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At Taylor’s Boats, the goal is not to be the best dealership in the marine industry: “We think in most cases that falls short,” says owner and president Taylor Richards. Instead, the company’s goal is to offer service on par with “other industry leaders like Lexus, BMW and Nordstroms.”
To that end, the service department at Taylor’s (Ranked 11 in 2006) has learned to work smarter, as opposed to harder, and has reached exceptional levels of efficiency. The company’s top technician averaged more than 150-percent efficiency in 2005, while the entire company recorded efficiency ratings of 130 percent for the year. All the while, the company’s in-house service CSI score is an impressive 95.33, and comebacks are nearly non-existent.
Behind the shining numbers is an equally impressive and very creative motivational program. Through its Level of Excellence program, 90-percent efficiency is the minimum allowable standard. And only those technicians who have zero or one comeback per month are allowed to participate. And it’s not until a technician reaches a 110-percent efficiency rating that the rewards kick in.
By reaching that threshold — considered the Bronze level — technicians receive a $100-per-month tool allowance, a monthly $100 gift certificate and one week paid vacation. There are five levels above this reward program’s entry point, and at the Diamond level, or 160-percent efficiency, the technician is rewarded with a gift certificate; use of a demo boat; a three-day weekend for every consecutive 90 days on track; a one week, company-paid vacation inside the United States; a full-time service assistant; flexible hours as approved by management; a $200-per-month tool allowance; a monetary bonus of $750 per month; and a monthly payment toward a tow vehicle.
The program works so well that a similar version has been set up for the sales department to achieve specific dollar volumes.
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