We live in an age where your appliance can break, and the manufacturer may send a local cable guy to fix it for you.
Why? Many locally owned appliance retailers lose money in the appliance repair business. In turn, many appliance dealers do not offer their own repair service. They make customers call the manufacturer’s 1-800 number.
Bekins President, Scott Bekins, and BrandSource believe appliance customers across the nation deserve better.
BrandSource Service Committee’s First Year Accomplishments
Our customers know first-hand about the top-quality, in-house appliance service we have provided our customers for more than 45 years. This year, Scott shared that knowledge across the nation by forming and leading the BrandSource Service Committee.
The committee’s mission is to make appliance service a profitable business for local companies throughout the United States.
The committee has already formed four new partnerships in its first year:
- the Professional Service Association (PSA), with its vast repair library, peer-to-peer advice platform and discounted certification program;
- the United Appliance Servicers Association (UASA), the continent’s largest repair trade group, providing an extensive best-practices archive, training videos and webinars, and a servicer chat forum;
- Reliable Parts, a major distributor of appliance parts offering exclusive terms for BrandSource members; and
- Master Samurai Tech (MST), a leading online training academy with discounted rates for BrandSource members.
In addition, the Committee distributed a “Service Call Blueprint”— a handy six-step guide for creating a great customer experience — and developed the more comprehensive, 24-page BrandSource Service Playbook. The tactical guide covers everything from tech retention, training and compensation, to parts inventory, fleet management and a calculator for setting competitive but profitable billing rates.
However, Scott will tell you the committee is working on more reforms in year 2.
Goals for Year 2
The biggest issue to be resolved? Negotiating fair reimbursement rates for warranty repair service. When a customer’s appliance needs repair under warranty, the manufacturer reimbursement does not typically cover the costs incurred by local servicing dealers.
In addition, the committee plans to suggest that manufacturers play a larger role in managing the parts needed for local dealers to repair their appliances. Scott suggests manufacturers send local servicing dealers the parts they will need the most and take back parts that become obsolete as technology evolves.
Scott believes manufacturers who lead the way in reimbursement rates and parts management will see an increase in sales with local appliance dealers across the nation; plus, an increase in loyal, satisfied customers.
Finally, the committee will also focus on training in the coming months. The plan is to provide what Scott describes as “a comprehensive roadmap” that independent servicers can follow to create their own training programs, using the resources that BrandSource provides.
Watch Scott Bekins Interview with YourSource News: