Jump to content

Balance of Power

Rate this topic


Brad Clayton

Recommended Posts

Ford dealers that are staffed with diesel certified techs have it good. Sometimes they don't know how good they have it until they lose their diesel tech providing they only have the one to begin with. A smart service manager will prevent such a stressful situation from happening by all means necessary. This can include having multiple trained diesel techs even if you have only one go to guy. It can involve keeping an open line of dialogue or an open door policy with all techs. It is far better to hear of grumblings right up front before they fester and next thing you know your faced with a tech giving his two weeks notice. All techs matter but I have a soft spot for the diesel tech and thus his place in the dealer should be monitored and steps taken to ensure he his appreciated. There are always poachers out there who would love to jump at the chance to lure a tech away. A dealer who is properly equipped and has fostered a healthy relationship with it's techs will never have to worry about such a situation.

I have found myself in a very weird plaace as I write this. I live in Eastern North Carolina in a small town called Ayden. We have a Ford dealer and there are about 8 Ford dealers in the surrounding area. Greenville is 10 miles to the East and has Hastings Ford which I worked at when I moved down. Hastings is still clinging to their diesel guy.  Little Washington is North about 35 miles and has Joe Pecheles Toyota/Ford and they have currently lost their diesel tech. I called them and they sounded absolutely desperate to fill the void.....hmmmm. Doug Henry Ford is in my town of Ayden and guess what?...They have just lost their only diesel tech and they are beyond desperate as they have a major diesel clientele. And then there is Sale Ford in Kinston where I worked for the past 5 years and slowly went broke. They are getting ready to lose their diesel tech and they have been calling me daily trying to get me to come back. They even told me they would pay me hourly (which was one of my requirements to stay before I quit to which they said they would take their chances without me).

So it appears that it is an employees market at the moment and the highest bidder may bring me out of retirement and end my lustrous career as a carpenter. We shall see what happens and I will update as things unfold.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck with that. 

The biggest point I have is if the one dealer wouldn’t deal with you when you were still on their payroll I would have serious reservations about returning to there. 

My thoughts about leaving a job are that if it was bad enough to make me wanna leave I’m gonna be really desperate before I’m gonna go back there. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I have said before, Ford and the dealers have created this mess. I'm with Zach on this one. If that's the way of thinking when you were still an employee than I don't think they deserve to have a technician of your caliber. We all know from experience that they will say just about anything to get you back in the door and if you do go back, chances are it will go right back to the way it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally agree and only mentioned Sale Ford as a bargaining chip (a bad one at that). I will not be going back there for sure. I have set up an interview Wednesday with the dealer in Washington....wish me luck. Did I mention that it's an air conditioned shop? :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Air conditioned shop is a huge bonus,  last year was my first summer working in one,  it feels damn good leaving work and still having energy to do things when you get home

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I started my new job at the dealer today.......on a Friday. They have a bit of a back log so they wanted me there as soon as my two week notice was up at my old job. The place is very nice but a bit cramped compared to all the room I used to have. I don't have all my stuff there yet and it was a bit unhandy but I managed to settle in the best I could. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...