Do you use email to enquire about parts?

[b2tf]

I've been enquiring about a new exhaust system for my ute lately and 99% of my queries I have sent through email. Out of approximately 10 companies and suppliers I tried, only 1 has actually replied and will therefore be getting my business when the time comes (helps that it's actually my first choice of product too).
I work in a service industry and rely on email to do my job so it really frustrates me when I don't get a reply - for all the person on the other end knows, I have the cash in my hand ready to spend, yet when they dont reply it makes me feel as though they don't need nor want my business.

So I'm just curious as to how many of us use email to do things like query parts, and how many replies do you actually get?

[Peuty]

I don't use email for that exact reason.

The thing you need to remember though, is that most places are a pretty small operation - usually too busy in the workshop or answering phones to check their emails. In some cases, they forget that they even have email!

I always figure that no-one can stand the sound of an unanswered phone, so it will be picked up eventually.

[smasht]

i depened heavily on e-mail for my current fulltime job, my own business and i also use it as a way to enquire about loads of different products. Couple of things i believe:

e-mail is invaluable to a business small or large - when used correctly
e-mail is MUCH cheaper than making loads of calls
SOMETIMES e-mail can be faster but this is certainly not always the case

in this day and age where close to everything is eletronic i dont see why people dont respond / reply / use e-mail to its full advantage.....why have an address if its not going to be used?

Edit:- i must say tho, when it comes to looking for products in the automotive industry i can understand the time restraints - so i do generally do both (e-mail and phone / phone and face to face) when looking for parts / information as its rare that i get a response

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by smasht

in this day and age where close to everything is eletronic i dont see why people dont respond / reply / use e-mail to its full advantage.....why have an address if its not going to be used?

This is my point exactly. Nobody can use the excuse that they dont have/dont know how to use email.

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by smasht

in this day and age where close to everything is eletronic i dont see why people dont respond / reply / use e-mail to its full advantage.....why have an address if its not going to be used?

Usually workshop owners are from the old school, face to face contact is what they are used to, so they don't adapt to change very well. Usually the only reason they have an email address is that they got one when the internet was hooked up.

A Ford dealer I worked for once (6 years ago) still did all their RO's and warranty claims on paper...

[nutter_x]

Aust, as you know I'm in front of the computer 99% of the time with work and obviously that's how we have to communicate.

I'll agree 100% that if companies offer an e-mail account they should treat that with equal measure as any other medium of communication. If you aren't going to utilise a tool to it's full potential why use it at all?

Then again, I'm finding the same issue with trying to find wheels at the moment, so maybe I'm biased.

[Peter B - CV8]

I phone first - that way you can quickly get a feel for what the bloke on the other end is like. I then follow up with an email getting them to confirm the product & pricing (so I don't get any nasty surprises).

[Bundy]

Originally Posted by b2tf

This is my point exactly. Nobody can use the excuse that they dont have/dont know how to use email.

Yup wish this is the case, but unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that still don't know. These people are smart don't get the wrong idea, but they are from an era that has gone from snail mail, to phone, to fax and now email. These are people that own business and have a computer whiz rock up and set up a webpage and an email account, (just like telstra with the yellow pages except answering a phone is so much easier) and then give simple instuctions, most likely not written down and leave. Coupled with everything else it gets pushed to the side untill they have time to sit down and work it out for themselves, but more then likely not the case.

Yes Email is so effective and cheap when used correctly by both parties if you have to happpen to have access to a computer together, unfortnately computers don't ring to interupt you and let you know that someone wants your services. VIOP is a much better option in my opinion, still dirt cheap, more effective and a quicker way then typing for the majority.

my 2 bits worth.

[rag top]

I do, and I mainly get a response. If, on the off chance I don't, then they don't want my business and I send them a message forwarding my original advising that I have gone to their competitor as they were not interested in my response. They need feedback otherwise they don't know where to improve.

'cause I work strange hours, I'm unable to get hold of them during normal business hours.

[RATT]

As a dealer, we are making a point of getting to email parts and service enquiries. The "old school" thought of face to face is now virtual face to face.
Whoever doesn't follow will fail I think.

[Boosh Brus]

I prefer emails as I have a record of what was discussed. I don't enquire about products/services unless I am serious so heaps of places have lost my business by not replying to my emails.

[GS608]

phone only really, much quicker than waiting around for a response.

[Lynch'd]

I do like to shoot of an email for price queries as its quick and easy. Quite often it does require a second or third reminder (or even a phone call) to get a response though.

I do completely understand businesses who don't respond to emails though as I tend to find with our enquiries at work, upwards of 50% of those that come via email are simply wasting your time. They are either simply tyre kickers who have no real intention of spending money or people who just want a written quote so they can use it to negotiate with someone else. Those who make the effort to make a phone call however are generally seriously interested in buying something and I will always give priority to these people. I am also far happier to negotiate a price with someone over the phone.

[LowEL2XR8]

I email heaps of places with genuine interest but hardly ever get a reply. Email is now a legitimate form of communication equal with phone calls and better in my opinion.

Business's that don't reply lose my money.

