Aftermarket March 2022

Below: Contestants meet the judges at the final MARCH 2022 AFTERMARKET 23 www.aftermarketonline.net in mind, as we mentioned earlier, the newest addition to Top Garage will be a specific Service Advisor of the Year award. This role is central to the success of the whole business, as it is the vital link between the customer and the workshop. With Top Technician rewarding mechanical excellence, and Top Garage as a whole recognising the entire business, the Service Advisor of the Year award will mean these absolutely key team members get their rightful laurels. Garages will be able to put their service advisor forward for the award. More information will be available during the sign-up process. Speaking of the process, let’s look at what businesses will need to do through Top Garage 2022. Once you have signed up, you will face a short quiz. Apart from being the first stop on the road to victory for some of you, for everyone this could provide thoughts on how to perform enhancements on your approach, boost the provision of customer service and generally suggest new ways to do everything. The further through the process you make it, the more valuable Top Garage becomes. You learn something more with every level you pass, and you also get the chance to work with some of the most significant figures in our industry, including Technical Topics main man James Dillon, and key figures from sponsor companies. Most of the time, businesses pay thousands of pounds for their time and their ideas, but Top Garage contestants get this for free Timetable and how to enter The first round of Top Garage 2022 opens on 7 March 2022. In order to progress all the way through the competition to the final on Saturday 1 October, businesses need to have taken part in the first round before it closes. This means enter as soon as possible. As with Top Technician, to enter, go to www.aftermarketonline.net and click on the Top Technician/Top Garage tab. Then click on the “enter here” tab and follow the instructions. Then follow the instructions, using the Top Garage voucher code: tg22@rd1 For a garage looking to nominate its service advisor for Service Advisor of the year, the voucher code is: sa22@rd1 If you have already registered for Top Technician, all you have to do is to go back into your account and use the code above which will then add the Top Garage test to your account. If you are wondering if Top Garage is something you should be involved in, don’t ask us, see what previous winners have said about the process, and winning. Martyn Langbridge, Cheltenham & Gloucester Autocentre, winner in in the 6-10 staff class in Top Garage 2019: “It is good, it helps us get closer to the customers. It is the way we differentiate ourselves from others around here that like to do the same job. I was hoping we would win, but was not sure we could come out on top with the level of garages also taking part." Declan McCormack, DeclanMcCormack Vehicle Repairs, winner in the 1-5 staff class in Top Garage 2019: “Top Garage is the only way I can benchmark myself. With customers, they’ll usually let you know if you have done something wrong. If you do things right though, you are never going to know about it. You only know because they are coming back. The problem is you can get into doing something and unless somebody tells you it is wrong, you will just carry on doing it. That's why it is quite nice to go to Top Garage." Kevin Pearce, Cedar Garage, overall winners in 2018 and winners in the 11-plus staff members class in 2019: "Sit down, take the test, and take note of the questions that you struggle on. If it is being asked in Top Garage is because you probably should know the answer. Regardless of whether you get through or not on the first round, you are going to learn from the 30 questions, even if you are 90% sure on 20 of them, 30% sure on five of them and not sure on the rest, that is 10 things you are going to brush your knowledge up on which could massively help with your business." Aaron Phillips, Jackson & Phillips Automotive Services, winner in the 10-plus staff members class in Top Garage 2021: “With Top Garage, I wanted to see where we are in comparison to other garages. That is why the Awards Evening was brilliant, as I got to speak to so many different people in so many different situations and I was able to talk to them about what we are doing, and what they are doing.” Further information Don’t forget that after the finals, in the evening on 1 October the winners will be announced at the Top Technician and Top Garage Awards Evening, being held at the Doubletree Hilton, Coventry. Last year’s event was one of the highlights of the year in the sector, and 2022 is going to be bigger and better than ever. More information on the Awards Evening will be released very soon. Make sure you keep an eye on www.aftermarketonline.net and Aftermarket magazine, as well as Aftermarket’s fortnightly newsletter for updates. Top Technician and Top Garage 2022 come to you in association with the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) and the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) and are sponsored by Snap-on, VARTA and Blue Print & febi bilstein.