How can a car workshop win the trust of new customers?

The PTIA Certificate of Tyre Services honours industry professionals

Having trust in a car workshop and the professionals working in it is the most important reason for choosing its services. Trust is not easily gained, but it can be lost very quickly. The key to success is quality. Unfortunately, it is still very difficult to stand out on the market of almost 12 000 tyre services in Poland – which so diverse when it comes to the level of the quality of service and technical culture. Too many car workshops replace tyres in an unacceptable way, carelessly knocking the tyre off the rim or mounting it too forcefully, causing damage. That is why the Polish Tyre Association has introduced the Certificate of Tyre Services – a system for evaluating and awarding professional services based on an independent audit of equipment and qualifications performed by TÜV SÜD auditors.

Competing with the price of services is not enough perform well on such saturated and difficult market. Potential customers are now looking not only for good prices – having trust in professionals is very important, and thus the quality of services and a sense of security. When entrusting its car to a car workshop, the customer wants to be sure that they are safe. How to convince them of this?

Drivers cannot stand in the hall of a car workshop and breathe down the necks of mechanics – and even if they could, they do not have adequate professional knowledge. It is therefore worth applying for the PTIA’S Certificate of Tyre Services. It is a clear sign for customers that in such certified car workshop TÜV SÜD auditors thoroughly examined the service for them and confirm its high quality.

It is the only certificate in Poland that was created in cooperation with all major tyre manufacturers as well as service networks and industry experts. This made it possible to create uniform certification criteria and tyre replacement procedures – the same for everyone, transparent and reasonable. The PTIA’s Certificate of Tyre Services is open to all tyre services in Poland – affiliated in networks, independent or even authorised service stations. If you want to gain the trust of customers, read the audit criteria and submit an application of your workshop at certyfikatoponiarski.pl.

– Professional tyre technicians are aware that they can’t take shortcuts when working with tyres. Sooner or later, the consequences of that will always affect the customer. If they are not satisfied with the quality of service, they will never come back to the car workshop again. Every car workshop owner who wants to build their reputation and long-term relationships with customers should follow the exemplary tyre procedure based on tyre manufacturers’ guidelines. PTIA prepared 40 steps of wheel replacement and tyre service, the fulfilment of which guarantees that the wheel or tyre will not be damaged. Any service that aspires to be professional and serve the best customers has to meet these criteria. We provide training for workshops that want to prepare for certification. Representatives of car workshops that have obtained the PTIA’s Certificate of Tyre Services emphasize that it makes them stand out from the competition – says Piotr Sarnecki, general director of the Polish Tyre Industry Association (PTIA).

See how the audit of compliance with the requirements of the Certificate of Tyre Services of the Polish Tyre Industry Association is carried out by TÜV SÜD Poland. Grzegorz Duda, an automotive journalist, mechanic and rally driver and Marek Nytko, head of automotive auditors of TÜV SÜD Polska, will lead you through the process.

Among the basic mistakes made by service technicians working inaccurately and in a hurry are, among others, doing damage to the tyre bead during forced assembly – which can lead to complete loss of control of the vehicle by the driver while driving. Unprofessional mechanics often avoid cleaning the rim shelves, which causes unbearable wheel vibrations. Some service technicians wanting to save time also set the pressure too high when inflating the tyre onto the wheel shelf – this causes irreversible deformations in the tyres, in which drivers invest hard-earned money and creates the risk of the bead slipping off the wheel while driving. In addition, taking a shortcut and using a pneumatic or electric impact wrench – instead of a torque wrench – to tighten the wheel bolts with full force can even damage the rims – and if it happens that we will have to replace the wheel on the road, then unscrewing the bolts yourself will prove to be impossible.

A map of certified services that have undergone TÜV SÜD’s audit and received PTIA’s Certificate can be found on certyfikatoponiarski.pl.

When changing tyres, the car workshop must:

  • make sure that the valves and TPMS sensors are not damaged by placing the wheel correctly on the fitting tool;
  • carefully and gently dismantle the tyre so as not to damage its inner layers;
  • use tools with plastic covers and attachments on the assembly machine so as not to scratch the rim and do not expose it to corrosion or lack of tightness with the tyre;
  • thoroughly – but gently – clean the rim where the old weights once were placed to ensure the accuracy of balancing;
  • clean the hub and rim at the point of contact with the hub to ensure perfect adhesion after tightening;
  • propose the replacement of valves which are subject to very high centrifugal forces and bad weather conditions for half a year.

Due to the great diversity of the quality of service in car workshops in Poland, the Certification of Tyre Services distinguishes 3 levels of service:

  • GOOD SERVICE – basic services are performed at a high level, has basic and serviced equipment suitable for most vehicles, has basic facilities for customers;
  • VERY GOOD SERVICE – met the criteria for the GOOD level plus has more advanced equipment, higher accuracy of service, better skilled staff, better conditions in the customer zone;
  • EXCELLENT – met the criteria for the GOOD and VERY GOOD levels plus: has the most advanced equipment, highly competent staff, offers additional tyre services, has the highest standard of customer service and verification by a mystery client.

 

This post is also available in: plpolski (Polish)