Service Writer Job at Cogent Analytics LLC in Des Moines

Our client is looking for a Service Writer, the primary purpose of this position is to provide support to the Shop Supervisor and shop staff and act as a liaison between customers and the shop.

This person must be able to communicate respectfully and professionally with customers, vendors and employees.

This person must be able to communicate with customers to determine their service needs, document customer repair requests and coordinate with the Shop Supervisor and shop mechanics and staff to ensure timely and accurately documented work completion.

This position reports to the Shop Supervisor but may receive work instructions for specific assignments from a lead mechanic or technician and will need to be documented and prioritized accordingly.

This position impacts the profitability of the Company by ensuring that opened work orders are accurately entered, parts are ordered in a timely manner and technicians are assigned accordingly to ensure efficient operations.

Duties and Tasks

• This position demonstrates that THE CUSTOMER IS THE FIRST PRIORITY and that every employee is here to fully support that priority with quality work, service and on time job completion second to none.
  
  Employee must always maintain a professional attitude with customers and other employees.
• Answer all incoming calls for requests for services.
  
  Listen thoroughly to customers’ complaints and concerns.
• If service calls are requested, dispatch available technician.
  
  Adjust technician’s schedules as necessary to accommodate incoming calls for roadside services.
• Document all service requests, vehicle and/or equipment issues, in addition to any other customer concerns accurately, utilizing shop software.
• When estimates are requested, obtain parts pricing, determine estimated labor time utilizing Motor Truck Labor Guide or internal history of similarly completed repairs and efficiently respond to customer within 24-48 hours.
• Schedule appointments and create new service order, listing customer stated equipment drop off dates and times, making sure to always ask customer how soon repairs need to be completed for scheduling purposes.
• For repairs that carry over into multiple days, make daily contact with customers, updating them on the status of their repairs, utilizing either email or phone.
• As technicians are completing customer requested repairs and additional issues are found, always create a new action item in the service order with details that can be relayed to the customer.
  
  Contact customers to inform them of our findings and ask if they would like us to fix the issue or address it at a later date.
  
  If it is a DOT out-of-service violation, this needs to be communicated to the customer, as these issues should be addressed and repaired for the safety of our customer and fellow road travelers.
  
  If customer declines additional repairs, mark action item as declined accordingly and the reasons for the decline.
• If customer complaint requires troubleshooting or more complex diagnostics, ask the customer to provide as many details as possible for any repairs that were made to the unit in the last 6 months and document these notes accordingly in the service order.
• Utilize priority pricing for shop labor on all units that are brought in and repaired on the same day.
• Schedule and assign technicians to service orders.
• Utilize shop white board to document open service orders, planned schedule for the technicians for the day and any other notes that you feel would be valuable for the shop staff to be aware of for the day to ensure smoother, more efficient operations.
• On every completed repair, follow up post-service within 24-48 hours with customers and verify that the repairs were completed to their satisfaction.
• Follow Company procedure for picture intake.
  
  Will be responsible for taking and uploading pictures of units that are brought into the shop for repairs as well as taking and uploading pictures of completed repairs.
  
  If additional issues are discovered, also taking and uploading pictures and distributing to customer of the additional issues found.
• Order parts for all service orders utilizing vendors in the area.
• Add ordered parts to open service orders.
• Receive parts in open service orders as they are received, and turn in all vendor invoices to accounting, stamped with service order number written or circled.
• Return unused parts that were ordered specifically for a service order to the corresponding vendor and ensure credit is received.
  
  Enter credit into shop software and turn in all vendor credits to accounting, stamped with service order number written or circled.
• Manage inventory and complete inventory counts per company policy at specified intervals.
• Responsible for managing direct labor hours and monitoring for efficiency and correct clock in and clock out times for technicians and adjusting any errors.
• Employee will not be a supervisor to the technicians, but will work alongside them to ensure that the repairs they are completing are completed as efficiently as possible.
• Employee must be flexible and able to work under pressure as weather conditions, etc.
  
  can effect daily workflow and technician schedules may have to be adjusted multiple times throughout the day to accommodate work-ins/priority repairs.
• Process payments for completed customer repairs if accounting is unavailable or if other situations arise.
• Ensure proper documentation is filled out if customers pay via credit card protecting the company from common industry chargebacks.
• Request reviews from all customers post-repair that have provided positive feedback, forwarding company drafted emails and or/texts and notify Shop Supervisor or a member of management of all new reviews posted so that company can respond in a timely manner.
• Informs all customers waiting on site for repairs of the break room and amenities and ensures no customers are walking around in the shop area for the safety of the customers and the liability of the company other than to communicate issues, complete an initial assessment of issues and repairs on their equipment, and to verify completed repairs.
• Assists with the receipt, distribution, and storage of job and inventory parts, job materials and equipment.
• Assists with cleaning, stocking, and organizing parts storage area(s) as directed.
• Provides suggestions for improvement of shop operation, including efficiency, cost reduction or method upgrades to provide better, more profitable, or timelier service.
• Assists with the training of new staff on both shop and towing software, as assigned by answering questions and showing by example.
• Assists with general cleanup of work area or shop as assigned, and as time allows.
• Responsible for the safety of self and occasional customers in the work area.
• Follows all Company policies, including safety policies, as written.
• Ensures that all jobs that are towed into the shop for repairs have charges added to the service order so that customer billing includes both the tow and the repair.
• Supports the Towing Supervisor and as needed, creates service orders for towing quotes and calls.
• Performs any other duty or assignment as requested from time to time by the Shop Supervisor, Towing Supervisor or Management.

Qualifications

• Requires valid current Iowa driver’s license.
• 1 year of employment in diesel or automotive environment, including scheduling.
• Employee must have the ability to consistently present him/herself and the company to the public in a clean, courteous, and professional manner.
• Employee must work professionally and be respectful of all other employees of this company.
• All employment is contingent on passing a pre-employment drug test.
• Employee understands all employees must submit to random drug/alcohol testing if they are randomly selected throughout the year, at no cost to the employee.
• Requires problem-solving skills.
• Basic math, language and logic skills.
• Ability to communicate and work positively and professionally in English as the majority of customers communicate in this language.
• Must be able to work well under pressure.
• Must be able to be flexible with schedules and routines and understand that jobs, tasks, etc.
  
  that may be scheduled and planned can change at any given time.

Compensation: $18 - $24 an hour