When ever you are having your bleachers repaired, retrofitted, or newly installed, everyone is looking for a bang for their buck when choosing a bleacher parts supplier, but don’t be fooled – a low price may not always be the way to go. Actually, price shouldn’t be number one on your priority list. Here are the things you are going to want to consider when choosing a supplier for your bleacher supplier parts:

• Quality of Product
• Customer Service
• Quick lead times
• Accurate and informational catalogs
• Consistency
• Customer reviews

* Note these are not listed in any particular order. It is merely a list of important things to consider.

We will go through each of these points and discuss their importance in the supplier choosing process.

Quality of Product

Any company that orders parts and installs them should have an evaluation process that verifies if the parts they are ordering qualifies for the type of product applications that that company usually encounters. In other words, a bleacher company needs to make sure the parts they are ordering don’t fail, especially during use, which is much more problematic than paying a slightly higher price tag for a part. Be sure to express this to the customer of the bleacher installment so they are understand the higher price of the installment.

Customer Service

Quality people are the most important piece of a business. When you contact a supplier to initiate business with them, the salesman you converse with should have the following qualities:

• Responsive
• Knowledgeable
• Flexible
• Goes above and beyond
• Able to form a relationship
• Plentiful with the amount of information they are willing to disclose about their product
• Always looking out for your best interest as a customer

The customer service can make or break a business relationship. Great customer service can even outweigh the quality of the product. Knowing that someone is going to be there for you is much more valuable than buying a high-quality product with poor customer service, especially when something goes wrong.

Quick Lead Times

Time is money! Short lead times on ordered parts means quicker service to the customer you’re installing bleachers for, and with quicker service gives you as the installer an opportunity to put a higher price tag on your installment job. Not only that, it allows your installment to stay on track and exceed customer expectations. Many bleacher part suppliers will claim, “98% of stock items ship within 24 hours.” Be sure to contact the supplier and verify this.

Accurate and Informational Catalogs

 Much of the evaluation process of bleacher parts can be done using the supplier’s parts catalog. This is why it is important that the supplier’s parts catalog has all of the dimensions and ratings you use to qualify a part for your bleacher project. It is very inconvenient when a catalog does not contain the information you’re looking for as you have to call and ask for that information, which may take a week to obtain. An accurate and informational parts catalog is a direct reflection of the quality of the supplier’s customer service and parts.  An accurate and informational parts catalog will save you time.

Consistency

A company that takes their business seriously will be consistent in their service and product. No one wants to work with someone that does not deliver consistent results. This puts a lot of uncertainty in a bleacher project’s timeline and in the quality of parts in use. The quality service that a bleacher installment company receives will directly be passed on to the service the company receiving the bleacher installment experience.

Customer Reviews

Every business will try to prove to you that they are best. This were the customer reviews are extremely valuable. They give a small glimpse into how the customer experience truly is. It may undermine the what the company claims, but always take these reviews with a grain of salt. They may be irrationally angry customers, which isn’t always a credible source of information.

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into choosing the correct supplier for your bleacher parts. Always remember to do your research to make sure you’re making the best decision you can!