Fixed Ops Journal - February 2018 - 27

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

Automakers train dealership techs in fast-service processes

ALYSHA WEBB
foj@autonews.com

Ford brand representative drops by
Ford of Orange at least monthly to
make sure the lube technicians follow the express service process in
which they are trained. The instruction includes
a video that shows the proper method for a
walkaround inspection of a customer's vehicle.
"Part of the training is to have the newer
techs watch [the video] every day before they
work on a car," says George Glover, service director of the California dealership.
Successful express service depends on technicians working within a well-choreographed
routine. Automakers offer brand-specific
training for dealership quick service techs to
ensure they know and follow the rules.
"We go in and help [dealers] install the physical processes that lead to efficiency and
greater productivity," Frederiek Toney, president of Global Ford Customer Service, told
Fixed Ops Journal.
Express service refers to jobs that take less
than an hour, such as oil changes, tire rotations and wiper blade replacements. It differs

HURDLES
continued from Page 26

dealerships, says Mike Brown, fixed operations director. They stock needed parts near
the express service bays.
"The parts managers freak out," Brown says,
but "it is all about speed."
Prime also assigns service advisers to its express lanes, Brown says. "You need a dedicated
quick lane adviser. Otherwise it will fail," he
says.
For service advisers, Brown says he favors
people with great personalities and lots of energy. Seventy percent of his quick service advisers are women, he says.
Consistency also is essential because staffing turnover is "constant" in his express lanes,
Brown says.
"You can't keep training and training and
training," he says. "We had a lot of quality issues before we had a good process."
The quality of express service leadership also is critical, says Todd Farrell, president of
Benchmark X Inc., a dealership operations
consulting firm in Sioux Falls, S.D. He compares an express lane to a NASCAR pit.
Without a strong crew chief, Farrell says, the
express lane "turns into chaos."
Finding the right people to work in his deal-

at Toyota Motor North America.
from Ford's trademarked Quick Lane service,
These standards include showing managewhich covers 12 to 15 tasks that can take more
ment's commitment to fast service, completthan an hour.
ing such service in less than an hour, dedicatMSX International provides Quick Lane training staff to express service, conducting multiing. Bosch trains express service technicians for
point vehicle inspections and maintaining
Ford; its process consists of four steps:
needed tools and parts in the service
1. Assess the quick-service center,
bay.
process and staffing.
A Toyota consultant visits Griffy's
2. Develop an action plan based on
Quick Lube three times a year, says
the assessment.
Mike Sullivan, director of fixed opera3. Train lube techs to interact with
tions at Griffith Motors. The consulquick service customers, get needed
tant evaluates how well lube techs
parts and work with other techs in
follow the automaker's process and
two-person teams.
helps the dealership develop a busi4. Apply metrics to measure performance and allow for continued mon- Toney: Ford aids ness plan for making improvements,
updating specifications and training
itoring.
dealers' quick
technicians.
"All too often in our industry we in- service process
The dealership uses Toyota's prostall things, but we slip away from
cess on all vehicles that come to Griffy's Quick
them," Toney says.
Lube, Sullivan says. Toyota certifies lube techs
The techs at Griffy's Quick Lube, part of Grifin its express service process.
fith Motors in The Dalles, Ore., are trained in
"It establishes morale and confidence" in
Toyota's Express Maintenance process. Dealthe techs, Sullivan says. "Instead of being at
erships must meet specific standards, says
the bottom of the totem pole, they are feeding
Brian Campana, national manager of parts,
business to the rest of the dealership." 
service and accessories sales and operations
ership's Quick Lane bays has been a challenge, says George Glover, service director at
Ford of Orange, in California.
Quick Lane is Ford's express service brand.
Ford of Orange has Quick Lane bays in the
corner of its large service area.
Glover has had success promoting porters
or greeters who "do well with people" to be
Quick Lane service advisers. Hiring people
who previously worked at independent quick
lube shops has worked less well, he says.
"You are bringing in people who are looking
to move to the next level, and they are coming
in at the same level," he says.
Glover looks to auto tech training programs
at local community colleges for express lane
techs. To keep those techs invested in the job,
Glover pitches express service as a training
ground for a job in the regular service department.
"I absolutely make it clear this is a springboard into a dealership position," he says.
How to build a career on a job in the express
lane is a conversation a dealership needs to
have early on with its lube techs, says Benchmark X's Farrell. His firm recommends hiring
techs who are in school or finishing a training
program.
"Show them a career path and communicate with them on a regular basis as to how

they are doing," Farrell says.
Properly run express lanes should feed new
business into the service department. Experienced advisers will point out the need for recall repairs, for example.
That pipeline helped clear a hurdle Prime
Motor Group faced when it added express
service: pushback from service department
advisers who thought the fast lanes were taking money out of their pockets.
"They were 100 percent against express,"
Brown recalls.
But he says the express lanes have boosted
customer retention, which benefits the regular
service department. "With the self-driving vehicles and electric vehicles [coming], we need to
capture every bit of service out there," Brown
says.
Customer satisfaction with a dealership's service department improves if it offers express
service, says Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at J.D. Power and Associates.
Dealerships with express service score
about 44 points higher on Power's Customer
Service Index study, on a 1,000-point scale.
Griffith Motors has had its CSI scores rocket
since its express service has improved, Sullivan says. He identifies another benefit: "We
are selling 400-plus engine and cabin filters a
month." 

FEBRUARY 2018

PAGE 27

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - February 2018