RVDA’s Hart on Training, and Employee & Customer Retention

Nathan Hart

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the column written by RV Dealers Association (RVDA) Chairman Nathan Hart, of Walnut Ridge RV and Primeaux RV, and published in the December issue of RV Executive Today. It is published here with permission.

Last month, I was honored to be elected as your RVDA Chairman of the Board, taking the gavel from the very capable hands of your association’s Immediate Past Chairman, Mike Pearo. Along with his predecessors Chris Andro and Ron Shepherd, Mike did a fantastic job of guiding the association through the policy issues and fiscal challenges brought on by the pandemic.

I realize that our industry is facing some headwinds over the next six to 12 months, but we always come back strong, and our future is bright.  The camping lifestyle and spending time in the great outdoors to allow people to disconnect has never been more important, relevant, or popular.  Camping is now the “cool thing” to do.

So now is the time for dealers to invest in our remarkable employees, enhance our customer service, and benefit from the spotlight that has shown brightly on our industry over the past few years.

At our dealerships, training in every department has consistently been a cornerstone as we’ve expanded. We participate in Spader 20 Groups and outside continuing education through A World of Training. Our employees also use the online learning platforms available through the Mike Molino RV Learning Center and the RV Technical Institute.

We find the more we train the less employee turnover we have, which in turn creates a higher customer retention rate. When you have satisfied employees their stress levels go down because we’re not just working on how to fix something, but also processes and tracking. Our overall employee retention is high. I think it has a lot to do with the training programs. Employees can perform at a high level because they know what they are supposed to do.

I encourage everyone to fully utilize the resources RVDA has available through the RV Learning Center and RVTI. The curriculum is exceptional and for a small investment your employees will be better prepared to service our diverse and growing customer base.

We cannot improve the Repair Event Cycle Times (RECT) numbers and the customer experience by relying on suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors alone.  As dealers, we must do our part to train our employees and better prepare them to exceed the expectations of a new generation of RV customers.

I look forward to serving as your chairman over the next twelve months.  The RV industry and RVDA have given me more than I’ll ever be able to repay . . .  lifelong friendships, opportunities to influence the lives of our employees, helping customers achieve their dreams, financial stability to raise our family . . .  and a life that I didn’t believe was achievable when I started this journey 26 years ago.  Thanks for your support.

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/rvdas-hart-on-training-and-employee-customer-retention/