It’s time to stop thinking of training as an expense. It’s an investment. At least that’s what Ryan Bugai, president at LWK Enteprises, and one of four new GenNext 4 Under 40 Award winners thinks.
Speaking as co-chair of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network’s (CVSN) Education pillar community during the organization’s Summit Wednesday in Las Vegas, Bugai laid out all the reasons why he is investing heavily into training across his operation and why the future of the independent aftermarket will be defined by training.
Bugai says the product advancements, technological innovations and generational turnover occurring in the aftermarket today has created a business climate where keeping knowledge in a company has never been harder. He says the independent aftermarket has won in the parts business for decades by positioning itself as experts, as value-added partners to customers.
But in an age where nearly every part a distributor stocks can be found and purchased somewhere online — and often for prices below a brick and mortar store — winning business in 2024 and beyond will take more than just having parts on the shelf. Distributors (and their supplier partners) need to train their associates on how to communicate with customers who suddenly have a lot more options about where they choose to purchase their parts.
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Bugai says the independent aftermarket needs to invest in training so when a customer asks for help, a distributor is never unable to answer. So when a customer shows a counterperson their phone that says the part they want is available on Amazon for a lesser price and “it’ll be here tomorrow,” the counterperson doesn’t give up the sale but fights for it, Bugai says, showcasing all the reasons why buying the part in the store is still the right choice for a truck owner.
“Why should we change the aftermarket? Because we want a better experience for our customers,” he says.
Bugai believes training is vital to the future of customer service. He says far too many aftermarket companies look at training as a hassle, an expense, a waste of time and money on employees who “will be gone in two years anyway, so why should I bother?”
In reality, Bugai says the truth is nearly the opposite. Younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z) across all industries regularly cite training as one of most important traits they look for in a potential employer. Bugai says employee survey data indicates young people who receive training and feel their employers are investing in them actually have turnover rates below national averages, which confirms what he’s seen in his own operation.
“I’ve found more loyalty from my generation than the older generation when it comes to training,” he says. “My older guys are the ones who don’t want to do more training or train my younger people.”
Training today has other benefits for tomorrow too. Bugai says in an industry with so much generational knowledge approaching retirement — at LWK, Bugai says every other leader on his nine-person management team is likely to retire in five to ten years — training talent today is the best way for businesses to implement succession plans that will be necessary later.
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Training also can lower staffing costs. Bugai says “people who are trained and developed don’t want to leave” their businesses, and reduced turnover means fewer instances in which employers must offer above market rates to poach talent. He adds training helps with recruitment and management morale as well. The former because of younger generations’ aforementioned desire to be trained, and the latter because employees who are well trained are far more likely to be high performers and drive sales opportunities for businesses.
Bugai again goes back to the customer with the phone who wants to know why he shouldn’t buy from Amazon. An untrained employee may have no answer to that. Bugai says he knows that’s the case because it happened in his own store last week. But a trained employee, prepared for that exact scenario, can share LWK’s service capabilities, its return policy, its knowledge of the product and related components and the reputation of the brand it sells against the unknown Amazon part.
Bugai says doing that across LWK’s locations can ensure they never lose that customer again. And doing it industrywide? That will help the independent aftermarket remain a leg up on e-commerce disrupters and other new entrants trying to win market share without knowing the market.
“Training is the easiest way to coordinate with your competitors without giving them a competitive advantage,” he says.