Same goes with forums. Would like to be able to get all the info asking questions in a forum from a sponsor than have to ring up or go in. With 3 kids under 2 years old its hard to find any time to ring or go anywhere during business hours.

[Airmon]

I don't like email, it take impersonal to a whole new level! I like to be able to speak to someone especially when I'm trying to order a part. I find it useful if I'm up late at night looking for a part, I can send off an email and check it the next chance I get before I forget about it, Or if I just want a rough idea on what a part is going to cost, but its not urgent. But most of the time the reply takes a while or never comes at all. I suppose email would be the last thing a business checks, if they are having a busy day its pretty easy to slip their mind.

Although with a few places, if I'm just calling as a general enquiry into a price or a part, in person or on the phone you tend to get (by some places) almost bullied into buying something. Carsales is a good example of that.

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by b2tf

I work in a service industry and rely on email to do my job so it really frustrates me when I don't get a reply - for all the person on the other end knows, I have the cash in my hand ready to spend, yet when they dont reply it makes me feel as though they don't need nor want my business.

Without mentioning names, this is typical of a few of our site sponsors where, on a few occasions, I've wanted to inquire on pricing/availability etc

I now use the phone for this very reason.

I accept they get busy and more often than not, are from the old school

[SM1DY]

Of all the times I've enquired about parts or services for my car, I've used e-mail. I prefer it because I'm always with my laptop so its seems the most convinient method. Since I've had the Falcon, I have made in excess of 30 inquiries about parts or sevices and I have received 1 reply, NOT impressed!!!

[flappist]

Am I right in reading that there are a number of people, all of whom are generation Y, are confused that they send emails to a parts supplier and get ignored, not by one but by ALL of them?

Did it ever occur to you that maybe the parts suppliers think of emails in the same you that your generation thinks of verbal communication, that is, something that you know how to do but could not be bothered?

I have a simple view on this; if you text me I will ignore you on purpose, if you spam email me, as in just do a random enquiry, I will ignore you on purpose, if you call and then email I will assist you in any way I can.

The reason.....

Too many idiots send off copied emails to everyone and their dog about crap and expect a large amount of time to be spent so they can choose the cheapest price and then not buy it anyway.
I deal with people, not machines and the reality is; If you do not wish to contact or do business as a human being then I do not want anything to do with you.

Gen Y will arc up I am sure and curse and swear and threaten to take their business elsewhere....

BUT

As stated above EVERYONE ignores them so where are they going to go.....

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by flappist

Am I right in reading that there are a number of people, all of whom are generation Y, are confused that they send emails to a parts supplier and get ignored, not by one but by ALL of them?

Did it ever occur to you that maybe the parts suppliers think of emails in the same you that your generation thinks of verbal communication, that is, something that you know how to do but could not be bothered?

I have a simple view on this; if you text me I will ignore you on purpose, if you spam email me, as in just do a random enquiry, I will ignore you on purpose, if you call and then email I will assist you in any way I can.

The reason.....

Too many idiots send off copied emails to everyone and their dog about crap and expect a large amount of time to be spent so they can choose the cheapest price and then not buy it anyway.
I deal with people, not machines and the reality is; If you do not wish to contact or do business as a human being then I do not want anything to do with you.

Gen Y will arc up I am sure and curse and swear and threaten to take their business elsewhere....

BUT

As stated above EVERYONE ignores them so where are they going to go.....

Agreed.

[Streets]

When looking for parts I will drive around to all the places and look for myself because the dodgy greasemonkeys running these joints will say anything over the phone. Usually they just say "nah we don't have that" because they couldn't give a rat's **** about an obscure part for a 30 year-old XD Falcon and can't be bothered getting off their **** to go and check for it.

[Airmon]

I'd be classified Generation Y flappist, I'd rather use the phone.

I just google the phone number :P

[LowEL2XR8]

Originally Posted by flappist

I have a simple view on this; if you text me I will ignore you on purpose, if you spam email me, as in just do a random enquiry, I will ignore you on purpose, if you call and then email I will assist you in any way I can.

And miss out on business on the geniune people. :

You can pretty much tell when the email is personal or just a dreamer.

I add all my details of my car and and exactly what parts I am after and the money I have to spend and still get ignored. When I write an email I never forget anything as I have time to write it out.

When I do call or go in I always come back thinking damn I forgot to ask and I'm not going to drive all the way back to ask or ring up again 2 seconds later.

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by flappist

I deal with people, not machines and the reality is; If you do not wish to contact or do business as a human being then I do not want anything to do with you.

Gen Y will arc up I am sure and curse and swear and threaten to take their business elsewhere....

BUT

As stated above EVERYONE ignores them so where are they going to go.....

And I presume your parents never used to answer the phone and would only reply to mail and telegrams? It's a generational thing and you shouldn't waste your energy fighting it. I personally bought my new Territory by e mail and found it to be a pleasant experience, however, some people will never do things the way I do them and that's fine.

[Falc'man]

Also in service/sales here. Nothing gets ignored, apart from the obvious. Whether I use phone/fax/email hinges on what's best for the recipient. Knowing the people you deal with is the difference.

