Every service manager I know is tasked with more work than they can ever complete. One of the challenges they face is dealing with constant flow of information from their vendors. I know when I was a service manager that I had a box on a table in my office where I put the printed bulletins that came in. I was always going to read and file them, but it never happened. 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.
Duties of a Product Specialist
The first duty that should be assigned to the product specialist is to read every bulletin and make sure that important information is disseminated to the appropriate people. For example, if a manufacturer has a program to reimburse the dealership for upgrading firmware, that information needs to be provided to the service manager. Additionally, the firmware and process to document the completion need to be given to the technicians that work on the product. Parts change information should go to the inventory department.
Since the product specialist is reading all of the bulletins, the technicians should be encouraged to contact the product specialist when they have trouble resolving problems in the field. This serves two purposes. First, the answer may be in a bulletin. Second, by having all of the difficult problems referred to the product specialist, a problem new to the technician may be something that another technician has dealt with and the product specialist should know how it was resolved.
In some dealerships, they compile a problem solution handout to help technicians solve issues more quickly. This duty would fall to the product specialist as well. Since he is the point of contact for unusual problems, he could easily start to compile this information and share it.
Selecting a Product Specialist
For dealerships that have large numbers of technicians, the challenge is how you choose the right person. I recommend starting with the technicians that other technicians go to for help. In almost every department, there is a go-to tech that other techs rely on. These individuals are the logical choice for a product specialist.
Another possible candidate is the technician that supports the largest population in the field. Because he supports the most machines, he will typically see more different problems, and have a better grasp on the issues with the product.
Supervisors are also potential candidates, depending on their workload. Additionally, individuals that you want to evaluate for advancement are good prospects for this role. Technicians that show initiative by completing online training and asking for training are also potential candidates.
Training and Motivating the Product Specialist
As with any other responsibility assigned to a technician, training is required. The supervisor or manager should review the role of the product specialist and outline the expectations for the position. It would be good to go through some bulletins and point out how the information should be categorized and disseminated. I would recommend that the product specialist be the first technician sent to school on any new products that they would be assigned.
For a product specialist to be effective, he will need time allocated to completing these responsibilities. He needs the time to read all the bulletins, and to research issues that technicians are dealing with. The amount of time required will vary depending on manufacturer and product families supported.
Since this role is really an extra duty that not all technicians have, the product specialist needs to be rewarded for successfully handling this role. The value the product specialist provides should also be considered when evaluating technicians for recognition.
Reap the Benefits
The product specialist concept allows a dealership to improve the efficiency of their service department. It will help the technicians have the important information they need to service the product. It will also reduce the service manager’s workload allowing him to focus on the big picture items.
