How to Manage a Service Department
at a Heavy Equipment Dealership
Why I Wrote Service By The Boxes
Training and coaching are key to building a successful product support team. Consistency is equally as important. When I was a Director of Product Support, I wanted to find a book I could give to my service managers that we could use as a training manual that would help us coach them consistently. I searched for a book on service management within the heavy equipment industry. I did find a lot of books tailored towards the automotive industry but nothing for heavy equipment. At one point I literally went on LinkedIn and posted the question, “Does anybody know of a book on service management?” The answer was, “No.” I did find one book after months of searching that a consulting firm had, but you were required to hire them as consultants to get their free book.
After years of developing processes and procedures and documenting them in SOP manuals, I realized there was a great need for a book on service management tailored toward the equipment industry. I started writing a much larger book but soon realized really what was needed was a short easy-to-read book that would give the reader an understanding of the process of service. Most dealerships do not have a process. They have controlled chaos. The reason for this is that most owners and store managers do not understand service and therefore they ignore it and hope for the best. Their plan is to hire an all-star service manager with 20 years of experience who knows service, who is great with customers, and who can work with the sales department. I’m in the recruiting industry and have found this guy doesn’t exist, but this is the vast majority of the dealerships in the heavy equipment industry’s plan to deliver best-in-class customer service. Hire someone who doesn’t even exist.
What if the owner or store manager understood service? What if a dealership could develop and document a service process? Then they could hire a service manager who does exist, is within budget, and still delivers best-in-class customer service.
This is why I wrote Service by The Boxes. Any dealership that reads and applies the principles that are within the book to their service department will see improvement on day one. Remember service is a process and you must know your process. If you do not know the service process, Service by the Boxes is a great resource for you. If you need additional help or support, please fill out the contact form below, and let us discuss the next steps.
Accomplishments
​
Instrumental in Growing Company
Revenue by 189%
​
Service Sales Growth 210%
​
Service Margin Growth 24%
​
Increased Technician Recovery Rate by 22%
Parts Sales Growth 132%
Decreased Aged Inventory by 72%
Increased Parts Turns from 1.94 to 3.92
University of North Texas
Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences Degree, Management
​
Author of Service by the Boxes
​
Advisory Board Member,
Texas State Technical College
2016-2020
​
Tractor Tech Judge
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
2013-2020
​
Navy Achievement Medal, USMC
Meritorious Mast (3), USMC
John Dowling
United States Marine veteran who has had a successful 25-year career in the Product Support Industry. He started out as an equipment mechanic and worked his way up to be a field service mechanic. John was promoted to service manager and eventually to branch manager of a heavy equipment dealership. Then he accepted a position as a field service representative for a major heavy equipment manufacturer. In his last role before entering the recruiting and consulting industries, John was Director of Product Support at a 9-location heavy equipment dealership. As Director of Product Support John had great success in developing, documenting, and implementing processes. See to the left some of his accomplishments.
John is passionate about learning, adapting, improving, and results. He is experienced with such reputable brands as John Deere, Hitachi, Case Construction, Case IH, Kubota, New Holland, Gradall, Wirtgen Group, Pettibone, and others. John has had many mentors throughout his career. They have pushed, coached, and taught him how to be successful at every stage of his career. John wants to give back to the industry that has given him the opportunity to be successful. If you want to be successful, if you want to be best-in-class fill out the contact form below.