We’ve been discussing the tidal wave of technology being installed on new vehicles with the goal of providing awareness of what is happening in our industry; this is so you can prepare your team to be service ready when they arrive at your door. In this edition, we’ll discuss how to go about preparing for the near future when your team will be servicing and repairing highly complex vehicles in your bays. But first I must warn you that some of what I’m going to suggest is not going to be easy. It is going to be hard, and it is going to require significant change in the way you do business. It is going to mean you need to pay for the talent and skill required to solve problems with complex machines and systems. It also means you’re going to have to invest in the right equipment and information, not the least expensive or the one-size-fits-all solution. You’re going to need to not just raise your labor rate, but modify totally how you price and communicate value to your customers. In essence, we are moving from being mechanics to acting more as the technologists we are becoming.
We first need to accept the fact that we as an industry are woefully unprepared to be working on the vehicles in our bays today, let alone what we see on the showroom floor at the dealer down the street. Sure, we’ve attempted to stay abreast by changing the way we change oil and beginning to discuss ADAS technologies. However, I fear we don’t have enough skilled people who truly understand the foundations of electricity and physics of the technology in a way needed to provide confidence in the owner of the vehicle. This takes time to acquire and deploy, which is why we haven’t yet achieved the competence needed. So, let’s look at three groups who we need to support in this effort: your technicians, your sales team and your business model.
I’ve mentioned this many times over the last several years: the lack of foundation in electrical/electronic skills today is astonishing. Most of the vehicles in your bays today are equipped with a data network that requires a technician with a solid electronics foundation to understand and repair. So, the first step in becoming prepared for future technologies is to ensure anyone working on these technologies has a deep understanding of foundation electrical/electronics and is fluent in data network analysis and diagnosis. These skills include the ability to effectively use a factory wiring diagram and a digital storage oscilloscope; it means being able to read with full comprehension the service information provided for the system being serviced. It also means that not only can the technician understand and apply what they read, but that they have the ability to teach these skills to others. Proof of skill is a critical step in moving toward our goal of being competent in serving our customers.
How do you put this process in place to create competent electronics experts? First, you need to identify those who have some or most of these attributes and those who do not. Work with your training provider to schedule foundation electrical classes with hands-on sessions in your market so that you can enroll your entire team. Yes, require all skill levels to attend the foundations courses; your goal is to create competent electricians. Inexperienced techs need to be exposed to the foundation skills, and your experienced techs need to refresh their foundation skills. Your advanced techs will mentor your less experienced techs during class and especially during hands on exercises. After a few sessions, talk to your training provider about allowing your advanced techs the ability to teach portions of the class. By engaging the advanced tech in the preparation of teaching your less experienced techs, you’ll see their growth in action. I’ve seen this in person, and the results are amazing. Keep in mind it is not easy to ask a journeyman technician to attend a foundation electronics class; ask them to attend to assist in mentoring your younger techs, and the context in their mind changes. What you’ll find is an experienced tech who becomes much more engaged in not only the education of a less experienced tech, but in themselves. It also binds them together as mentor/mentee in a way that you may not be able to do by simply demanding they do so. The end result is tremendous growth by both the mentor and the mentee. But don’t stop there; find advanced courses for the mentor where they can grow their skills in the discipline where they can become the mentee. It is the process of actively investing in your own education that you need to foster and support in order to grow the skills needed to service the technologies of today, let alone the technologies of tomorrow.
For your service sales team, the challenge is massive because we have such a gap in understanding of technology that allows easy explanation of the service or analysis process to the customer. To close this gap, you need to require your sales team to attend technical classes. The goal is not to make diagnostic technicians out of them, but to immerse them in the terminology, diagnostic process, tests required and complexity involved so they can begin to create the word tracks they will use to help motorists understand not only how the technology works, but how it must be serviced, why it takes time to do so, the significant skill needed to service it correctly, and most importantly, the risk involved in cutting corners, skipping steps or not doing the service at all. By including your sales team in the technical classes, your mentors will have the ability to influence their understanding and ability to communicate effectively.
Finally, your business model must be updated to provide for the margins needed to pay for talent in a way that attracts young people to our industry, retains existing talent and provides a great return on investment. This means you need to charge enough and pay enough. It also means you need to change the way you acquire customers and retain customers. It means you need to think about where the customer drops the vehicle off and where they pick it up. It means considering where you actually do the work. The owners of these technology-laden vehicles don’t communicate like our older customers. They expect you to provide exceptional service that makes them go “Wow!” It means you need to be different, but most importantly it means you have to be perfect in your ability to service their technologies right the first time. Because you are only going to get one chance before they decide you aren’t the right choice.
