A Call to Action for Manufacturers: Training Is Brand Protection

The 2025 Appliance Service Industry Satisfaction Survey confirms what the service community has experienced for years:
Access to factory technical training is one of the strongest predictors of customer satisfaction, service efficiency, and brand perception.

Manufacturers that scored highest in training access consistently deliver:

• Higher first-call completion

• Fewer repeat visits

• More confident and retained technicians

• Stronger customer sentiment reflected in online reviews

Those who underperform experience the opposite—often without realizing the root cause.

At the same time, OEM factory technical training has been in decline for nearly 40 years, even as products have become more complex, software-driven, and interconnected. The result is a widening gap between product innovation and service capability.

In today’s market, this gap is no longer hidden.

Customers increasingly trust online reviews as much or more than recommendations from friends or family. Every service visit now becomes a public data point that influences future purchasing decisions. When service fails due to inadequate training, the outcome is not recorded as a technician or selling dealer issue—it is recorded as a brand failure.

What Manufacturers Must Do—Now

To protect brand reputation and improve customer experience, manufacturers must:

1. Reframe Training as a Brand Investment
   Factory technical training should be measured against brand outcomes—not just warranty cost containment.

2. Restore Access, Not Just Content
   PDFs and short videos are not a substitute for structured, instructor-led, and hands-on training—especially for complex products.

3. Tie Training to Measurable Outcomes
   Connect training participation directly to first-call completion, repeat-visit reduction, warranty spend, and customer-review sentiment.

4. Partner With the Service Community
   Independent and dealer servicers are your front line. Involving them in training strategy improves adoption, effectiveness, and accountability.

5. Use the Data Already Available
   The survey results clearly show which manufacturers are leading—and which are at risk. Ignoring this data is no longer defensible.

The Bottom Line for OEM Leadership

Factory technical training is no longer the responsibility of the service department.
It is no longer a warranty line item.

It is a brand protection strategy in a review-driven marketplace.

Manufacturers that act on this data will reduce warranty costs, improve customer loyalty, and strengthen brand trust. Those that do not will continue to see service failures publicly redefine their brand—one online review at a time.

Reference:
2025 Appliance Service Industry Satisfaction Survey Results