Jayco recently conducted its sixth annual Dealer Advisory Council for Service meeting.
The three-day event began Nov. 14 on Jayco’s Middlebury campus. The manufacturer’s Customer Service department hosted the council, providing RV dealers an opportunity to deliver feedback and learn about activities surrounding the department’s various initiatives.
Focus areas included Warranty (processing, returns and support), parts (ordering, shipping and RMA processing) and suppliers (presentations and Q&A).
Hilltop Camper & RV Vice President Mike Pearo said Jayco’s commitment to repair event cycle time (RECT) and service shows their industry leadership.
“It was amazing to see a manufacturer spend three days with a group of dealers,” he said, “to focus on parts and service to improve the end-user experience.”
RECT was a key prong during the council meeting. Jayco shared RECT metrics the manufacturer uses to monitor and improve service effectiveness.
This year, suppliers were invited to present key insights previously not represented. The suppliers addressed questions provided before the event regarding RECT and product quality. Comments and recommendations were then opened up to the dealers in attendance to provide additional clarity and explore further methods to improve.
Suppliers in attendance were BMPRO; Dometic; GE; Lippert; Mike’s Custom Painting, a division of the Patrick Paint Group and Norcold.
Steve Claude, Jayco’s Vice President of Customer Service, said the council is one of the most important things Jayco does.
“The DAC allows us to hear the voice of our dealerships,” Clause said, “or what they think the greatest opportunities are of supporting them and making the transactional world between the companies as easy and user-friendly as possible, with the sole goal of taking care of our customers.”
The council was born from Jayco’s Dealer Advisory Council on sales. The sales council annually convenes each summer, providing a two-hour focus on all departments.
“It was apparent that we needed to expand the service portion and break it out on its own to ensure it was given the proper attention,” Claude said. “It has since expanded to its current form extended out over a few days. The event further illustrates our follow through as a great manufacturer partner and emphasizes how much dealer feedback is wanted and needed.”
Twelve dealerships attended. Attendees were strategically selected to provide a representative cross-section of the manufacturer’s dealer body.
The event concluded Nov. 16 with a roundtable discussion.
