As automotive and lubricant technology became more sophisticated, customer demand for Jiffy Lube International’s preventive maintenance services has decreased. Jiffy Lube needed to expand its services and technical expertise to continue to attract and retain customers and their newer vehicles, and it needed to get strategic about promoting these new offerings. “Aggressively market and sell our products and services” became a new corporate imperative.
Because of Jiffy Lube’s policy that employees may NOT perform a service until they are certified in that service, training plays a critical role in the successful implementation of new services. To respond to new offerings and market shifts, Jiffy Lube’s Training team needed to develop a reliable, repeatable process for quickly and effectively developing new training for 2,000 stores. The process must protect the Jiffy Lube brand by assuring that every franchise follows consistent standards.
Process Details
Jiffy Lube ultimately created an innovative process that achieves all of its objectives. Based on the strength of the organization’s track record, Jiffy Lube leadership knows that it makes sense to engage the Learning organization from the start. Jiffy Lube senior management and various departments, and its Association of Franchisees (JLAF) Training Committee, all consult with the Training team to identify and set priorities for new courses.
Once a need is identified, subject matter experts (SMEs) are selected, and content is compiled. The team then designs and develops course materials, which are reviewed both by the JLU team and JLAF Training Committee to assure that the course will meet the needs of the business.
To ensure that employees retain and apply what they learn, Jiffy Lube’s new service courses follow a Four-Step Training Process:
- Complete e-learning modules that teach knowledge and skills.
- Pass a certification test at the end of the course.
- Take part in on-the-job training with a manager who uses a set of Daily Training and Observation Guides (DTOGs) created for each service.
- Pass a proficiency exam demonstrating mastery of both knowledge and skills. Employees must complete 100 percent of the service without assistance.
Monitoring Training
A game-changer for Jiffy Lube has been the development of an online Certification Dashboard, a simple yet powerful report used by everyone from store employees to senior management to monitor progress, track certification status, and ensure stores meet certification criteria. In the case of new services, having this information instantly available has proven invaluable for franchisees anxious to roll out the latest offering. For all new services, Jiffy Lube tracks both certification test and proficiency exam results.
Results
Starting in 2008, the company has rolled out 15 new services and its training support has ensured the success of each, resulting in incremental revenue generation of more than $100 million. Today, Jiffy Lube’s average sale per customer is 7 percent higher than the industry average, according to the 2013 Oil and Lube News survey.
A recent, specific example: Jiffy Lube introduced “Brakes and Services” stores that now sell repair services. This huge shift in offerings to highly technical services required significant training. After the training, stores offering these new services have increased their revenue by $686 per day, which is approximately $246,000 per year. By the end of 2014, Jiffy Lube projects to have 1,000 stores offering these services with a potential annual revenue impact of $250 million.
