “It’s all there in a dashboard that we can easily see.”

If a team member is out sick or on vacation, customer service doesn’t come to a halt. “It doesn’t matter where the person left off, because we don’t need access to email,” she said. “Everything that we need to do is right in Gearflow, and the customer doesn’t need to know that there was a stoppage in getting them taken care of.”

Making data-driven decisions

Roberts can now use insights from parts orders to make smarter inventory decisions.

“I can see if we didn’t have a part in stock and someone asked for it five times, which means we didn’t sell it. Well, now I’m going to stock that part,” Roberts said.

Source: Gearflow

She said this solution is filling a major need for parts sales desks and the customers they serve.

“Everyone’s doing it manually,” she said. “They cannot just log into one portal and find what they’re looking for across their customers and communications, outside of Gearflow.”

This technology has not only improved Bay City’s parts team but also alleviated the risk of burnout.

“It has helped us tremendously – our wholesale parts reps have had just a giant weight lifted off their shoulders,” Roberts said. “They are a lot less stressful, and they feel like they are more empowered with their data than they’ve ever been before.”

For her team and the emergency power industry at large, it’s a win-win all around.

“They’re extremely happy with the tool,” she said.

Karen Scally is the director of marketing at Gearflow, and she has written about the construction and industrial industries for over 15 years.