Page 19 - Jan-Feb 2021 Vol 38 No 6
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of being warranty certified is the give you more chances to send your Tom Collins
manufacturer will pay you to work staff for training. ASE 25 Years
on your own equipment. Your agency 5. Focus on employee retention - Many
should not plan on making a profit; managers believe that when it comes Manufacturers have enough headaches
however, it will certainly help offset to training, they are often training a and generally will shy away from having
some of the costs that continue to climb technician for someone else. It often someone that is not a dealer for their
each year. Hopefully this shows how feels that once the technician gets the product, work on their equipment.
extremely important it is to create those training that they need, they will go out They expect dealers to follow certain
relationships mentioned in step one, if and find a job that will pay more money. protocols and procedures to ensure that
you want to succeed in step two. Although this can be an issue, you can repairs are carried our correctly. If you
use ongoing training as an incentive have a messy shop and your service
3. Use any free training to your advantage to stay. Talk to your mechanics, records are not organized, it is unlikely
- Let’s face it, education is expensive. especially if you were not once a that a manufacturer will want to work
No matter how you look at it, there is mechanic yourself. Most mechanics and with you.
a cost associated whether it’s formal or technicians want additional training. If Most of the vendors with whom we
on the job. Most manufacturers and you ask mechanics how you can make
some vendors offer free training on their job easier, they will almost always have negotiated either warranty work
their products. This could be a one- say more training. Another tip is to certification or factory training are
day training from their technicians to talk to your finance or human resource surprised that we are asking. Some believe
a week-long training at their facility. department and ask for an incentive that you are not really serious and may
Take advantage and send as many of increase in pay for ones that go through ignore your requests. If the first word
your staff to the training as possible. training. It could be as a one-time out of their mouth is “NO,” do not let
As we all deal with employee turnover, bonus or a salary increase. Encourage that be the end of the conversation. Keep
training just one employee in several ASE testing and incorporate it into asking. Ask factory reps when they come
areas is not good practice. promotions. Giving your technicians a to visit, especially if you are looking to
clear path for advancement will help in purchase equipment. Like any salesman,
4. Diversify your staff - We all have employee retention. Keeping employees they will become extra motivated to
limited staff, and putting them into shows the manufacturers that your meet your needs if you are looking to
divisions can help you to focus your organization is on solid footing. purchase. More often than not, if you
training. Having specific technicians 6. Get organized - Showing a ask a vendor or manufacturer what other
work on fire apparatus, for instance, manufacturer that you are organized municipalities are receiving factory
makes it easier to focus that training and efficient will go a long way in training or are warranty certified to
in that area. Having the same getting them to work with you for perform maintenance and repairs, the list
technicians work on heavy equipment training, software and access to will be short or non-existent.
one day and lawnmowers the next technical information. Even if you
can be problematic and costly. An have only a handful of technicians and
important suggestion is to first a few hundred pieces of equipment
separate light and heavy duty vehicles. to maintain, having a clean shop,
Then, separate fire apparatus from organized fleet plan and a fleet
all heavy equipment. Lastly, have one management system that helps you
or two technicians dedicated to small track all maintenance is critical.
equipment, such as lawnmowers and
chainsaws. These types of divisions
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