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EnvironmentProfit time
Profit time
21 Jul 2008
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Castrol survey reveals training failures are hitting dealer profits
DEALERSHIPS’ failure to invest in training for service advisers is hitting profits, according to the latest stage of research by Castrol Professional.
The finding is the second major conclusion from the company’s ongoing study that has already claimed that 41% of advisers plan to leave their jobs within two years.
The second stage of the survey found:
- More than half of service advisers receive fewer than the industry-recommended minimum of five days’ training
- Insufficient training prevents staff upselling additional work to the customer
- Job satisfaction among service advisers increases with training
- Most service staff want more training
Castrol Professional said the survey showed 54% of the customer-facing advisers receive less than the industry-recommended minimum of five days’ training per year. One in five receive two days’ training or less.
The company said this will impact on dealer profits because the more training advisers receive, the more confident they become at upselling additional work to the customer.
Insufficient training also leads to lower job satisfaction, according to the research. It found 20% of staff who receive two days’ training or less feel unsatisfied, compared to 9% who have nine or more days’ training per year.
“Considering the pivotal role played by service advisers and managers in maintaining a dealership’s customer satisfaction rating and overall profitability, it is surprising how little time or money is invested in their training,” said Adrian Brabazon, Castrol OEM and workshop marketing manager.
“While there is some variance across the industry in the amount of training provided, both at manufacturer and dealer level, only a minority of service advisers feel they are given enough training to enable them to handle customer queries or upsell additional work,” said Adrian.
The survey found that even those advisers who received nine or more days’ training per year, did not feel they would fail to benefit from yet more instruction.
“While any training on top of a manufacturer-specified programme will inevitably have some cost implication, dealers must ask themselves if they can afford not to invest in better training their staff,” continued Adrian.
“If staff feel unable to upsell additional work to the customer, the dealership will miss out on this increasingly important source of dealer profit.”
Castrol Professional is currently working with the IMI to ensure its service adviser training programmes meet industry needs.
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