United Kingdom (English)
How did you get started at Federal-Mogul?
When I joined Federal-Mogul my job focused on our FM4Me programme. Since then, my role has gradually evolved to where we are now.
So, onto the main question: what is Garage Gurus? Can you explain the idea behind it?
If you ask mechanics what they want, it’s access to the technical information they need to do their job; and that’s the fundamental logic behind creating this programme. Garage Gurus is a technical support service that can be accessed in any way you can think of. It’s based on four pillars – On-the-Go, Online, On-Call and Onsite – that forms an umbrella of technical support across all our product groups. And all that in up to six languages.
There’s a good summary of the pillars here.
So, it’s not just an online platform?
No, it’s much more than that. We will be providing a wide range of services, including telephone support (Gurus On Call) and in person (On The Go and Onsite). If a technician has a question, we want to be the go-to resource for the answer, which is why we have four different support approaches.
Will existing F-M Campus users have to start again?
Definitely not. F-M Campus users have worked really hard to achieve their progress, so all results from that platform will be kept during the transition to Gurus Online. We really want to encourage users to continue their automotive education.
How will this change benefit users?
For a start, we are investing significant resources into Garage Gurus and this will be translated directly into improving the content and resources available to technicians, garage owners and distributors across EMEA. Combining our previous support services under one roof will make it significantly easier to maintain a high standard of support. And it will be easier for our customers and users as they will have a single access point for all their technical questions.
That’s a great starting point. But, what is your vision for the future of Garage Gurus?
I’ve got lots planned for the platform. It’s a very exciting time for me. Our main goal for the next few years is to develop our industry leading technical training, field support and troubleshooting services. If a technician is stuck at work and is looking for some advice or guidance, we want them to feel that Garage Gurus has their back. We want to develop a sense of community and camaraderie among users and technicians.
We always listen to our users and customers, and we want them to know that we care as much as they do about finding solutions to their challenges. If we bring this into the Garage Gurus community, it will be mutually beneficial, which will be positive for our industry.
We want to significantly increase the content available to users and expand our services to more countries and languages. For example, we’ll soon launch a smartphone application and we’re currently considering a loyalty program that covers all facets of Garage Gurus.
Lastly, if you could have any car in your garage, what would it be?
I had a lovely 1969 XJ6 for a while, it was a series 1 with a 4.2L straight 6 – leather interior with a nice wooden dash, it was a beautiful car. Alas, times have changed, cars have changed and so too has the way to service and repair them. It is not as simple as it once was and that is exactly where we would like to help.
