Demonstrating their skills and expertise, eighteen of Hino Australia’s very best sales, parts and service staff competed in the ninth Hino National Skills Contest yesterday, after winning their way through a series of Hino Skills qualifying rounds held over the previous five months.
As one of the longest running events of its type in the truck industry, the 2018 Hino National Skills Contest is an annual event that showcases the proficiency of sales, service and parts experts from the Hino national dealer network.
“As always, we never fail to be impressed by the skills and expertise of the people in our dealer network – our Skills Contest is the most comprehensive of its type in the industry.
“Over the nine years we have changed the format to showcase this expertise, with this year being the fourth that sales consultants have been tested alongside service technicians and parts interpreters,” Hino Australia Chairman and CEO Steve Lotter said.
“Once again the contest was incredibly close, as it was throughout the qualifying rounds. I congratulate everyone who participated, it’s fantastic to see such commitment.”
Finalists in the sales and parts categories demonstrated their expertise through a series of role play scenarios, while the service technicians were tested on their diagnostic, analytical and technical skills in a series of hypothetical exercises.
Parts contestants were further challenged to identify genuine and non-genuine parts, while sales consultants were quizzed on their product knowledge.
“At Hino our skilled dealer network is a key to providing exceptional customer service for our customers, and in building the trust the market has in our brand,” Mr Lotter said.
“That’s why this contest is very important to Hino, it has a very positive flow-on effect for everyone involved.”
The 2018 National Skills Contest winners are Thanh Nguyen from WA Hino (Service), Stan Voltemar from WA Hino (Parts) and Joel Ferrante from Prestige Hino (Sales).
All three winners have earned an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan in October to watch the annual Hino Japan Skills Contest.
Adding to the excitement of this year’s event was the Australian Vs New Zealand Service Challenge between Heidi Inkster, winner of the Hino New Zealand’s event, and Asa Pearson from CMI Adelaide, a previous Hino Australia Skills Contest winner.
Each contestant took part in a series of repair and diagnostic tasks over 30 minutes with the results tied at the end.
The event was held at Hino Australia’s Sydney headquarters and attended by VIPs including Mr Lotter, and Hino Australia President and COO Shunichi (Sean) Takahashi who were joined by representatives from Hino Japan including Senior Managing Officer Mr Ichiro Hisada, General Manager – Asia & Oceania Division, Mr Mitsuharu Tabata, Deputy General Manager – Aftersales Service Division Mr Kouichi Katou and Manager - Parts Operation Division, Mr Kazuyoshi Konagaya.
Hino National Skills Contest Winners 2018
Service
1st - Thanh Nguyen, WA Hino
2nd Geoff Mallett, Adtrans Hino
3rd - Peter May, FRM Hino
Parts
1st Stan Voltemar, WA Hino
2nd Kara Green, Adtrans Hino
3rd Ryan Macauley, CMI Hino Adelaide
Sales
1st Joel Ferrante, Prestige Hino
2nd Bevan Joseph, City Hino
3rd Shane Curtain, Sci-Fleet Hino