ITW Crowns Illinois Speed Lube Manager as Full Throttle Tech U Training & Rewards Champion

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ITW Crowns Illinois Speed Lube Manager as Full Throttle Tech U Training & Rewards Champion

For his efforts, Jeremy Richardson of the Speed Lube No. 2 store in Decatur, Illinois, collected the grand prize of $10,000.

Counterman Staff
By Counterman Staff
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Jeremy Richardson (center) of Speed Lube in Decatur, Illinois, was the runaway winner of the 2018 Full Throttle Tech U Training & Rewards contest. Presenting the check to him is, from left, Carl Muench, Speed Lube president, and Sergio Dimichino, Eastern regional manager for ITW Professional Automotive Products.

For Jeremy Richardson, the manager of the Speed Lube No. 2 store on East Pershing Road in Decatur, Illinois, the third time was the charm. After finishing third the previous two years, he was the runaway winner of the 2018 Full Throttle Tech U Training & Rewards contest sponsored by ITW Professional Automotive Products.

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For his efforts, Richardson collected the grand prize of $10,000. During the year-long contest, he sold a Full Throttle fuel-system cleaner or GDI+2 fuel-system cleaning service to more than 2,400 of his customers, which represents 16 percent of the total number of cars that his store serviced last year.

“I attribute the success we had with this contest to being extremely consistent with the service we offer and carry out for our customers,” said Richardson, who has worked at Speed Lube for 10 years, the last seven and a half years as a manager. “I am an extremely competitive person, and after coming close the previous two years, we made it a point to get all the guys on the same page for this contest.”

ITW Professional Automotive Products developed and introduced the contest in 2016 as part of a comprehensive training program for service advisors and technicians involved in the quick-lube business. The national Tech U Training & Rewards program is free and consists of six courses: Fuel System, Oil System, Transmission, Cooling System, Power-Steering System and Wiper Blades.

ITW expanded the program last year. Contestants could earn more rewards on oil-system cleaners, oil and transmission additives and power-steering fluids. They also had access to the recently updated Full Throttle Performance Products brand of automotive aftermarket maintenance chemicals.

“Employee-turnover rates are normally high in the quick-lube business,” said Joe Farr, director of sales – Quick Lube/WD for ITW Professional Automotive Products. “A training and rewards program of this caliber works to help reduce those rates because technicians see the positive results from their efforts. They can leverage their training and it becomes easier to properly educate and recommend services to their customers.”

With six Speed Lube stores available to service customers in the Decatur market, Richardson said the training program offers many benefits.

“I believe the Tech U training program is very informative with lots of good information to learn from. The rewards program is great for the incentives it offers for participating in the program. I am eligible and will be participating for the fourth time this year. My advice for others is to treat your customers the way you would expect to be treated. I would also recommend to be very consistent with the service you offer to those customers.”

Donatto De Leon, the 2017 champion, who works for The Oil Well store in West New York, New Jersey, finished second. Jorge Lacayo of Jiffy Lube in Gaithersburg, Maryland, placed third in the contest, which split a total of $40,000 to the top 40 contestants.

The 2019 Tech-U Training & Rewards contest is underway. Visit www.fullthrottleproducts.com for more information.

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Customer Service: How It’s Done

Customer service should be your number one priority, and it all starts with the greeting.

Eric Garbe
By Eric Garbe
Eric Garbe is a graduate of Columbus State Community College with a degree in Automotive Maintenance Technology. He has extensive independent and dealership field experience as a technician and shop owner and is an ASE Certified Master Technician and former Adjunct Automotive Professor. He has been professionally writing automotive technical articles and documents for many years and in his free time enjoys restoring old cars and creating custom interiors and upholstery.
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This is always an important topic to discuss, because I consider excellent customer service one of the most important tools you can have to earn trust, respect and repeat business from the customers that come through your door. Whether that customer is do-it-yourselfer from across town or the professional repair shop across the street, your business depends on a solid relationship.It’s a subject that I am passionate about, and it’s one that many people are losing touch with. Whether you are communicating to someone in person, on the phone or using some type of social media, good customer service and bad can both exist. You can’t afford the latter, so this is the first in a series of topics which can and should be shared from the front of the shop to the back. No matter which role you hold, you represent the shop and yourself. Customer service should be your number one priority.First on the list is the greeting. From the second a customer walks in the door, they need to know you appreciate them coming in and how important they are to your business. First impressions are everything and here’s the correct way to do it each and every time: look them directly in the eye, smile and say hello!Of course, you can say “Good morning” or “Welcome to Joe’s Autocare,” but it should be a formal greeting and the most important thing is that you have smiled, looked them in the eye and recognized that they have walked through the door.You should always retain a formal greeting until you are on a first-name basis with a customer. Only once you have established that level of relationship is it OK to use the less formal greeting of “Hi,” followed by the person’s name.This greeting does more than just indicate respect and appreciation for someone walking through the door. Most likely there are customers both new and old who are in earshot of your conversation. For newer customers, this continues to build rapport and reinforce their positive view of your shop; they see that you demonstrate respect and treat everyone in the same manner. For repeat customers, even ones that have been coming for years, the greeting is important because the way you treat them is the reason they continue to come.And when a long-time customer comes in and you greet them with “Hi [First Name],” this indicates your appreciation for them and that you’re glad to see them as a person, more than just a customer. New customers that witness this will see that your repeat customers are comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis, another indication of the trust they have in you.

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