Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. has announced the winners of its 2022 National Sales Walkaround, National Service Walkaround, National Parts Salesperson Product Presentation and North America I-1 Grand Prix Technical competitions.
The finals of all four contests took place at Isuzu’s Center of Excellence in Pittston, Penn., Aug. 8-11, marking the first time the company held all four competitions at the same time.
In addition, parts and service department managers from dealerships in the company’s Northern Region attended a simultaneous meeting where they learned best strategies for meeting the current challenges in the medium-duty truck industry.
The overall event was christened “Isuzu’s Week of Weeks.”
“Isuzu’s Week of Weeks is really a celebration of the best our dealerships have to offer,” says Shaun C. Skinner, president of Isuzu Commercial Truck of America and Isuzu Commercial Truck of Canada.
“We are celebrating the service technicians with the best diagnostic and repair skills, the service advisors with the best customer communication skills, the parts representatives with the best Isuzu Genuine and FleetValue Parts selling skills, the sales consultants with the best ability to communicate product knowledge and the parts and service department managers in the Northeast with the best ideas to meet current challenges,” Skinner says.
Here are the results of the competition portions of Isuzu’s Week of Weeks.
2022 Isuzu National Sales Walkaround Competition
The Isuzu National Sales Walkaround Competition required contestants to present a 2022 Isuzu NRR to a fictitious “customer” who had never owned an Isuzu or a low cab forward truck. The participants had won their dealership, district and regional contests to earn the right to compete at the National Finals.
National Champion (winner of $5,000 in cash and the Isuzu Winners’ Circle Gold trip to the Le Blanc Spa Resort Los Cabos in February 2023) Southern Regional Champion Josh Sauls, TranSource Isuzu Truck, Colfax, N.C.
Second Place ($3,000 in cash and the Isuzu Winners’ Circle Silver trip to the Westin New Orleans in March 2023) Northern Regional Champion Ben Balgaard, D & K Isuzu Trucks, Lansing, Mich.
Third Place ($2,000 in cash and $1,500 in merchandise) Central Regional Champion Jazmine Keith, Boyer Isuzu Truck, Minneapolis
Finalists (listed alphabetically by last name, each the winner of $1,000 in cash and $1,000 in merchandise) Western Regional Champion Victor Kim, Rush Isuzu Truck–Whittier, Whittier, Calif.
Isuzu Commercial Truck of Canada Champion Angus Smith, Warner Isuzu Truck Sales, Regina, Saskatchewan
Nearly two hundred Isuzu dealership sales consultants from the U.S. and Canada entered the contest, about a 27 percent increase over 2021.
2022 Isuzu National Service Walkaround Competition
A fictitious customer who admittedly knew little about his truck, a 2016 Isuzu N-Series Diesel, faced all four of the service advisors in the 2022 Isuzu National Service Walkaround Competition. The four Regional Champions had only ten minutes to present the repairs that would best suit the customer’s needs. The results:
National Champion ($5,000 in cash and Winners’ Circle trip to Los Cabos) Central Regional Champion Corey Heck, Truck Center Companies Isuzu–Omaha, Omaha, Neb.
Second Place ($3,000 in cash and Winners’ Circle Silver trip to New Orleans) Northern Regional Champion John Pence, Hare Isuzu Truck, Noblesville, Ind.
Third Place ($2,000 in cash and $1,500 in merchandise) Western Regional Champion America Solares, Rush Isuzu Truck–Fontana, Fontana, Calif.
Finalist ($1,000 in cash and $1,000 in merchandise) Southern Regional Champion Saskya Lopez, TruckMax Isuzu Homestead, Fla.
2022 Isuzu National Parts Salesperson Product Presentation Competition
Among the features of the 30,000-sq.-ft. Isuzu Center of Excellence training facility is a replica of a dealership parts counter. It was here that the four Regional Champions in the National Parts Salesperson Product Presentation Competition encountered their fictitious customer. The results:
National Champion ($5,000 in cash and Winners’ Circle trip to Los Cabos) Northern Regional Champion Johnny Teater, Hare Isuzu Truck, Noblesville, Ind.
Second Place ($3,000 in cash and Winners’ Circle Silver trip to New Orleans) Western Regional Champion Sal Canales, Monarch Isuzu Truck, San Jose, Calif.
Third Place ($2,000 in cash and $1,500 in merchandise) Central Regional Champion Michael Brown, Coffman Isuzu Truck, Aurora, Ill.
Finalist ($1,000 in cash and $1,000 in merchandise) Southern Regional Champion Nathan Brinkley, Truck Enterprises Isuzu–Chesapeake, Chesapeake, Virginia
This year marked the second annual National Parts Salesperson Product Presentation Competition, making it the newest of the Isuzu skills and communication contests.
2022 Isuzu North America I-1 Grand Prix Technical Competition
Perhaps the most grueling of all the “Week of Weeks” competitions, the I-1 Grand Prix for service technicians required entrants to pass in a single try a challenging 75-minute entrance exam; only the twelve technicians with the highest scores were invited to enroll and participate in the competition held this week.
After three rounds of competition diagnosing and repairing trucks, the results are:
First Place (Winners’ Circle Gold trip to Los Cabos; Isuzu Diagnostic Service System interface device with one-year IDSS subscription; invitation to participate in 2023 North America I-1 Grand Prix) Anthony Parrilli, Chicago Isuzu Truck, Summit, Ill.
Second Place (Trip to Los Cabos; IDSS interface device with one-year subscription; invitation to participate in 2023 North America I-1 Grand Prix) Candido Deleon, Rush Isuzu Truck Center–Dayton, Dayton, Ohio Third Place ($1,500 in merchandise and IDSS interface device with one-year subscription) James Buechner, PTR Isuzu Truck Center, West Chicago, Ill.
Fourth Place ($1,500 in merchandise and IDSS interface device with one-year subscription) Richard Nonamaker, Rush Isuzu Truck–Waco, Robinson, Texas
Finalists (listed alphabetically by last name, each the winner of $150 in cash on their Winners’ Circle prepaid debit cards) Jason Babcock, Bob Clapper Isuzu Truck, Janesville, Wis.
Scott Bodall, All American Isuzu Truck, Old Bridge, N.J.
Jesse Dubeck, TruckSmart Isuzu Truck, Morrisville, Penn.
Lazaro Garcia, Nextran Isuzu Truck Center–Miami, Miami
Daniel Kieltyka, Beyer Bros. Isuzu Truck, Fairview, N.J.
Thomas McBride, Isuzu Truck of Fayetteville, Fayetteville, N.C.
Bill Nields, Faulkner Isuzu Truck, West Chester, Penn.
Craig Wire, Rush Truck Center–Elk Grove, Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Hundreds of viewers at dealerships and homes around the country viewed the awards ceremony via live stream, a first for any of the contests’ awards programs, the company says.
