By Rich Lindblom, YSN
Class is back in session for Whirlpool’s ServiceMatters University, a quarterly series of online training modules for Whirlpool Authorized servicers.
The company’s Second Quarter Virtual Training, available through Whirlpool’s ServiceMatters.com portal, is presently offering five courses through June 18. The lineup includes:
- Using nitrogen to leak check sealed systems.
- Isolating a sealed system.
- Gladiator under-counter refrigerators with internal heaters.
- 2-in-1 agitator/impeller washers.
- Five-Star customer service.
Now here’s the best part for BrandSource members: Above and beyond what Whirlpool is doing for every authorized servicer, the company has also committed to providing additional training sessions for every BrandSource servicing dealer, whether they are a Whirlpool Authorized servicer or not.
With appliances seemingly evolving daily, and the pandemic placing greater demands on service departments, tech training has become more important than ever. Recognizing the need for additional training, Whirlpool has stepped up its game in that department. Just like all of you, the company is keenly aware of the shortage of qualified service technicians in our industry and is making a concerted effort to address that by offering additional educational opportunities every quarter for all Whirlpool-authorized servicers.
“With consumers spending more time at home, the interaction with appliances has increased as well, leading to an increase in service requests,” acknowledged Marc Peremans, Whirlpool’s recently named field service senior manager. “We recognize that the shortage within the technician labor force continues to be a challenge for the industry … We found success in engaging with technicians through ServiceMatters University and continue to make investments in learning and development.”
Please note that these are not just training videos; the ServiceMatters sessions are fully interactive meetings where you can ask questions and get answers from Whirlpool’s training professionals in real time.
Whirlpool’s goal is to make these one-hour classes as engaging, interactive and hands-on as possible. Because they’re not pre-recorded videos, each session will be held live at four different times on its scheduled day, allowing your service crew to participate regardless of your time zone.
According to Mark Keen, Whirlpool’s Western training manager, Whirlpool will be fast-tracking training on new models as they get introduced to the market, so your technicians aren’t out there flying blind on a product they’ve never seen before. In fact, two new products will be covered this quarter, he said — in addition to a wide variety of topics ranging from the fundamentals every service tech should know, to providing clients with five-star customer service from the moment the tech enters the home until they leave.
Why should you take time out of your and your technicians’ busy schedules to participate? Well, Whirlpool has the answer to that question, and I actually think it’s a pretty good one: Research compiled from the company’s warranty service call data has shown that businesses that regularly participate in product training have both a higher first-call complete rate and a lower in-home time per call, Keen noted.
How’s that for not one, but two great reasons? Give up an hour of your time and get more calls done every week!
Signing up is easy:
- Login to your account at ServiceMatters.com.
- Click the Training tab.
- Click the Service Matters University tab.
- Choose the 2021 Q2 Technical Training session you are interested in from the drop-down menu.
- Pick a training session you want to participate in.
- Pick a time you are available.
- Click enroll.
And while you’re at the ServiceMatters University tab, you might want to check out their extensive library of training topics.
BrandSource and Whirlpool continue to look for new and exciting ways to make you more profitable. Stay tuned for more exciting details as they become available.
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
