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We talk with Jack Kay, Principal of Torklift International, and Jay Taylor, General Manager, about their new Torklift Certified Program. ... ... ... ... ... ...
Over the past year and a half, Jack Kay, Principal of Torklift, and Jay Taylor, General Manager, have carefully designed and implemented a Torlift Certification Program. Jack and Jay are very excited about this new program and asked us to give them the opportunity to talk about it here in Truck Camper Magazine.
So what is this new certification program and what does it mean to the truck camper consumer? Essentially, the program is designed to do two primary things. First, the program helps the consumer to quickly identify which Torklift dealers are current in their Torklift pre-purchase product knowledge and post-purchase installation and customer service. The second priority for the certification program is to get the Torklift dealer network completely in tune with Torklift’s customer service philosophy. To find out more about the program, we talked with Jack and Jay.
Left to right: Jay Taylor, Torklift International's General Manager, Brian Brawdy of BrianBrawdy.com, and Jack Kay, Principal of Torklift International. Photo courtesy of Brian Brawdy.
TCM: What is the Torklift Certified Program?
Jay: The Torklift Certified Program is something that Jack and I have been working on for the past year and a half. Our primary goal for the Torklift Certified Program was to use Torklift’s strong brand recognition to help our dealers during the economic downturn. The Torklift Certified Program accomplishes this by helping our dealers to better communicate the value of their dealership to the truck camper consumer.
TCM: What’s the benefit for the consumer who’s interested in Torklift products?
Jay: For Torklift customers, the Torklift Certified Program makes it easy to quickly identify the dealers who have completed their Torklift training. Our customers are investing a lot of money into their truck campers and they need to know that their dealer is fully trained on our products, product installation, and lifetime warranty.
Jack: We also want to make sure the dealers are able to educate their customers on the differences between Torklift products and the products manufactured by our competitors. Otherwise, a customer might make a decision purely based on price and have no idea about the quality of the product, installation requirements, or warranty. That’s a disservice to the customer.
By steering customers to our Torklift Certified Dealers, we help them to make the best decision. Besides, customers want to know that the dealer they’re working with is a true expert in the truck camper field. Our certified dealers are Torklift product experts.
TCM: Tell us about the training a Torklift Certified dealer goes through to become certified.
Jay: To become certified, dealers take our two hour training on site or online. The training includes our full product line from features to installation to service. After they have completed our training, there is a twenty-five question test. The test comes directly to us online and is scored by us. Dealers must have a 80% score or they are required to take it again. Once they pass the test and become certified, the dealers receive the Torklift Certified Banner for their website and a label for their shop window.
TCM: Can customers find a list of Torklift Certified Dealers on your website as well?
Jay: Yes. Consumers can find the Torklift Certified Dealers on www.torklift.com. Then select “Find a Dealer” on the lower left column and look for the red Torklift Certified Banner. When you see the Torklift Certified Banner, you know you will get the right answers to your Torklift questions from that dealer.
TCM: We have looked through your dealer listings and many popular truck camper dealers have yet to earn a Torklift Certified Banner. Are these dealers working on their certification?
Jay: As of now, there are seventy-five dealers who are Torklift Certified. That is out of 2,000 total Torklift dealers. Since the Torklift Certified Program came out last year, many dealers have not had the resources to attend the distributor shows where we’ve conducted much of the certification training. To augment on location training, we offer online training through live web training. Also through our pre-recorded web training sessions, more dealers are now able access the program.
On April 17th we are training Fraserway for certification. East End Campers and Truck Camper Warehouse are ready to do their live web training. More and more dealers are becoming Torklift Certified on a daily basis.
Jack: We have a large amount of our dealers registered to be certified. Our pre-recorded training is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and it provides the same benefits to everyone. For the dealers that have been with us for a long period of time, it’s going to be a review for the most part with new product updates.
TCM: What areas are you discovering that dealers needed more training in?
Jack: In some cases we have seen clarification on maintenance of our product, installation of our product, the materials used in our product, and the value added features of our product. Dealers were also not fully educated on our warranty or competing product warranty.
TCM: It sounds like your favoring the Torklift Certified Dealers over your non certified dealers. Is that correct?
Jack: We are not trying to create favoritism in our dealer base. We are simply trying to help our dealers market themselves more effectively. Ultimately the audience that we are talking to is the end consumer. For them, the Torklift Certified Banner means they can buy with confidence knowing that their dealer is fully trained and educated on our product line.
Jay: With the slowly improving economy, dealers are hiring people back at the dealerships. It behooves us to make sure the training is there whenever the dealers need it. As we add new products, the web training is the way to go so that our dealers don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to send people to in person training.
Jack: It’s really a win-win for our dealers and customers. The customers get the peace of mind of knowing that their Torklift dealer is fully trained and our dealers get increased customer traffic and exposure. The program is also a reflection of our philosophy and dedication to a lifetime of customer satisfaction.
And finally, the Torklift Certification Program helps us fulfill our promise to our customers to have fully educated and trained Torklift dealerships. Again, anything else would be a disservice.
To learn more about Torklift, visit their website at www.torklift.com.
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