When dropping off or collecting cars from German Motors, the front liners will interact with customers. It is a very important role for several reasons; one that Martin fulfils with a lot of passion as anyone coming to the workshop will experience as he part of the customer service team.
Martin joined German Motors in July 2020, first handling sales, and shortly after assigned to be a front-liner. Today, he is part of a team of three interacting actively with customers when they send in their cars to be serviced or repaired by German Motors.
He has always been passionate about the automotive industry. “I have always been fascinated by the shape, the design of cars. That is how it all started when I was young,” Martin says. The intrigue for him was the thought process of the designers and engineers on how to make a car comfortable to drive. From the intrigue about the shape of the cars, he then explored the intricacies of the features and functions of cars. His quest for insights has been guided by the question of how designers are thinking to make a ride as comfortable as possible. From that spark, fanned by a growing interest in how to develop cars, grew a passion that set him on his career path.
Wanting to know more about how everything inside a car is connected, Martin then ventured to learn more about the automotive industry in general. “Initially, I decided to further my studies in the pursuit of being able to design an engine,” he tells us. However, along the way, the prospect of sitting at a desk all day, working on drawings rather than physical car parts lost its lustre and he decided that he would use his knowledge about automotive design in different ways. Pondering how things have changed, he realises that a modern car is designed with a different paradigm in mind. What he opines is that cars nowadays are developed with marketing in mind, not longevity. Hence, as cars nowadays require more attention to keep them going, his shift of focus was towards the aftermarket. “With the knowledge I have, I can also see that at times a part could possibly be improved. Being able to pinpoint such weaknesses helps to identify needs for preventive maintenance, which is helping our customers as we can sometimes avoid annoying breakdowns.”
Setting off in 1999, the quest for automotive knowledge has also taken him places. He first learned the ropes as a mechanic, working in a workshop in his hometown for eight years. Still seeking more knowledge, he enrolled in The Otomotif College (TOC), which happens to be just a stone-throw away from German Motors. Building his network in Malaysia, he came across German Motors and met Fritz Imbacher, the founder of German Motors.
He also found his dream car early on. If given the chance, he would like to own a BMW 850 E31 CSI, a model that went into the production between the years of 1990 to 1999, a V12-powered coupe. “As it is an old car, I may have to really spend time to fix it in my own garage first.” A close competitor is the Ferrari Enzo as Martin likes Hypercars in general.
While the need to service, maintain and repair cars has not changed, the way it is done has seen a drastic transformation. Martin explains that “Today, you see a warning light in your dashboard. But what that actually means, could be a number of faults, which we need to identify using modern diagnostic tools.” Even then, as Martin says, it could be that the actual issue is caused by another part or component. The ability to interpret a customer’s description of a problem into actionable instructions for the technicians in the workshop is therefore the most important skill in his opinion. Being up-to-date with knowledge and tools is paramount in his view.
When a customer drops off a car, the fault description may not be accurate; as the typical owner of a car is not a trained mechanic, most of the times, the problem described needs to be analysed and assessed with the idea of walking in the shoes of the owner of the car. From simply describing a noise or a feeling about the handling of the car, a good service advisor should be able to deduct what is wrong with the vehicle. From there, the service advisor should be able to provide the technicians with precise information about the scope of work.
“Imagine a car being a few years old and making noises. Which are the ones that we need to investigate need to be identified and transferred to a job card.” Empathy, curiosity to find out exactly what is going on, and the ability to explain to customers what the intended steps are to fix the vehicle are crucial for the role as a service technician. As the technician need to work off the job card, communication between the front line and the workshop is key. Filling out the job cards incorrect or incomplete may result in the work not being carried out to the full satisfaction of the customer.
Talking about challenges in his daily job, Martin refers back to the fact that in a car many components and parts are interconnected. What a driver may perceive as a simple problem to fix may actually be a more complex, and more expensive, issue to handle. What Martin has experienced many times is that a fault in a component would typically require more extensive work to be carried out to prevent even more costly repairs down the road. “Now, the challenge is to explain this to a customer, who might be willing to spend money for repairs, but is convinced that it is only going to cost a certain amount.” When the numbers stack up, it is the skill of the service advertiser to convince the customer to opt for the work to be carried out as suggested with the intention to ensure that the vehicle is performing as best as possible again. Martin stresses that this is not about upselling, but to ensure that the customer is happy in the long run as a small problem settled today could have been a bigger one later on if not attended to.
In today’s hectic world, most of us depend on the availably of their own personal transportation. A service or lengthy repair adds stress to the owner’s life. Being able to return the car quickly to the owner is the guiding principle Martin works under. Oftentimes, he will have to explain in detail as to why a repair may take longer than anticipated.
Hoping for many more successful years with German Motors, he emphasises that the team is working hand-in-hand as a family more than a group of employees. One of his most memorable times within the company was a trip to A ‘Famosa, where everyone enjoyed each other’s company without the idea of different people having different job functions and lines of communication. “What we have here is a group of passionate people, people that care about the work we do and how we can bring happiness to our customers.”
