As long as its yor brand.You should know all you can about it.But with late model lifts.Its earn as you learn.
That becomes sad when your feeling your way along and still out preform the dealer that sold the lift.I found localy that most dealers think once they sell you a truck your locked into them because only they know how to work on them.We as a dealer work on all.Some times thats a problem.Thankfuly this site has a lot of teachers for those that want to learn.Im not talking about general repairs Hose, leaks ,ect.

A BIG "10-4" on that ricky_j The things you mentioned are the reasons dealers have such a bad "RAP" They hire inexperienced people and pay them peanuts. Customers who pay dealership prices expect someone who knows what there doing and fixes their machines right the first time. The customer"s equipment should not be for training a GREENHORN

We are doing fair most of us are busy.But its from roll over customers.We picked them up because of bad service or overpriced.We normaly have 7 to 10 retaining after we get them.Some you wouldnt want fail to pay gripe about evey bill when they come back for a second or third time I wonder why we dont turn them away.New sales are down about as low as I have seen in 15 years of this.Not to say all is bad older lifts break down more so service is up.Dont mind that a bit but when you let customer know that they have a money pit.They alert you new lifts are not in budget.Like stated before take good care of what customers you have.Work for the company your in like it belonged to you and not like its a paycheck.Pray for the best.

John, All dealers and large non-oem shops are dead. I am an independent with 2 trucks and adding a 3rd in march. I have found that customers medium and large are looking for Value and Integrity, which has made it a good business environment for us. It appears that most customers are just waiting for a good alternative to Dealers whom, to them, all seem the same. Over-priced, high employee turnover, billing issues, unkept promises, over-billing, poor work from under experienced/underpaid "wet behind the ears", fresh out of "autoshop" students. My advise to you is give the customer what they pay for, admit when you make mistakes, invest in your "naturals", and when you find that tech with something special, pay him well.