One of the key criterion of the International Truck Presidential Award is having achieved the highest level of customer satisfaction. Five Star International is the only dealership in Navistar’s network to have won the award four years running.
“The best way to enhance customer satisfaction is to listen,” said Matt Moore, service director at Five Star International. “We use a variety of shop technologies to communicate with our customers. We’ve also taken a step further by appointing a liaison who monitors customer vehicles in real time and reaches out for both emergency and maintenance issues, and to schedule service to maintain the most uptime possible.”
Based in Pennsylvania, Five Star sells and services International, Isuzu, and Capacity brands, is an Idealease affiliate, and an authorized repair facility for Cummins, Caterpillar, Allison, and Weller. Its statewide service operation will soon span nine locations with 139 service bays and 93 technicians. Its services include 24-hour towing and roadside assistance, on-site repair and maintenance, and there are three body shops in the operation.
Five Star shops are equipped with the latest technology and tools to accommodate any issues that customers need addressed.
“Technology is more important now than ever before because most repairs start with hooking up a computer to the truck,” Moore said. “We had found this to be a bottleneck when our locations only had a few laptops, but as of January 2021, all of our technicians have their own laptop and software equivalent to their certifications. This was a very large expense; however, we felt it was the best way to get our customers back on the road as quickly as possible.”
At each Five Star location there is an Accelerated Service bay for quick diagnostics where technicians use OEM software from International, Cummins, Allison, Bendix, Eaton and others. Also in use is Snap-on PRO-LINK Edge all-makes diagnostic technology, chosen in part because it does not require an annual subscription. Additionally, OnCommand Connection, International’s all-makes diagnostic system, is used with a customer’s telematics provider to access engine and other diagnostic information.
“International has come out with a few new tools to help us,” Moore stated. “The International 360 program allows us to update our customers via email during the repair process, for example, when the unit has been diagnosed, parts have been ordered, an estimate has been created, and when the job is complete.”
The Repair Management system provided by International is also in use as part of the dealership’s Accelerated Service program. To streamline service time, the solution is deployed on a tablet to create an estimate, which is then used in Five Star’s Karmak Fusion dealer management system to create a repair order.
“We’re working on integrating Repair Management with Fusion to create a repair order automatically, saving more time and eliminating data entry errors,” Moore reported. “The integration will reduce the time it takes our service advisors to write up customers and repair orders. It will also allow for estimates to update the repair order automatically instead of manually.”
The Karmak Fusion DMS is also used at Five Star for assigning parts to be invoiced. The company’s more than $9.7 million inventory includes OEM parts and aftermarket items supplied by carefully chosen local vendors. For International truck parts, Five Star uses the Dealer Inventory Alliance vendor managed inventory system.
“They do the leg work of tracking usage information and sending us a daily stock order suggestion,” Moore explained. “We have a team of inventory specialists who work with our parts managers to make sure we’re stocking the right items. We know this approach works because as a company we have a first time fill rate of about 98%, meaning if you ask us for a part we have it in stock almost all the time.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge Moore said that Five Star is facing is to recruit and retain technicians. “There’s no simple solution to this industry problem,” he stated, “so we’ve approached it in several ways.”
Those include providing a competitive wage, benefits and incentives program, using International Trucks support offerings, and partnering with secondary schools and colleges to recruit students. The dealership has also donated trucks to schools to support educational programs.
“We find that having the newest shop technology and tools helps retain technicians,” Moore said. “We also want to recruit ambitious people with no experience and train them from the ground up. All of our technicians receive continuous training to stay on the latest technologies and manufacturer systems.”
Established by the late Peter Scheler in 1974 and run today by his sons Frederick and John, Five Star International remains a family-owned and operated business. Recently, it was named International Truck 2020 North American Dealer of the Year for its commitment to providing industry-leading uptime and unparalleled performance.
As part of that achievement, Moore went on to say that an ongoing effort to measure the performance of Five Star’s service programs and operations, and to identify issues, is the key to improving shop efficiency and customer satisfaction. “We have a very diverse customer base from owner operators, school buses, leasing companies to mega fleets,” he stated. “Our main goal is to provide the same level of excellent service to all of them.”
