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ROADTECH---CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

Number of messages: 8

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roadrat
North Carolina, United States

Would like to throw something out to the folks in "FORUMLAND" for information purposes: I have tried to build a good working relationship and trust with my customers and have had great luck in doing so. They add more equipment to my list to work on and my opinion and advice are valued. They call me or have me come to the office and go over what issues need to be adressed and I keep the saftey man happy and also production and shipping. I do my best to save them money as well as look after my company----this is not a "HOW GREAT I AM POST" as I feel it's a techs job to do what I have described but have you guys ran into problems with your management because of this? Some dealers do not allow this and some don't put the techs name on their uniforms and rotate the customers to avoid then getting "TIGHT" your feedback is appreciated

Modified 5 Mar 2008 12:14 AM
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roadrat
North Carolina, United States

RESPONSE TO: etharp..... I definatly get your drift on the latter part of your post.

-------------------------
"ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?"

Modified 7 Mar 2008 10:31 AM
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proshadetree
Tennessee, United States

Amen to both posts

Posted 24 Feb 2008 11:59 PM

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batman
Pennsylvania, United States

I run in to the same problem. My customers would rather that I would do their work and nobody else. In fact some call me direct instead of going through my dispatcher and they will wait for me. However, to keep turn around time to a minimum most companies need to grab the "nearest" tech who is available to take care of the call.
There also is the problem of the tech buying their own van and going it solo, which happens and companies lose work. It really is a catch 22 for many companies, satisfy customers by sending the same techs with the possibility of losing customers if the tech goes on their own, or send whoever is free and possibly lose customers because you are probably sending a second rate tech.
I find that the smaller the company the more likely it is that the same tech will service the same account. It's when the companies grow to a huge size (1,000's of customers) that you find different techs going to different customers all the time.

Posted 25 Feb 2008 06:53 AM

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JDBurton
Virginia, United States

i ran into this at a former company. We had a new service manager who did not see the value of customer/tech relationships. Many customers became accustomed to the tech who "managed" their account and often requested this tech and were willing to wait for them to be available. When the mgr decided not to honro these requests and to try and prevent having the same tech in a place too often it proved that relationships keep customers and we lost many as a result.

Posted 26 Feb 2008 02:03 AM

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kevin_k
dumfriesshire, United Kingdom

from experience multiple truck users ie anything above 5 units prefer same engineer to attend their site . you get to know each other and can talk to each other . also you get to know the trucks , which operators look after the kit and which are rough . some of my operators will give such a good description of faults that you can be thinking about it all the way to site and cure it in a fraction of the time . on the other hand you get the guys who turn and botch up the job knowing that it won,t be them who has fix the thing properly . just stick some rags under the valve chest is a favourite 2-3 weeks later it drips again and someone else gets the job .

when you cover an area as big as mine you have to build good relationships ,i work for a main dealer and competion from the little guy at the end of the road is always a threat.

Posted 26 Feb 2008 07:09 AM

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MikeD
Massachusetts, United States

   As a former road, shop tech, & Service Manager, I found it very tough to try and please the whole batch. They put Sales in charge of Service. (oil & Water - two seperate concepts). As a Tech I had to follow directions (right or wrong). As a Service Manager I had a real juggling act going. I had to keep the Management happy (COSTS, COSTS, COSTS). I had to keep the Tech's happy ( hours, OT, Parts, etc). And from all sides I had to attempt to keep the Customers happy ( Billing, Service, why parts are not IN Stock? Why isn't the Tech waiting for my unit to break down? Etc.) Parts departments that had no concern was also a headache and created even more difficulties. (Poor Management, priorities, etc.
   A tech has only one job to worry about at a time in many cases, while a Service Manager has all the Techs (Road & Shop), also all the customers to please, all the while acting as a buffer between sales (management) & Service. I was in an enviroment that 9Rule 1) parts was never wrong. (If parts was wrong, refer to rule 1)
   I worked for dealers, etc. And now I work privately, with approx. 60 units, I am the Tech, Service Manager, Parts Dept, Purchase & Sales. It not the best, but it is much more satisfying than before.
  PS. The company (Sales) was always worried that I would take the customers with me when I left if I got to close to them. Lo & behold, The customers that arrived with me did move away from the dealer, not because of me, but because of the attitude displayed by the company.

Posted 4 Mar 2008 05:06 AM

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