Every service manager is tasked with more work than they can ever complete. One of the challenges they face is dealing with the constant flow of information from their vendors. When I was a service manager I had a box on a table in my office where I put the printed bulletins as they arrived. I was always going to read and file them, but it never happened. Today digital files likewise need to be read and available as needed. One way to help deal with this situation is a product specialist.
What is a Product Specialist
For this discussion, the term product specialist applies to a technician or a supervisor assigned to specialize in one or more product families. A product family is a group of models from one vendor that have similar properties. In many cases, one training class may cover three to five models, and this would be a product family.
Why You Need One
Every week, most manufacturers are releasing bulletins associated with the products they produce. Some of these bulletins are important, some may outline special programs that reimburse dealers for upgrading equipment with firmware or new modifications.
Additionally, with a multitude of products supported by most dealerships, the technicians never have the opportunity to excel on any one product. The result is a service force of generalists with limited skills. The field technicians will never have the time or will to read every bulletin on every product.
The solution is to have a technician specialize in one or more product families. For large dealerships, it may be possible to have a different technician assigned to each product family. In smaller dealerships, it may be necessary to have a technician cover multiple families.
Continue Reading in the free Members section or in ENX Magazine where the article first appeared. https://www.enxmag.com/twii/service-management/2016/10/the-product-specialist/
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