As consolidation trends continue to reshape the automotive aftermarket, the key to survival for service shops lies in investing in training and career development for technicians.
That was the advice from Bob Cushing, president of Worldpac who emphasized the critical role of training in maintaining a healthy, independent business.
There is growing pressure on smaller service shops to adapt and invest in their workforce or face the risk of being acquired by larger players in the industry, he said at last year’s Worldpac Supplier and Training Expo in Nashville during a meeting with media members.
Consolidation can’t be avoided — there’s going to be more, Cushing said. And it all starts with the technicians in the shop.
“If you’re not providing a career path for your technicians, do you really think that they’re going to stay with you? The chances are unlikely,” he observed. “And so they’re going to go with somebody who’s investing in their training.”
Shops that bring their staff to training events and invest in their future are more likely to retain their employees, he pointed out.
Cushing lamented the fact that some shops still fail to recognize the value of training.
“The ones that aren’t doing that — and there’s a fair amount of them that don’t really understand the value of training, which I can’t even believe it — but the fact is, it’s that way. They’re going by the wayside. It’s that simple,” he said.
And the disparity between smaller shops and larger entities is becoming more pronounced, Cushing said. And the smaller guys are the ones who are going to struggle to compete.
“The big guys are getting bigger and stronger. They embrace technology, they’re investing in their business, they’re investing the capital in the diagnostic tools, they’re building out their capability and the technicians. There’s a lot there. So the strong will survive,” Cushing said.
Despite the consolidation trend, Cushing believes that mechanical repair will not move in the same way as the collision space.
“There are too many independents that are fiercely independent,” he said. “They are fiercely independent, and they’re not going to tolerate that,” he said.
At the end of the day, the automotive aftermarket remains a people business at its core. “This is a people business. And it’s all about that,” Cushing said.
He referenced data from his opening presentation showing that prior experience and trust in the business and its people are the top reasons customers choose a shop. This trust can be jeopardized when larger companies acquire smaller ones.
“You come in, you take over and you lose the people who had the relationship with the consumer, the customer — I mean, you have a problem,” Cushing warned.
Image credit: Depositphotos.com
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