Laura Jones, Marketing Manager at Ecobat Battery Technologies, examines the significance of the extension of the company’s One Box offering, with training videos and an online assessment equipping technicians to properly fit start-stop batteries.
Following the launch of its One Box start-stop battery testing and installation solution at Automechanika Birmingham in June last year, Ecobat Battery Technologies has further developed its offering with the release of a free start-stop battery training, assessment and certification package, which is intended to enable technicians to fit AGM/EFB batteries with confidence.
“Despite the prevalence of vehicles equipped with start-stop technology, sales of the replacement AGM and EFB batteries used in them are still not keeping pace,” explained Ecobat’s Marketing Manager, Laura Jones.
“We know that part of this is due to drivers deactivating the function, which means the batteries are not making the engine starts they are designed for, and so are lasting much longer before needing to be replaced. We also know from the results of our own research that this is partly due to the fear-factor among some independents; many are still nervous or unsure about changing them, so the business goes elsewhere.
“We introduced the One Box solution to help workshops tackle this uncertainty, and it’s been a great success, not just for them, but also for the factors supplying the replacement batteries required. The logical next step in our plan was to introduce a training and assessment element that elevates the status of the workshop in the eyes of the motorist, with the knock-on benefits that also brings.”
The package consists of a comprehensive, but easy to follow YouTube video, which provides viewers with a step-by-step guide that takes them through the assessment, removal, replacement and validation processes, and introduces them to the four parts that make up the One Box package. Together, this allows technicians to tackle start-stop battery replacement with confidence.
Once they have viewed the video, technicians can now undertake the online assessment that covers not just the removal and installation process, but the information concerning the battery and the start-stop system, to discover whether they have achieved the necessary score to have passed.
Due to the importance of following the correct procedure, the assessment has a low margin for error, but provided the technician has demonstrated they have the understood – and crucially, can replicate – the process, they will pass and can move onto certification.
The successful applicant is then able to download their certificate in a choice of branded Lucas, Numax, multiple ( joint Exide/Lucas/Numax/VARTA) or nonaligned formats, and they will then be in a position to put their new found knowledge into practice to the benefit of motorists and workshops alike.
Laura continued, “Prior to the One Box launch, Ecobat’s only contact with workshops has been through training sessions and workouts that have been arranged by their local motor factor.
However, what our One Box communication has now done at workshop level is stimulate demand for AGM/EFB batteries far more effectively than through any sort of factor level promotion, because it’s removed the blockage to increase sales by empowering the workshop to understand and fit the products. This has also benefitted motor factors, which are now – finally – experiencing an upturn in AGM/EFB battery sales.
“In short, the One Box project has delivered a win-win-win scenario for motorists, workshops and factors!”
