If your dealership is suffering from a lack of automotive service tech support, you aren’t alone. Two years of the pandemic, global chip supply shortages, increasing demands for Electric Vehicle (EV) solutions, and the great resignation have changed the auto industry in unpredictable ways.
Despite these compounding problems facing the automotive industry, dealers are now in a unique position. Technological advancements have put EV (Electric vehicles) and AI-driven cars on track to become auto industry standards by 2030. The automotive service tech sector reportedly will lose 642,000 skilled technicians by 2024. Globally, dealerships have already begun chasing alternative ways to solve this problem. A dealer using a proactive upskilling strategy instead of a reactive hiring approach will create profitable opportunities later.
We’ll take you through what precisely upskilling is and why you should use it to avoid falling behind the competition.
What is Upskilling?
Upskilling is a workplace initiative that encourages employees to grow and expand their abilities by providing chances to train and develop valuable skills. Due to how fast the auto industry continues to evolve, becoming obsolete is the number one thing you want to avoid most as a dealer. EVs are new industry outliers and come with unique requirements , which your technicians will need to be trained to maintain or repair them for customer satisfaction.
Why You Should Upskill Your Automotive Service Tech Team
Train your team in new automotive technologies
In the automotive service tech industry, versatility will require an adaptable upskilling strategy. Your average mechanic will not fully be able to meet the needs of an electric engine setup. Dealerships that don’t possess multi-skilled auto technicians will find themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with new technology. Electric cars, for example, have seen a rise in popularity; their total sales in 2021 reached 6.6 million.
Smart vehicles will be even more complicated, requiring connected technology services. Upskilling will be your dealership’s most effective method in bridging the gap between mechanical and technological problems related to advanced features in modern cars.
Retain valuable employees and attract new talent
Employee retention is one of automotive service tech’s biggest problems. A recent report shows that 69% of technicians are currently experiencing burnout and feel the desire to leave. However, when given the option, many employees want the chance to improve their skills over simple pay incentives. Making your employees feel like they have control over their careers and future will boost retention rates.
Studies have shown that 76% of Gen-Z, the largest untapped resource of new talent entering the workforce, has demonstrated a desire to drive their careers through self-improvement. An upskilling strategy highlighting your dealership’s additional training options and skill developments during recruitment will be powerful in attracting this generation.
Increase service revenue
The biggest threat to your dealerships’ automotive service tech revenue is redundancy from EV growth. This problem is even more severe to your bottom line, thanks to technological advancements resulting in fewer repair orders. Electric vehicles don’t require as much maintenance as Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars. To mitigate these losses, dealers need to use upskilling to create new revenue generating programs. Dealers must proactively approach this problem by offering high-quality EV services and products.
How to start upskilling
EVs and smart cars are the future. The industry has seen significant spikes in the availability of these vehicles since they hit the market a decade ago and these rates have only accelerated more due to rising gas prices and the global supply chain shortage. If your dealership doesn’t innovate now through upskilling technicians, other private auto shops will steer business away from you.
Your first upskilling step should be to invest in your staff and emphasize the value of self-improvement. Next, you must create a quality control program to develop EV revenue services. You need to provide vehicle data and adequate EV equipment to ease repairs. Finally, encourage new technicians to view this training as a challenge to overcome and motivate them to excel.
Emphasize Your Automotive Service Tech Team and Drive Revenue With CarRx
In addition to developing your upskilling strategy, let us make your dealership more accessible using Elo GPS with CarRx.
CarRx is a fully automated service app that provides vehicle software solutions to aid dealers in keeping track of all relevant information about a vehicle’s status. Stay connected with your customers by offering complete repair & maintenance alerts, critical diagnostic scans, and EV-related services. To find out more about Elo GPS and CarRx, please contact our team of technicians.