ASK ALISON: How can MAFSI Reps and Manufacturers Better Support Service Agents? - June/July 2024

In this segment, Alison addresses industry-related topics and provides valuable guidance to help you navigate challenging situations.

Question: How can MAFSI Reps and Manufacturers better support Service Agents?

Answer:

That is a great question. Their top challenges aren’t any different than MAFSI members. Internal challenges of running their businesses are often more pressing than external factors.

Finding and keeping qualified technicians and employees is one of their biggest concerns. Like reps, service agents want qualified, caring people on staff. Employee retention and providing ongoing training for technicians and staff are among their top priorities.

Another challenge is the increasing cost of doing business. Agency profitability is being squeezed by rising fuel costs, shipping costs and the difficulty of collecting service fees within 30 days, along with escalating costs of health insurance and employee benefits.

As far as support from factories, service agents’ concerns range from lack of accessible factory training and parts availability, returns and pricing changes to manufacturer short pays and unwillingness sometimes to pay for mileage on warranty calls.

And finally, relationships with their customers, with concerns ranging from how to expand their customer base and establishing long-term relationships to providing high levels of service at a low cost. Customer communication is an issue as well as the fact that customers routinely want service first thing in the morning before they’re open for business.

Other challenges include warranty issues (including labor rates, getting paid for warranty work, and making sure customers know what warranties will cover), adapting to technology and getting the respect that their work, and other trades in North America deserve.

Reps and Manufacturers, Getting It Right

Fortunately, a lot of reps and equipment makers get it right when supporting service agents, but there is room for improvement. So how do we do that?

How the best MAFSI Reps support Service Agents: 

• Communicating the value of service to both operators and dealers. Good reps understand the benefit of mutual referrals and partnering with service agents to convince dealers and end users to use factory authorized service for installation, warranty issues and after-warranty service.
• Supporting agencies and their staffs. The best reps involve service agents from the beginning of an installation and stay in contact to answer questions, check on complaints and build relationships.
• Providing timely updates and assistance. Supportive reps keep agents informed of new equipment, service issues before they become major, who’s buying equipment, and accounts that are potential trouble. They keep open lines of communication with agents, dealers, chain customers and factories, providing direct customer assistance in difficult service situations.
• Offering complete service, warranty and parts support. Helpful reps explain warranties to customers, help with parts problems, help agents get authorization in questionable warranty situations, work together to solve problems and intervene when necessary to handle warranty payment issues.
• Educating service agents, dealers and customers. Reps provide demos and training, literature and even use service agency facilities to sell customers.
• Helping with manufacturer relations. The best reps not only act as an arm of the manufacturer and a liaison to the factory and engineering staff, but also as an advocate for service agents, making manufacturers aware of equipment problems in the field.

How Manufacturers can make it easier for service agents to do their jobs:

• Provide technical education. Excellent factory training, including ample training videos, online training modules, regional onsite training and ongoing support is key.
• Supply accurate and timely information. Service agents appreciate correct documentation, including service manuals, parts catalogs, product literature and service/parts bulletins. The best manufacturers keep service agents apprised of production or equipment issues, problems they may be having with a model in the field and new product trends.
• Offer superior parts support, including help determining the proper stock levels, providing fair margins and return policies, offering online ordering, and fulfilling and shipping orders quickly.
• Provide excellent customer support. Service agents give high marks to manufacturers that provide instant access for technicians in the field, staff customer service lines with enough knowledgeable and friendly personnel, offer 24-hour support availability and understand the real world when it comes to service.
• Offer the best warranty support, including adequate pay for warranty service, timely processing of claims, overnight shipment of warranty parts, discussion of marginal claims instead of outright rejection, and backing up service agents’ judgment in warranty situations.
• Maintain consistent payment policies, including timely payment, rates that reflect the real costs of quality service, commitment to cover calls they request, and clear communication to explain the nature and scope of the work to be done.

All For the Customer

Finally, how can Reps and Manufacturers can strengthen their relationships with end users (and with service agents)?

Reps :

• Explain warranty policies and procedures in detail.
• Tell end-users why they should use qualified installers.
• Let them know agents can’t always respond immediately.
• Refrain from over-promising.
• Demonstrate proper use of equipment.
• Have customers call authorized service agencies directly.
• Follow up after service calls to check on customer satisfaction.

Manufacturers:

• Provide clear warranty policies.
• Stand by those policies.
• Provide timely and correct parts information to service agents so they can exceed customer expectations.
• Keep equipment design simple so employees with varied ethnic and skills backgrounds can run it properly.
• Communicate end user problems with equipment to agents as they occur.
• Educate operators on the benefits of using qualified installers.
• Follow up after warranty or service calls to make sure customers are satisfied.

I hope the answers help you build stronger, more productive relationships with your service agents. Check out CFESA.com to learn more about service agents and how you can support our service company partners.

Have a question for Ask Alison? Email Alison at acody@mafsi.org.

Want to learn more about supporting CFESA members?

Watch Nick Cribb, Mike Colligon, Chris Jeens and Shaun Gallagher discuss "Building Relationships between Equipment Service Agents and Manufacturers' Reps" on MAFSI's Podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Foodservice Industry (GBFSI)