Ford ME dealers' service teams clinch major awards in global service competition

Ford Export Operations and Global Growth Initiatives (E&G) sponsored the competition that challenged hundreds of service professionals from Ford-affiliated dealerships in Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean & Central America, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. Eighteen were selected to compete at the finals in Dearborn.

Annadurai Arachali of Arabian Motor Company in Muscat, Oman and Noel Faustino of Al Tayer Motors, Dubai, UAE won second and third place respectively, in the Service Advisors category. Arachali brought home a cash prize of US$3,000 while Faustino was awarded US$1,000.

In the Technicians category, Jefferson Dimacali of Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies (Riyadh, KSA) won second place with US$3,000 prize and Sunil Montiero of Al Tayer Motors (Dubai, UAE) finished third place with US$1,000 cash award.

Chad Phillipps, a Ford service advisor at Vampt Motors on Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands, and Jesus Rodriguez, a Ford service technician at Centrocamiones, Inc., in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, took first place honors in their respective dealership disciplines.

"Ford has new dealerships and service centres in many developing markets that have enormous sales potential. Having a well-trained, knowledgeable staff is their highest priorities," said John Fitzpatrick, director of Ford E&G. "This competition encourages the service personnel at our dealerships to develop the skills that will deliver superior customer satisfaction and build brand loyalty across the globe."

Waldo Galan, Ford ME's managing director said:

"We congratulate our service teams for the hard work and dedication they have shown in the Service Excellence World Cup. They have brought us the honour and pride of having well-trained and skilled service teams who are ready to respond to our customers' needs. The competition results prove that our service in the Middle East is world-class."

Each of the nine participating service advisors and nine technicians completed six months of rigorous training and advanced to the global finals through in-dealership and regional competitions, positioning them as the best amongst Ford Export's more than 100 dealer-partners.

Prior to the competition, many of the techs took time off just to train, said Roque Manzanares, the Ford technical trainer who set-up the "bugs" for the technicians to fix during the regional and final competitions. One service advisor even transformed his hotel room in Dearborn to simulate the test environment in order to practice.

"This event has created a buzz in all of our dealerships, and we expect to see even higher participation next time," Manzanares said. "Because of this competition and the emphasis on training, we will see better auto techs and service advisors at our dealerships."

During their stay in Dearborn, the World Cup participants enjoyed several Motor City attractions including the Woodward Dream Cruise, The Rouge Factory Tour as well as visits to the Henry Ford Museum and the Fairlane Estate. The competition marked the first opportunity for many of the participants to visit the United States.

For Ejay Jayachandran, technical trainer for Ford dealerships in the Middle East, the opportunity has fulfilled a dream and inspired him.

"This was my chance to go out of my boundary and show the skills of my field team. This is my dream that I've achieved," Jayachandran said. "I've always been proud to be part of my dealership, but now I am going back with a renewed sense of commitment as I realize that I'm part of something bigger, that I'm part of the Ford family."

For his part, Noel Faustino of Al Tayer Motors said: "In this World Cup finals, winning was only my secondary objective. My main goal was to show everyone the high level of expertise our operation provides when it comes to customer service."