It is a good idea to know where your resources are located before you need them, for all of life’s eventualities. Whether it be, knowing where the best places to go for a quick meal, getting a key cut or buying parts for your vehicle. Not only is it a good idea to know where these are but also to build a working relationship with these places. It saves time and sometimes can save you money.
So finding out where your local van scrap yard is located is the first step but next you should visit them, tell them who you are and what sort of van you have. If it is a Mercedes sprinter tell them as this will mark you out as a customer that they will have parts for more often – as most van breakers have parts for this type of van.
When you need even the smallest part that you could get from eBay or elsewhere go down to the scrap yard and ask if they have the part you are after. This process of many small sales could pay off when it is time for a big sale as they will know you already and may allow you access to better prices for parts that other customers won’t be offered.
This process is more human and a little old school but worth the effort. There are many phone calls every day to any business and if your call or visit can be marked out as from a valued and known customer then the staff are more able and willing to provide a better service, say providing information, or better prices based on the fact that you will return and spend more with the same company in future.
As they say it’s not what you know but who you know, this has always been true and remains so even in this modern age of internet sales and impersonal business relationships.