Training Tidbit #6

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It has become clear recently that I will be continuing in the training business for some time to come so we are once more asking for your input and help on what additional learning subjects you want us to deal with in the coming years.

What additional subjects would you like us to deal with in webinars? What additional subjects would you like us to deal with in our classroom courses? You can view all our webinar and classroom course offerings at our website www.rjslee.com under the learning tab.

We are also considering offering our Parts & Service Selling class and the Parts & Service Marketing class in 2014. Please let us know if you have interest in either or both of these classes. We are thinking about doing them in Chicago in June.

In 2014 we will introduce the internet based self-study program which will complement all of our learning offerings. We will have a four parts series on parts and a four part series on service. Look for updates on these programs in the months to come.

Each of our learning programs builds on each other. The webinars build toward the classroom. The internet programs broaden the base and build on both the classroom and webinar programs.

You will be able to see the 2014 program dates and locations on our website shortly. Thanks to all of you who have attended one or more of our programs we do appreciate you participation and support. We have been offering learning programs since the early 1990’s and have had several thousand people go through these classes all around the world. We have operate training programs in Europe, Russia, The Middle East, Asia, Latin America and North America.  We will continue with these learning programs worldwide wherever there is a need. Thanks again.

I also wanted to give you a heads up about the upcoming December webinars I hope you can find the time to attend these content filled sessions.

December 2013 Webinar Schedule.

  • The Parts Department
  • December 3rd
  •                              Instore Merchandising
  •                              Expediting and Purchasing
  • December 4th
  •                              Best Practices
  •                              Standards of Performance
  • The Service Department
  • December 10th
  •                                           Labor Efficiency
  •                              Flat Rating/Standard Jobs
  • December 11th
  •                              Shop Floor Scheduling
  •                              Standards of Performance

To register go to aednet.org and enter at the AED Seminars and you will find all of the webinars under Product Support.

The time is now.

Parts & Service Management Training Unit I

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Next week is the last Unit I for Parts Managers and Service Managers for 2013. We welcome you to the windy city for this content packed learning experience.

Service Webinars

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Don’t forget to register for the webinars on service department operations this week. One hour each and content filled. Inspections, Work Order Process, Labor Rates and the Service Organization are the topics. Go to www.aednet.org to register. The time is now.

Parts Webinars

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Don’t forget the webinars offered next week. Tele-Selling, Warehousing, Pricing, and Inventory Control. A one hour of cost effective concentrated learning opportunity. Check it out at either www.rjslee.com under the learning tab or at www.aednet.org.

The time is now.

Disney and AED leadership check it out

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Check out www.aed-leadership.com and join in.

Education Step 12

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Many are talking about the lost generation. That is the current group of people in their late teens to their early twenties. The unemployment rate for this group is almost obscene and I am not really hearing a lot of outrage.

This group of people must be wondering what happened to them. When I was coming into the work force it was also a frustrating time. There were insufficient jobs available – interview after interview being told that you had everything that they wanted in a new employee but didn’t have any openings gets pretty old.

Think about the loss of earnings capacity for the economy. Think about the loss of taxable earnings as a result of delaying the entry to the economy of these talented people. The penalty is not just for the undereducated which has long been a concern of mine but also for the educated. The dilemma with the education received is that it has not delivered marketable skills to the students that the market wants or needs.

Hope is a wonderful emotion and feeling. But take away hope from these younger people and one day this will boil up and cause serious troubles for everyone.

So we have to get serious someday soon don’t you think. Get government out of education. Get unions out of the way. Get anyone who is protecting the status quo out of the way. Get business and parents and students together to determine what is required of the coming generation of workers.

The time is now.

Training Tidbit #5

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Those of you who have following this blog know about my concern for education, particularly the trade and vocational schools. Well yesterday in the Sunday paper here was another voice being raised. Morris Beschloss. He is a distinguished economic analyst He references a book in this article written by Edward E Gordon. It is dry reading but I consider it to be critical information. The book is titled “Future Jobs-Solving the Employment Skills Crisis.”

This book highlights how our vocational and technical training has been abandoned in this country. That is such a shame.

I hope you will get the book and read it. Then spread the word. The time is now.

Standards of Performance Webinar – March 20th 12:00 Noon Pacific

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It is not too late to register at aednet.org/products/seminars.

What does it looks like when it is right? Performance in a Parts Department must maximize productivity, manage assets and satisfy customers.  The first step to understanding and accepting what needs to be done is to have meaningful, measureable and achievable standards. How to develop your own standards and yet continue to reach for excellence is the theme in this webinar.

Individual employees want to do a good job yet many do not know what doing a good job entails. This is a fundamental requirement of good management, communicating performance expectations and measures to the employees. In this webinar we will cover the fundamentals exposed by Patrick Lencioni in his important book “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.”  Anonymity, Irrelevance and Immeasureability are the three symptoms of this disease which leads to the “Sunday Blues.”

Each employee can also deliver more than they think they are can yet each is fundamentally lazy. Leadership methods to entice or motivate employees to deliver  good performance for coworkers, customers and the Company will be discussed in this extremely important webinar.

The time is now.

Parts Best Practices Webinar – March 20th @ 9:00 AM Pacific

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Wednesday is when the action is on best practices. Don’t miss it.

With standards of performance we dealt with what it looks like when it is right. With Best Practices we aim for performance excellence. What is it that the most successful dealers are doing to achieve excellence? This is discussed in detail in this webinar to allow dealers to see optional approaches to processes and systems. From using the telephone as a sales tool to inventory turnover; from customer retention to sales/employee everything is discussed.

We cover all aspects of the processes required in a parts business; from dealer business systems to telephone systems to warehousing storage systems. People and system productivity and effectiveness are critical in any business today but this is especially true within the equipment business where the gross margin on the prime products continue to erode. There are many aspects within a parts business that must be covered that can make a significant difference in either cost or market positioning and competitive.

Process manuals, electronic or paper, and procedures as well as training methods to employ become critical to the consistent delivery of excellent customer service. How to measure your success in the area of customer satisfaction as well as all operational processes becomes part of this webinar. Anyone interested in achieving the best possible level of performance within the parts business will gain insight from this webinar.

Register now at aednet.org/products/seminars.

The time is now.

Purchasing & Expediting Webinar – March 19th @ 12:00 PM Noon Pacific

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It is not too late to registyer for tomorrows dynamic webinar.

When you have the part in stock you are the same as everyone else. The only part that matters is the one you don’t have in stock. The equipment and parts suppliers have made the ordering process so simple we have lost sight of expediting and the purchasing function. If a machine is down the customer wants the part now.

The first rule for a successful parts business is that the employees will not go home until every part that every customer, or mechanic, ordered is either supplied or the location from which it can be shipped is located. That doesn’t mean leaving it with a supplier that does not have the part on hand. This is expediting with a purpose and we deal with what to do’s and how to do it to satisfy “Rule #1.”

Purchasing becomes the court of last resort as we will deal with the prospect that the part is not available in your supply chain. Finding alternate sources is not easy. Communicating with the customer on their options and penalties is even more challenging. All of the “in’s and out’s” of purchasing and the liabilities associated with supplying a part which is not from your original equipment manufacturer is discussed in detail.

Learn new methods to solve this age old problem of finding every part that every customer or mechanic wants to have – the same day they want it – and doing that before you go home EVERY night – that is what is at stake in this important webinar.

Go to aednet.org/products/seminars to register.

The time is now.