I have a very simple rule when people resign from my company …. if you are looking for the reason just look in the mirror.

People don’t leave companies that they enjoy working for. They don’t leave companies that treat them with respect. They don’t leave companies that invest in their personal development and customer skills. And they don’t leave companies that pay for the services rendered, provide a well lit and clean working environment, and have some fun once in awhile.

What could you have done differently if you’ve recenlty lost a qualified technician to a competitor down the street? Probably quite a bit.

It is too easy for people in the RV industry to simply the issues. Just like sales people that complain about losing deals because the guy down the street gives away the product, there is yet another group that still hasn’t figured out that the most valuable employees you have are the folks that fix the problems … your technicians.

Anybody can sell something the first time, but if you are fortunate to have a lot of repeat customres you can bet that some of the credit has to go the guys/gals that keep your customre on the road and not back at your lot.

You must earn loyalty and respect, just as you have to earn your customer’s business.

In fairness to the industry, if this story proves to be false, or at least woefully one-sided from the first dealers point of view, then the dealer and the state association should be identified.

I’m glad I read all the messages carefully before posting my comments, because the keyboard was going to be blazing tonight!

It didn’t take long for the hot stove league to jump all over this one ….. let’s see what evolves here over the next 24 hours. My gut feeling tells me the first dealer has a lot of explaining to do.

Great reporting Greg, keep these blogs coming!

If you want to criticize anyone, it should perhaps be the school operators who apparently failed to promote the event properly. If ALL dealers were represented,employee loyalty would be a bit stronger because a present employer might identify someone who spent too much time at a competitors booth, and most importantly, ALL dealers would have the same chance to make a pitch to all graduates. Thus it is the school itself that needs to broaden its’ final class days events. No dealer should feel guilty and all dealers will learn from this experience.

All the participants at the coarse were employed by many different RV dealers. The coarses success depends on these dealers participation.

What dealer is going to spend the money and time training techs (in this case for a 3 year apprenticeship) only to have them picked off when they are many miles from their dealership. The dealers who paid the way for these Techs for over 3 years has little chance to participate in any discussion re competition for there future services when they are drawn to the beer and pizza night many miles from home. The dealer giving away the pizza has the pick of many techs and just simply ups the anti until he gets the tech numbers he needs. This makes the school little more then his recruitment ground. Most of the dealers are 3 to 6 hours away, but the recuiting dealer is located very close to the school.

If a dealer is feeling he is at a disadvantage by using this tech school he will no longer send techs that way and the program will be in danger.
Only one dealership has attempted this method,the others realize that it would be chaos and then ruin for the coarse if this practice was allowed to occur or expand.

When this offening dealer was approached by his local assc. he wrote a letter of apology to all dealers blaming a subordinate for poor judgement and said he regretted the incident. Now he is at it again and the apology seems moot.

As I understand it this same dealer had one dealership removed from the local assc. because in spite of warnings he posted a sign stating they would not work on any products from one paticular well known brand as it was a safety hazard. This was and is obviously against RV assc rules. That was the reason this dealership was removed from the assc.

I do not think anyone would object to creative recruiting methods but the incident I am familar with was in many eyes in very poor taste and jeaprodized a program that was many years in the making by many progressive dealers with forsite for the entire industry.

If our industry is to become more and more professional then respect for fellow dealers and competative manufactures will be manditory. Trusted training facilities for better techs. are also a part of the bigger picture. Are there times when a dealer should put the greater good of the industry ahead of his personal agenda?

Greg,I would request the same courtesy as the dealer you discussed and let me remain anonymous.

If I was the dealer that got the boot, I would spend twice as much in advertising that it would have cost to do the show on the same weekend of the next show and see who prevails.

Also, there is a second part of that story that begs to be recognized and that is the impression it made on the young men who took up the dealership on the offer. I could be wrong, but in my way of thinking, the young men who joined up with the dealership will remember the opportunity for many years to come. Good impressions count for a lot in this business.

Thanks for bringing that story to light.