When most forklift dealerships evaluate the success of their aftermarket departments and functions, they focus on the usual Key Performance Indicators or KPIs — fill rates, technician utilization, work in process, and parts revenue. But if you look closer, the true driver behind consistent performance isn’t just better tools or sharper pricing. It’s the team culture that holds it all together.
With today’s challenges in our industry, such as labor shortages, rising costs, and increasing customer expectations, the most effective dealerships are doing more than tracking metrics. They’re creating teams that function with clarity, confidence, and accountability — not just compliance.
In speaking with dealership leaders across the country, I have identified three traits that consistently set their high-performing teams apart, and how your dealership can implement them.
- Productive Disagreement is a Strength, not a Disruption
Successful aftermarket departments don’t avoid conflict — they embrace it. Productive disagreement allows your parts, service, and sales teams to challenge assumptions, raise red flags, and debate better solutions before mistakes happen.
For example, if a technician questions a parts substitution or a counter rep challenges a commonly overlooked repair item, those moments shouldn’t be shut down — they should be welcomed. Friction, when rooted in professional respect and common goals, leads to better outcomes.
In the hustle of daily operations, it’s easy to prioritize speed over discussion. But taking time to pause and ask, “Is this really the best way to do it?” can uncover inefficiencies that have gone unnoticed for months or even years. Whether it’s a recurring delay in ordering key components or confusion around repair quote approvals, healthy disagreement can be the spark that leads to long-overdue process improvements.
What You Can Do:
- Encourage your teams to bring up inefficiencies, even if it ruffles feathers.
- Create “What Went Wrong” sessions where the team openly discusses recent service issues or miscommunications.
- Train frontline leaders to ask: “Is there a better way to do this?”
This approach doesn’t slow you down — it sharpens your edge. In a business where reputation is everything, the ability to catch and correct problems early can be the difference between gaining a loyal customer and losing one forever.
- Psychological Safety Builds a Smarter, More Agile Team
When people are afraid to speak up, they stay quiet — even when they know something is off. That silence can cost you time, customers, and even safety.
The highest-performing service and parts teams foster an environment where everyone feels safe to raise concerns, admit mistakes, or suggest new ideas. This doesn’t mean lowering standards or tolerating excuses. It means removing fear from the learning and improvement process.
This is especially important in multi-generational teams. Younger technicians may hesitate to offer input when seasoned veterans are present. Conversely, experienced employees may be reluctant to ask questions about new systems or technologies. A culture that encourages openness across all levels of experience allows the entire department to grow together.
How to Build It:
- Acknowledge when leadership makes mistakes — it sets the tone for the team to do the same.
- Celebrate team members who identify potential problems, not just those who solve them.
- Provide anonymous feedback channels and act on what you learn.
Psychological safety also boosts adaptability. In today’s aftermarket world, teams need to pivot quickly — whether it’s adjusting to supply chain delays, implementing new scheduling software, or adapting to customer service policies that shift overnight. Teams that feel safe are more responsive, creative, and aligned.
When your people believe their voice matters, they bring more than their labor — they bring their insight.
- Shared Ownership Drives Engagement and Results
One of the most overlooked performance drivers is ensuring that your team feels their work matters to the bigger picture. When counter staff, field technicians, and support roles understand how their work contributes to customer satisfaction and dealership profitability — and when they have a stake in the outcome — accountability increases. So does retention.
We’ve all seen what happens when employees feel like cogs in the machine: enthusiasm wanes, quality dips, and turnover climbs. However, when employees are treated as contributors to the bottom line, they are not just labor costs — their mindset shifts. They care more about the outcome and take more pride in their role.
Some dealerships are implementing this through bonus structures tied to department performance, while others have clearly communicated KPIs that are visible to everyone. The goal isn’t to turn every employee into an executive — it’s to help every employee act like one.
Ways to Create Ownership:
- Post service efficiency, quote conversion rates, and parts fill rate goals in common areas.
- Tie quarterly bonuses to department-wide targets like first-time fixed rate or parts margin improvement.
- Involve employees in planning inventory strategies, scheduling changes, or tool upgrades.
A shop floor bulletin board or digital dashboard can go a long way in making dealership performance visible and relevant to everyone. Even a brief monthly meeting that recaps progress toward shared goals can help people feel more connected to the mission.
When the whole team is rowing in the same direction, performance becomes a collective outcome, not just a manager’s responsibility.
Culture Is the Competitive Advantage You Control
Every dealership is facing similar headwinds: technician shortages, rising input costs, and customers who expect the same level of service as Amazon. But not every dealership is creating the kind of culture that turns those challenges into opportunities.
It doesn’t take a massive overhaul. Often, it just takes a consistent effort to change the conversations happening in the breakroom, during team meetings, and at the parts counter. By encouraging disagreement, fostering safety, and building ownership, you’ll make more than just a high-functioning team — you’ll create a dealership where people want to stay, customers want to come back, and performance sustains itself.
That’s the kind of competitive advantage you don’t have to wait for the market to deliver. It’s one you build from the inside out.
About the Author:
Chris Aiello is the Business Development Manager at TVH Parts Co. He has over 19 years of experience in the equipment business, serving in various roles, including service manager, quality assurance manager, and business development manager. Chris now manages a national outside sales team that sells replacement parts and accessories to various equipment markets, including material handling, equipment rental, and construction and earthmoving dealerships.
