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Franken Auto Parts sits on
an 80-acre piece of property just outside a small town of
just 5,700 people. It is also one of the town's largest private
employers, next to the hospital and school district. In 1974, Bob
Franken started the business on the grounds of his family's farm. He
would buy wrecked automobiles, separated out the usable parts and
scrapped the rest.
For more than a decade, Bob provided customers throughout the
northeastern part of the state with high-quality used auto parts at
affordable prices. When his son, Chris, got involved in the business in
1990, they produced a catalog of their rare parts which was mailed to
street rod and classic car enthusiasts.
In 1995, Steve Cox,
Bob's son-in-law, joined the team.
Steve was an expert in automotive body repair and painting. He suggested
that they set up a body and paint shop to restore and resell some of the
more desirable models, rather than parting them out.
By 2001, the catalog business had grown and included salvaged parts as
well as a wide stock of new parts manufactured specifically for antique
automobiles and employed seven people. The repairable car business
employed six more. Bob retired that year, selling the business to Chris
and Steve.
As partners, Chris and Steve knew that the Internet would play an
integral role in their growth. They'd developed a strong network of
suppliers for their catalog and restorable auto business. They
contracted with a web-designer who developed an
online store. They advertised in a number of circulars and
magazines that served hot-rod enthusiasts. Within eight months, they had
to hire an addition staff person to take care of the online sales orders.
By mid-2002, they realized that they were missing a huge opportunity to
serve clients, since a substantial number of
their catalog sales calls were coming in on weekends or after hours.
"It had been like that for I don't know how long. One Saturday morning,
Steve and I were both working to prepare for inventory, so we were actually
in the shop. I think we took four calls between us, all of them easy sales to
people calling from out-of-state," Chris recalls.
"At first, we were really upset, I mean, we were trying to work," he
laughed. "Then, after Steve hung up with the last call of the morning,
he looked at me and said, 'I wonder how many people we miss each
Saturday when we're working in the yard or we're in the paint booth."
"That's when it really hit us. Here we were, working eight to five. We
came in on weekends to catch up but we just seemed to be answering the
phone. That’s when we decided to hire an answering service to answer our
calls and take orders during non-business hours. We've never looked back.
Sales are up, our worries are down, and we are able to focus on our work
in the shops without handling routine orders and phone calls. Of course,
we still personally handle all special orders. And now, there
are a lot more of them to handle," Chris smiled.
Learn more about telephone
answering services and discover how they might be able to help you.
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