Connection to Industry: Bob Clements International (BCI)

Over the course of this fall semester, The Center for Professional Personnel Development is connecting Agricultural Education to the industry through webinars. Each webinar will feature a different presentation and presenter. Our goal is to provide educators with resources and knowledge to better serve their students.

Industry
Our featured industry for October is Bob Clements International (BCI). You are probably wondering; what is Bob Clements International? BCI is a training company the works with about 4,500 OPE, Ag, Trailer, Powersport, and Marine dealerships across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Their goal is to implement and improve parts and services processes and profitability. "We often joke that we are the Gordon Ramsey of kitchen nightmares in the dealership. We often go into a dealership and turn a struggling dealership around with a little tough love and some proven processes," - Sara Hey.

Presenter
Our presenter, Sara Hey, wears many hats within the company since they are a small team. Her two main roles in the company are traveling around the world speaking to manufacturers and dealers, and to make sure the programs partnered with BCI are successful. It is worthwhile mentioning that Sara had attended North Park University in Chicago and received a degree in psychology. Her degree has helped her work with their dealers and inside the family business. 

What Sparked Her Interest?
Her parents had started BCI over 30 years ago, so it is safe to say she was born into it. When she began working for BCI, she recently had twins and was passionate about making a paycheck. Her dad gave her the opportunity to work in an inside sales role. Throughout the past eight years, Sara has had the opportunity to explore other areas in the dealership realm. Her daily excitement to work for the company comes from giving hope to dealers that are at the end of their rope. She states, "When we get to come alongside them and help them realize that the way things are, isn’t the way they have to continue to be. This is the reason I do what I do."

Webinar Highlights

• How they decide it’s time to add an additional person in the service department
• How they determine what they can pay their technicians and what their expectations are of their technicians.
• What the products mix in each of the dealerships look like and what that mix means for training.
• What each one of the dealerships wants you to know about what they look for in new employees and the knowledge they have as they come out of school.
• The webinar will be held on Wednesday, October 23rd at 3:30 pm follow the link to participate https://tinyurl.com/AgEquipmentWebinar

Luke Kerstetter

2020 Agriculture Teacher Candidate

Twitter Handle: @Luke_Kerstetter