Daimler parts program finds growth with exceptional customer service
December 17, 2024
Corcentric Managed AR professionals back up the fleet giant’s aftermarket parts program
Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) is a major player in the heavy-duty truck manufacturing industry, best known for its Freightliner and Western Star brands. DTNA Parts handles the vital aftermarket segment, supplying essential parts that keep trucks on the road and profitable. With an extensive dealer network of over 900 locations across North America, the group’s core responsibility is ensuring a seamless flow of parts to dealers and fleets, reducing downtime for customers.
“It’s the aftermarket experience that helps complete that customer lifecycle and helps drive that buying behavior back to the dealers,” says Nick Chapman, Manager of DTNA Parts Fleet Boost. “The goal is to feed our truck sales and to continue that customer loyalty and open their journey.”
To maintain an edge in the competitive truck parts market, DTNA Parts offers a wide range of products, from Genuine Parts, which are factory-installed and manufacturer-recommended, to Value Parts, which provide cost-effective alternatives. The company also offers programs like Excelerator, an eCommerce platform tailored to streamline the buying experience, Parts Pro, which simplifies the process of identifying the right part, and 24-hour delivery services from its Parts Distribution Centers (PDCs).
In a competitive market, DTNA prides itself on superior customer service, delivering operational efficiency, and implementing the proper technology to provide a white glove experience for their clients in the dealer network.
The challenge: complex dealer network, complex transactions
Despite DTNA Parts’ comprehensive offerings and robust dealer network, the company faced challenges in its aftermarket operations. One of the primary hurdles stemmed from the nature of its independently owned dealer network. With dealers free to source parts from other suppliers, DTNA needed to develop strong incentives to encourage them to buy directly from DTNA Parts. Maintaining dealer loyalty and steering fleets toward purchasing through DTNA’s network required consistent attention to pricing, quality, and speed of delivery. For instance, as Nick points out,
“Our persistence and how we prove value during challenging times has helped us grow one of our accounts by 20x in 5 years. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of building long-term relationships.”
Another significant challenge was managing the sheer volume of transactions. DTNA processes more than 2.9 million invoices annually, making transaction accuracy a daunting task. The complexity of pricing structures across various dealers only added to this burden. DTNA Parts needed a more efficient system to handle the volume and complexity of transactions while minimizing billing disputes and errors.
As DTNA Parts sought to enhance operational efficiency, it became evident that a streamlined billing and support system was critical to improving customer satisfaction.
The solution: Corcentric Managed AR
With Corcentric’s system, DTNA was able to centralize and automate its invoicing processes, significantly reducing the administrative burden. The system ensures invoices are processed quickly, accurately, and with minimal errors, improving customer trust. Brenda Bernacki, Director of Accounts Receivable Resolutions for Corcentric, and her team directly address the disputes that arise from managing millions of transactions.
“You’re researching what the problem is and then you have to unravel why it took place to stop it from happening again,” says Bernacki. “Our goal is to present the best customer satisfaction out there.”
Corcentric Managed AR has also played a pivotal role in supporting the evolution of the program, which started as Pinnacle, and is now called Fleet Boost. Amanda Fallows, Manager of Community Programs for Corcentric, and Steve Fallows, Director of Managed AR Growth and Development for Corcentric, have witnessed this transformation from the very beginning.
Having been brought over from Daimler when Pinnacle was outsourced to Corcentric, they recall the program’s founder resorting to creative means like repurposing furniture and computers from empty offices to build Pinnacle from scratch. The Fallows have carried on that fervent spirit, often providing on-site professional support and collaboration with Daimler stakeholders. This commitment to going beyond the solution’s technology has ultimately helped set the stage for Fleet Boost, which will tap into a new market segment, covering 80,000 carriers and 2.8 million power units. The human element remains critical in this relationship-based industry, even as the Corcentric team leverages automation and technology.
We spend a lot of our time making sure that the people within our network are supported and that they have their needs met so that they can get back to work says Steve. We want them to feel heard.
Chapman adds,
“Without the partnership with Corcentric, we would not be able to offer the high degree of support whether it be from a customer service standpoint, the centralized billing aspects, all the intricacies that come with the thousands of transactions that occur on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, that’s all possible because of our partnership with Corcentric.”
“Without the partnership with Corcentric, we would not be able to offer the high degree of support whether it be from a customer service standpoint, the centralized billing aspects, all the intricacies that come with the thousands of transactions that occur on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, that’s all possible because of our partnership with Corcentric.”
The results: making an impact on DTNA and their customers
The partnership between DTNA and Corcentric produced transformative results for DTNA Parts. One of the most notable outcomes was the significant growth in sales. The automated billing processes and streamlined operations allowed DTNA to increase its parts sales by 240%. Corcentric’s systems not only enabled DTNA to handle a higher volume of transactions but also improved overall proficiency, helping the company keep pace with increased demand without compromising on accuracy.
The reduction in billing disputes was another clear indicator of success. Corcentric’s solutions reduced disputes to less than 0.4% of all transactions—a remarkable feat considering DTNA’s previous challenges with managing complex pricing structures across its vast dealer network.
With fewer disputes and more accurate invoices, DTNA can enhance its relationships with both dealers and fleet customers, ensuring smoother transactions and higher satisfaction rates.
“We wouldn’t be able to grow without Corcentric managing all the complexities of the billing process,” says Chapman. “My team and I can spend our time doing more proactive and deliberate business development activities and we have proven to be such an effective partner that these fleets don’t even consider going anywhere else.”
Corcentric’s streamlined billing and invoicing processes make it easier for customers to do business with DTNA, and vice versa, resulting in more customer loyalty. Chapman appreciates Corcentric prioritizing the importance of building that kind of trust. He recalls an instance where they couldn’t acquire a specific part for a truck, so he drove to the production facility to grab the part off the production line and then drove five hours to drop it off so the truck could get to where it needed to be. “All it takes is a few of those wins to say ‘hey remember the time we did a ten-hour road trip to drop off this widget for you that kept your truck off the road?’,” says Chapman. “Everyone goes out of their way to make miracles happen.”
240%
Increase in parts sales
0.4%
Reduced disputes to less than 0.4% of all transactions
15 Days
DSO reduction from 37 days
“We wouldn’t be able to grow without Corcentric managing all the complexities of the billing process,” says Chapman. “My team and I can spend our time doing more proactive and deliberate business development activities and we have proven to be such an effective partner that these fleets don’t even consider going anywhere else.”
Conclusion: It takes a village
At the heart of the Daimler and Corcentric partnership is the people. While automation technology plays a large role in Corcentric Managed AR, the dedication from both sides to provide the best customer experience possible is what keeps the wheels churning.
In speaking with those who work on the DTNA parts program every day, it’s clear that the program’s success is human-driven.
“There’s Corcentric and our clients, and then each client’s community of buyers and sellers, so there are four entities involved in any transaction,” says Amanda.
“Functioning as a true partner means caring about each of these individuals, and that’s what facilitates success.”
And it’s that level of compassion that sets Daimler’s program apart from the rest.
“I would argue that we have the best e-commerce solution in the business right now. I’ve yet to hear anybody else that has one that comes as highly recommended and regarded as ours, and it’s because we have such a longstanding relationship with Corcentric,” says Chapman. “They put in the development, the time, the people, and the resources into making sure our customers can transact and check out seamlessly.”
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