So to directly answer the question would mean knowing the type of industry you're dealing with. In this case, I would actually front up, or at least make a phone call, otherwise - from the impressions I've gotten in the past - they won't take you seriously via email, especially when you're knew to them. Yes, they should make an effort... but it's that clash of culture that we should get over.

If I was to email someone I knew had a good reputation for product/service and they ignored me, I would simple call them, and wouldn't think "they're not getting my business"... too many reasons (other than being indifferent) for not answering an email.

[Dr Smith]

I'm very selective in who I reply to from email enquires because as Flappist stated more often then not they are price shopping to renegotiate with their current supplier.

Sometimes I get an enquiry for a product that is quite easily sourced locally to the email sender and yet they want a price including shipping from Melbourne to Cairns for say a product worth only $15 and then they want you to better their local price...never going to happen.

Or you get the overseas enquiry wanting your best price on 10,000 kg of product, shipped to all over the world, but they also want full specs and formula, detailed production steps, a layout plan of the production process/plant....

If someone calls me and gives me their full details upfront rather then a hotmail address I give my undivided attention. I use email but usually as a follow up to a call or I make a call after I state I'll follow up my original email. I tend to use email when already dealing with established suppliers/customers.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

And I presume your parents never used to answer the phone and would only reply to mail and telegrams? It's a generational thing and you shouldn't waste your energy fighting it. I personally bought my new Territory by e mail and found it to be a pleasant experience, however, some people will never do things the way I do them and that's fine.

No, actually I grew up working in a small business and we had in the 1960's something that was almost unheard of. A telephone with a second line and an extension.

As far as missing the genuine business, for every genuine email there are zillions of crap emails that would have to be processed so any profit made would be long gone.

Now as I stated earlier, some think I am doing the wrong thing but then the core of this thread is that NOBODY is responding to emails so maybe, just maybe, emails are not the way to do business.

Possibly 20 years from now when gen Y are running businesses (or more likely working for gen Z still paying off their phone bill, plasma on 20 years interest free and FG falcon on 20 years with a 40% residual) email or some other new technology will be the lingua franca but not yet.

[LowEL2XR8]

Well business's would do well to scrap their emails and save time and money from what I've experienced.

Also just stick to the yellow pages and take down their websites too. HAHAHAH just kidding.

[GUTLES]

I work in an Ag Machinery parts department & prefer email, most of our suppliers use it & its good because you have a record of whats said.

Generally as a rule, if a business has there own domain name & website they'll email you back.

[Daniel]

I always begin with email and then make a phone call.

I can honestly say all but 2 places I have emailed and have replied, I have then called and then gone in for face to face business.

The 2 places that didn't get my business were due to pricing and attitude when I then called them.

Also, maybe it is just me, but I REALLY like to have things in writing just in case and also for my own record and then negotiate / chat ya ears off in person, not even on the phone I will do this.
In my profession, it is vitally imperative that I have details in writing, a physical copy as so many things change down the line or down the chain of employees.. and as for verbal, I do not find it any more personal than an email in the way we are talking about in this thread.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by flappist

No, actually I grew up working in a small business and we had in the 1960's something that was almost unheard of. A telephone with a second line and an extension.

As far as missing the genuine business, for every genuine email there are zillions of crap emails that would have to be processed so any profit made would be long gone.

Now as I stated earlier, some think I am doing the wrong thing but then the core of this thread is that NOBODY is responding to emails so maybe, just maybe, emails are not the way to do business.

Possibly 20 years from now when gen Y are running businesses (or more likely working for gen Z still paying off their phone bill, plasma on 20 years interest free and FG falcon on 20 years with a 40% residual) email or some other new technology will be the lingua franca but not yet.

Yet again we have another reply loaded from your good self with sarcasm and a general "if you dont agree with me you are wrong and I will prove you to be an idiot" tone to it. Flappist I know you sometimes have good points but sometimes you need to consider that other people do have an opinion which differs from yours - and they're not wrong because of it.

Call me Gen Y, call me whatever you like but I prefer email because I know what I said and when I said/sent it. It's easier for me to keep a record of all of this on my laptop and look back and say "yep there's the quote from xxxx to supply xxxxxxx" - as opposed to digging through a pile of post it notes from phonecalls or having to call again.

I buy stuff from Ebay too, I suppose I'm being a yuppie by doing so as opposed to getting into the car driving to the shop and buying it in person. Forget the fact that it's easier, available 24 hours a day and quite often cheaper, nope it's still just me (and people like me) being a Gen Y who is, coincidentally, paying off an FG falcon (silly me for buying something I want).

Yes email gets spammed but tyre kickers own phones too so I fail to see that as a legitimate excuse. If I send an email saying "dear xxxx, could you please quote me to supply xxxxxx part, I am looking to purchase within the next xxxxx weeks", is that spam? Or is that me asking a supplier for a price, and giving them info on my intended purchase time and supplying my contact details including a phone number, which I always do?

Perhaps if some of the businesses I came across that didn't bother to reply didn't adopt the flappist way of thinking, they would have my business as opposed to being just another company who misses out on a paying customer.