Perhaps a dozen times each week, customers call Knie Appliance in Sterling, Illinois to buy a part for a DIY job.
The company, which doesn’t sell direct to the public, wants to be helpful but simply doesn’t have office staff with enough expertise to help customers find what they’re looking for.
Five years ago, however, Knie Service Manager Scott Jenkins learned about a program that could solve his problem. Marcone’s My Parts Center now sells direct to Knie customers – all while sending 15% of the sale back to Knie. These days, when a customer calls — intent on doing his own DIY repair — Knie staff simply pass along the My Parts Center phone number.
“We don’t carry a lot of parts beyond what we need on our trucks,” Scott said. “But with this, we don’t have to do anything – just give them the phone number.”
When a Knie customer calls, they are directed through an exclusive toll-free number that indicates they were referred by Knie. Trained agents answer the call and help customers find the part they need. Marcone handles the shipping, billing and returns for those orders – then sends a quarterly rebate for 15% of the net revenue from calls on the Knie toll-free number.
Meanwhile, Scott’s technicians – the ones with the expertise to help a DIY customer find the part they need – are freed up to take on paid repair work.
The program is perfect “for a smaller business that wants to do a little more,” Scott said. “If someone is looking for a part, we can send them to that phone number, get a kickback and not have to do anything.”
