Mitsubishi Motors Australia awards its top Service Technicians and Service Advisors

SYDNEY – Nov 25, 2013: Mitsubishi Motors Australia (MMAL) has announced the winners of the National Final of the 2013 Service Skills Contest.

The 2013 National Final, held at Mitsubishi Motors Head Office in South Australia, marked the 15th Anniversary of the Service Skills Contest.

In recognition of this important event, MMAL was honoured to have Mr Yoshikazu Nakamura, Senior Executive Officer, MMC Global Aftersales Group Headquarters, MMC attend the contest.

1,270 service technicians and advisers from over 200 dealerships competed for the annual title of top service technician and service adviser for 2013. After nation-wide preliminary testing, the top five service technicians and advisers participated in several rounds of high pressure testing.

The competition was strong, as technician finalists were put through their paces with a series of practical tests, which enabled them to showcase their problem solving skills, time management and product knowledge, all whilst performing under strict time constraints. The service adviser finalists were also put to the test and given numerous real-life customer service scenarios, and assessed on their helpfulness and professionalism.

After a comprehensive and challenging contest, the winners were announced and presented with their awards by Mr Nakamura and MMAL CEO Mutsuhiro Oshikiri.

For a third time, Rod Howes from Motorama Mitsubishi (Queensland) took out the title of Technician of the Year.

“I thought the technician testing was challenging and some of the tests were relatively taxing on my diagnosis knowledge, processes and procedures,” he said.

In the Service Adviser category, the result was too close to call and Jessica Hankinson from McIIroy Mitsubishi (South Australia) and Carla Smith from Len Patti Mitsubishi (Queensland) were both awarded Service Adviser of the Year. Both winners showcased their skills and experience in all categories to outperform the other contestants.

Service Skills winner Jessica Hankinson said the contest helped to increase her knowledge of the Mitsubishi brand and products.

“I also enjoyed meeting new people and making friends at the finals. To be named as the Service Adviser of the Year was quite a surprise and I’m very honoured,” she said.

For Carla Smith, this is the fourth year in a row claiming victory. Her enthusiasm, along with her commitment to the MMAL brand, is a credit to her success.

“I enjoy the new skills and dealership networks that are gained through the service skills program. The program really shows appreciation to service advisers who play an important role in the dealership. This is the one time that your job as a service adviser is really appreciated and rewarded for the hard work that is put into keeping a service department running smoothly,” she said.

Mr Nakamura said the knowledge, skills and behaviour of each Dealership's Service Advisers and Service Technicians has a great impact on that Dealer's profitability.

“All National Finalists are great examples of Service Advisers and Technicians, not only for our dealerships, but for the whole Mitsubishi network in Australia. The skills shown today throughout the contest represents a great future for Mitsubishi Motors,” he said.

MMAL’s Head of National Service, David Budden said that the commitment and dedication together with high levels of skills and product knowledge of the Service Advisers and Technicians in our Dealer network is a key factor in delivering excellent customer service.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to this year’s winners and National finalists, and my thanks to all participants for their efforts in the 2013 Mitsubishi Service Skills Competition,” he said.

The Service Skills Competition enables MMAL to identify gaps in knowledge and skills at a network level that can be addressed in all on-going and future training programs.