Ecobat Battery’s best practice principles
Although from a service perspective, delivering the correct product at the right time is the most important role, running a profitable business and operating a tight ship go hand in hand, which is why, according to its product, e-commerce and marketing strategy manager, Andy Waite, Ecobat Battery continues to promote battery best practice to its wholesale customers.
Warranty claims and product returns continue to be the bane of many, but when it comes to supplying replacement batteries, there are proactive steps that can be taken to help reduce the stress of these unwanted problems:
The first step in ensuring the correct battery specification for the application is to ask for the vehicle’s registration number, rather than simply supplying a battery, such as an 063, upon request. This might seem an extra complication when the customer has made a direct demand, but without checking, it’s possible that the technician could be inadvertently replicating the installation of the wrong specification battery because the vehicle could already have been relying on an unsuitable battery. This could have contributed to its failure. However, by confirming the identity of the vehicle, and, therefore, what specification battery it needs, you have already minimised the likelihood of having to deal with an unwanted return.
The second step is to ensure that every battery supplied is fully charged when it leaves the premises, and this is best carried out by employing a rolling charging regime for all the batteries in stock.
Although this is not a complicated procedure, it does require a good quality charger and a designated member of staff with the responsibility to rotate the charger between the batteries – ideally a couple of times a day. Although an obvious statement, supplying a battery that is less than fully charged has the potential to detrimentally affect checks that might be taken within other parts of the vehicle’s electrical system, with the possibility of showing false readings or masking other faults. However, with a rotational charging regime in place, the possibility of supplying a partially discharged battery is significantly reduced, which, therefore, makes a big difference when it comes to not only any subsequent potential warranty claims, but also the relationships you have with workshop customers.
Ecobat Battery goes further than ‘best practice’ support
Alongside these encouragements, among the other benefits of partnering with Ecobat Battery include the level of support we can provide in terms of supplying the brands that are required to satisfy the needs of various customers and the specialist advice and guidance you can give them.
Starting with batteries, in addition to familiar OE brands, such as Exide and VARTA, among a plethora of alternatives, we also supply Lucas, a name that is still widely recognised and valued by many motorists as a trusted OE quality product, and Numax, our own brand, which allows you to supply a high-quality substitute, when price could be an issue.
When it comes to complementary support activities, we are also proactive with messages to the workshop community, which is of direct benefit to you. A great example comes with our three-pronged ‘test, support and think’ campaign, which highlights the need for workshops to test the battery in every vehicle that enters their premises, irrespective of the reason for its visit; the need to support the vehicle’s electrical system with a constant supply feed during diagnostic activities; and to think about the 12V battery requirements that are everpresent within every vehicle, including hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
Alongside this campaign, we have recently championed the need for technicians to fully diagnose the battery, to find any underlying faults with the vehicle’s electrical system before fitting a replacement. Although this might initially seem detrimental to your battery sales, it actually contributes to your best practice principals of reducing returns and warranty claims, highlighted earlier.
Should the battery require replacement, however, part of this campaign also addresses the need for workshops to offer the most suitable option for their customers’ needs, which might vary dependant on their annual mileage or the distance of their typical journeys; therefore, it could make a difference in the battery technology to go for – SLI, EFB or AGM, as examples.
Naturally, those working with us are fully supported when it comes to the supply of the products, but it is always wise for them to encourage their workshop customers to recommend the vehicle owner to opt for the best quality replacement for such an important component, as they won’t want their customers to experience the same issue again.
By actively following these best practice principles and to work with customers when faced with issues in the workshop, we are providing practical solutions to everyday problems and demonstrating our ongoing commitment to our valued customers.
