Training Is Important!
Training Is Important!
Steve received a degree in Electrical Engineering and then served in the US Navy. He started with Komatsu America 1978. For the next twelve years Steve worked through various equipment sales positions before becoming the Vice President of Parts, Vice President of Service. During this period Steve sat on the board of a major distributor in the North east US as well as Hensley Industries. After twenty-five years Steve moved from the OEM side of the business to the Distribution side by joining Tractor and Equipment Company in 2003 as Vice President of Product Support.
Throughout his career Steve has learned the Industry from the ground up. This allowed him to have a very clear view of what was needed to support customers, employees and owners in their pursuit of excellence. Working at high levels in both the Manufacturing and the Distribution side of the business gave Steve some great learning opportunities and chances to develop insights. Steve retired in January of 2020. After spending 40 plus years in an industry we are very pleased to be able to share some of Steve’s insights with you and honored to consider Steve a friend.
This week, we continue with Steve’s guest blogging.
Training is important!
This is one of those obvious things.
Our manufacturers tell us that our technicians must attain certain levels of expertise. In fact, I believe that most manufacturers will eventually base warranty compensation on the level of proven training expertise the performing mechanic has received.
Our customers will not pay for on the job training. We often have to cut hours of billable labor off of a job that took too long. We all have customers that will request a specific technician that they consider competent.
Poorly trained technicians tend to over or under order the parts that they will need and create inventory issues. They also create expensive redo.
Poorly trained parts counter employees frustrate customers and miss sales opportunities.
Good employees expect ongoing training to help them improve their skills. They consider this a perquisite of the job. Good employees are very receptive to training and are great judges of whether training is worthwhile or worthless. We all want good employees.
We will be continuing with Steve’s series here next Friday, as he continues to reflect on a career well-spent.
