Monks, a service adviser at Houska Automotive, was the first in the nation to receive recognition for successfully completing the R. L. O'Connor & Associates Professional Service Advisor Development Program, part of R. L. O'Connor's Service Advisor Academy.
Dennis Houska, owner of Houska Automotive, held a surprise luncheon on March 2 for Monks, who took his final exam in February. A limousine arrived at the shop, and Monks's final seal of recognition was delivered on a silver platter by a tuxedo-clad man with white gloves.
That morning, Monks joked that he was going to call Bob O'Connor, president of the Seattle-based R. L. O'Connor & Associates, and demand his fourth and final gold foil seal of recognition for the service adviser program.
"Small, simple changes can greatly impact the business as a whole through customer satisfaction, profitability, and employee satisfaction," he said.
The course includes 24 training modules, O'Connor said, adding that students are required to come up with an action plan with their employers to implement for each of the training modules completed.
Twenty consecutively numbered repair orders are required to be submitted for scoring each quarter, and students are contacted by phone every month by officials posing as shoppers to shop them testing their telephone skills, O'Connor said. The phone call is recorded as an MP3 file and uploaded to the Web site along with the scoring form for review, he said, adding that one quiz is also administered for each module. Students are required to achieve a passing score (typically 80 percent or better) to advance and have the quiz count towards their designation.
The program offers networking opportunities with service advisers across the country, O'Connor said, as each student has to write at least two postings in the program's online forum each month.
To receive the Professional Service Advisor designation, a typing speed of at least 50 words per minute is required, a 100 question final exam must be passed, and the student must receive a passing grade on the Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Automobile Service Consultant Test.
