March 2020

Above: Training is important 36 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2020 TOP TECHNICIAN-TOP GARAGE 2020 www.toptechnicianonline.co.uk TRAINING: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY AND HOW? Top Technician and Top Garage 2020 sponsors TechMan ask whether to train or not to train, and also who to train? T raining is a conundrum that faces all garage owners and managers. With staff ranging from janitors, delivery drivers and vehicle apprentices to technicians, service advisors and beyond, where do we start and who needs training? We all immediately think “we must train technicians, and we should maybe also get an apprentice, we also need to know the latest technology and stay with the times, diesel, ADAS, Pass-thru,” the list only goes on. We can always justify sending someone that has been on the tools in excess of 10, 15 or even 30 years to continue to train and learn more. Meanwhile, other equally important members of the team are overlooked. What about the service advisor or the service manager or even the business owner – Don’t they also need training? Service advisors, the ones at the coal face facing 25-50 customers a day, need support and assistance to keep them up to date. Ask yourself this: Have they been trained to update digital service records in the event it is forgotten by the tech? Are they aware of what Block Exemption is so they can confidently book vehicles in that are still under manufacturer warranty? Are they aware of changes to consumer law? Are they even aware of the differences between an aftermarket part, OEM part and a genuine part? Then there are the service managers or business owners. Whether the issue is a customer complaint, an accident, an HR issue, a target setting or cashflow forecasting, these are the people who will have to make the final decision. Laws and standards change and evolve, and new products to help a business are released. Even the people at the top need to be told and taught. Here at TechMan, we are now seeing a slow but steady shift in the thinking on training priorities. In 2019 TechMan onboarded in excess of 650 new users to its platform. One reason being the business owners, service managers and service advisors are now embracing the opportunity to train and learn through using a leading provider and mentor such as The Garage Inspector – Andy Savva. People like Andy can help and train them on subjects that would not ordinarily be available from a mainstream training provider. With this change in mindset, owners, managers and advisors realise they no longer just want a basic invoicing system as it is no longer enough to sustain their business. Similar to a tech simply having a fault code reader to now requiring more sophisticated diagnostic kit that can offer more features and solutions, they now require a garage management system that can help them run the workshop, reception and business as a whole more efficiently and ultimately more profitably. Enable Like a quality diagnostic tool can’t fix a car for you, TechMan cannot run your business, but what it does do is enable you to implement processes and structure. With this you can understand and implement key performance indicators that can then be measured in real-time and further more assist with some of the more time-consuming day to day admin tasks. We have a sincere passion at TechMan to help garages achieve their goals whether it be increasing hours sold, identifying leakage through parts to even taking more web bookings, whatever your goals we provide unlimited daily support for all in your business from Techs using tablets for paperless job cards and videos, through to the accountant updating the purchase ledger and everything in between. In changing times, when technology and consumer communications channels are ever more powerful influences, and the VMs are getting smarter and more aggressive looking to keeping our customers, training is a necessity for survival and success. In this world, training needs to be rolled out across the board, a 360° approach for the entire business. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please call Ryan Fuller to discuss on 01732 370340 or email: ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk