In just over 10 years, the ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) Automobile Parts Specialist certification program has grown in stature in the automotive aftermarket. While retailers, jobbers, program groups and technicians all have different reasons why they believe in and support the program, there is no question that certification has been universally adopted by the industry as a tool to judge the abilities of parts specialists to competently perform their jobs.
Mike Roy, a counterman at Lee Auto Parts in Des Plaines, Ill., is an ASE Certified Parts Specialist. He recently recertified and says in the past there has been a tendency for people to tell him: “You’re just a parts guy.” Roy believes ASE certification in the parts area “helps give countermen the professional stature that we have tended not to have in the past.”
|
Pass all the ASE Collision Repair tests for 30% less! ENTER CODE : ART30 AT CHECKOUT |
Testing for the Parts Specialist program began in 1993, and already more than 35,000 individuals have been certified as Parts Specialists. This is good considering that there are approximately 100,000 automotive salespeople in the industry.
Dave Milne, ASE, executive director of special testing programs, says the test is not easy. Milne explains that to complete the test, a person must demonstrate knowledge of 15 different vehicle systems, along with questions on customer relations, sales, inventory management, merchandising and vehicle identification.
“The difficulty comes in the breadth of knowledge that you have to have to be a competent Parts Specialist,” says Milne.
While the test measures technical expertise, Milne says a Parts Specialist is not expected to become a technician. “When it comes to technical knowledge we expect certain things of a Parts Specialist …we expect them to be able to identify components. We expect them to know the functions of components. We expect them to know how components relate to other systems or components on the vehicle. And we expect them to be able to give basic installation instructions on components,” explains Milne. “We don’t expect them to diagnose or actually repair the vehicle.”
“Cars get more and more sophisticated every year,” says Roy. “It’s almost impossible to keep up with the changes. The ASE test is wonderful because it means a counterperson knows their stuff and can help customers when they call.
“I may not be the smartest guy out there, because I don’t work on my own car,” Roy says with a chuckle. “But ASE certification helps a guy be more intelligent, and gives me a systematic approach to understanding the vehicle.”
Milne believes whether you are a wholesaler or retailer, in today’s market a person can go anywhere to get a good price. “Service is what differentiates you from your competitors. The ability to provide information to technicians and consumers,” he explains. “I feel like the average consumer who walks through the doors of a parts store is not only looking for a part but a little bit of help on how to do a proper installation with it.”
Embraced by retailers
Most of the major retailers in the automotive aftermarket have embraced the Parts Specialist certification program. Retail parts store chains are increasingly competing for the sale of parts to professional service shops. So having as many commercial sales associates who are certified provides a retailer with a measure of credibility as they try to capture more commercial business.
Steve Handschuh, senior vice president for AutoZone Commercial, spent many years at wholesale-oriented NAPA and understands the need. “We want to reassure the technicians that our people are certified and are knowledgeable when it comes to servicing their needs,” he explains.
In fact, Handschuh says at the company’s upcoming national sales meeting, there is time set aside for AutoZone employees to take the ASE Parts Specialist test.
In addition, AutoZone has modified its invoice to commercial customers to display the ASE logo. “We are also working on incorporating the ASE logo into the collateral materials we send to technicians,” he adds.
AutoZone provides an hourly compensation increase to those who are Parts Specialists, and Handschuh says employees are reimbursed for the cost of taking the test.
Handschuh feels AutoZone is making headway with the commercial business. “In an organization that is retail-oriented, change is not always easy, but we are making progress.”
Based in Phoenix, Ariz., CSK Auto is another major retailer that supports the ASE certification program. In fact, Scott Blackburn, senior manager of training for CSK, is a member of the ASE test-writing committee for parts certification.
“I would say the initial test was skewed towards a dealer or NAPA-type jobber store,” explains Blackburn. “At first, we told our employees who were taking the test to think more like NAPA in the customer service, merchandising areas when answering the questions. After working with AutoZone, Advance Auto and Discount Auto, I feel like now we have a test that is unbiased.”
Blackburn says as a result of the test’s impartiality, the percentage of CSK employees passing the test has gone way up.
Jack Morefield, CSK’s director of human resources and training, believes that “ASE has done a pretty good job of getting their brand out there.” However, he says the consumer may know what ASE is, but they are not always aware of what it means. “The commercial installer customer certainly knows what it is,” adds Morefield.
CSK Proshop is the wholesale side of CSK’s business. CSK has over 500 “Proshop Centers” that are focused exclusively on the sale and rapid delivery of parts to wholesale garages, repair shops and fleet maintenance organizations.
CSK uses ASE certification to help boost its credibility with wholesale customers. In addition to displaying ASE logos in ads and on store signage, the company mentions it has “ASE trained personnel” on its website.
“When our commercial customers call us, they want to talk to the ASE certified counterman,” says Blackburn.
Although it did not specify the number, Advance Auto Parts boasts that it has the largest number of Certified Parts Specialists in the automotive aftermarket industry. The company says it nearly doubled the number of team members who received their certification in 2003 compared to the previous year. And the company has significantly increased the number of certified parts specialists in 2004.
Doug Bryant, vice president of organizational development and training, says, “We encourage all of our team members to strive for the ASE certification and we provide the resources for them to do so. At Advance Auto Parts, we believe that ‘The Best Part is Our People,’ and our leadership team believes that investing in the development of our team members translates into better service and sales for our customers.”
Joe Catalano, president and COO, Strauss Discount Auto, supports ASE Parts Specialist certification. In addition, Strauss has its own program called Strauss Parts Expert (SPE).
“We promote and encourage ASE certification and compensate our personnel for the cost of the test,” says Catalano. “Obtaining ASE certification does help determine an employee’s class of pay.”
Measuring the effectiveness of ASE parts certification to the walk-in customer is hard for retailers to gauge.
Handschuh believes consumer awareness of ASE has grown, but he admits: “How many people walk into our stores and buy things based on whether the counterperson is ASE certified? I don’t know.”
Catalano takes a similar view. “I’m not sure how much the consuming public knows about ASE. It certainly doesn’t hurt, especially on the service side,” he explains. “The public always feels better when they hear the word ‘certified.’”
Valued by jobbers/program groups
ASE Parts certification has been warmly embraced by most independent jobbers and those affiliated with a program group. In fact, the head of one program group decided that he and one of his employees needed to take the test to demonstrate their commitment to the program.
“Last year I told Mike Mohler, our vice president and director of product management, that we should take the test,” says Pronto President Bill Maggs. So Maggs and Mohler ended up taking the test and passing it. Maggs says the test was harder than he thought. “Believe me, it is not a free ride.
“We are proud of achieving this certification. We hope it sends a message to our members that they should take the time to be certified.”
Dick Morgan, president of Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, enthusiastically supports the program. “When a technician knows that the counterperson he works with is certified by ASE, like he is, it gives them the feeling that this person is more competent and they are more inclined to take them seriously.”
Both Pronto and the Alliance support the program with reimbursement and training.
“We have an ongoing program through the Alliance University,” says John Wick, vice president of sales and training for the Alliance. “The first set of modules prepares a counterperson to take the ASE Parts Specialist test. Once they pass the test, we reimburse them for the test and present them with a certificate.”
Most jobbers provide extra incentive for their counter people to become certified. “Some of our members do compensate their employees for being ASE certified,” explains Wick. “It is usually in the form of extra compensation from an hourly bonus pool.”
Phill Porpora, president of Lee Auto Parts, gives his counter personnel who are certified a bonus that is double the amount of gross profit from the counter.
Porpora says they also pay for training and reimburse employees for the cost of taking the test.
Robert Roos, marketing manager of XL Parts in Houston, says the company started an incentive program about a year ago to encourage their counterpeople to obtain ASE certification. Employees are rewarded with a bonus for completing the program. “We now have about 90 percent of counter people who are certified,” says Roos.
With 20 locations in the Houston area, XL is about 98 percent wholesale-oriented. “We believe why we are successful is because of the good counter people we have who can service the professional customer,” Roos adds. XL Parts leverages the ASE certification on its website, and also with its phone on-hold message, which states: “One of our ASE Certified Parts Specialists will be right with you….”
Steve Hoellein, of Felt Auto Parts in Ogden, Utah, takes different view. Although he believes in certification, he doesn’t feel a counterperson is automatically better after receiving the certification. “A good counterman has a number of years of experience and a broad knowledge of the vehicle,” says Hoellein.
He believes ASE certification helps an employer in the long run to see how dedicated the employee is to their career. “Do I need to require my guys to be ASE certified? No,” Hoellein admits. “I believe guys should take the initiative on their own.”
His lead counterman took the test and is certified by ASE. “He took the initiative and you can’t believe how much I admire him for doing it,” says Hoellein. “I don’t have much turnover on my counter. My guys get certified, but not necessarily by ASE. My training for them is ongoing.”
The view from the bay
While most technicians see the value of ASE certification for the operation of their own businesses, it doesn’t necessarily make a difference whom they order parts from.
Since Strauss Discount Auto focuses a lot of resources into the service business, Catalano says his company orders a lot of parts from jobbers. “Our people don’t really care whether the person on the other end is certified or not, we want to know whether the person knows what he’s talking about,” Catalano admits. He believes certification is important in the eyes of the public, but not so critical in dealing from professional technician to professional counterperson.
Bob Parida is the owner of Sparks Complete Car Care in Naperville, Ill. He believes certification carries a lot of weight
in the service and repair business and “provides credibility.” However, “All our parts are ordered online, so certification
doesn’t mean much to us,” he confesses. “We only call if the computer gives us multiple choices or if we have a question.”
Parida interjects, “If we were going to the store to order parts, the ASE Parts certification might make a difference to us.”
Lynne Cardwell is a great supporter of ASE, evidenced by the fact that her repair shop in Sacramento, Calif., is designated as a “Blue Seal” shop by the organization. She has six ASE Master Technicians and her parts manager holds the ASE Parts Specialist certification. But when it comes to ordering parts, she frankly admits that whether the person is an ASE Certified Parts Specialist does not matter to her.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think we’ve ever asked our jobbers whether their people are certified or not,” says Cardwell. “There is a blend of countermen out there, some are great and some are not so great. Certification drives up the standards for the industry. So if more counter people obtain the certification, that is good for the industry.”
“When it comes to ordering parts, whether a jobber has ASE Certified Parts Specialists on the phone when we call is not important to us,” says Jeff Katz, owner of Katz Automotive, a two-bay service shop in Elgin, Ill. “With a dwindling number of jobbers in our town, getting a parts store that has what we need and a person on the phone who knows what they are talking about is the most important thing.”
Getting Certified
ASE Parts Specialist tests are offered in paper/pencil format every May and November at more than 700 test centers nationwide. There is a $31 non-refundable registration fee per person and a $24 fee for each test. In 2004, the Automotive Parts Specialist test (P2) will also be offered in a computer-based format in the winter (January-February) and summer (July-August) at more than 200 ACT centers. For these test sessions, there is a $68 registration fee per person and a $35 test fee. All computer-based testing fees are non-refundable.
The Parts Specialist Series not only includes the Automobile Parts Specialist test, it also features: Medium/Heavy Truck Dealership Parts Specialist, Medium/Heavy Truck Aftermarket Brake Parts Specialist, Medium/Heavy Truck Aftermarket Suspension and Steering Parts Specialist and General Motors Parts Consultant.
Visit ww.passthease.com for more information or get details and training materials on the ASE Parts Specialist test.
