You’ve got a lot of them!

In the world we live in today of figure-it-out-as-you-go apps, self-service checkout, and mail-order everything, it is inevitable that you are going to need some help with a product purchase from either the place where you purchased it or the manufacturer. Some companies don’t even publish their numbers, using AI chatbots or making you dig forever to find a real person. Still, others use the dreaded offshore call center with scripts a contractor follows — anything off of that script causes chaos. When you call the Edelbrock Group tech line with a question, you will get a real legitimate Edelbrock Group employee — guaranteed!

Here at EG Nation, we are in charge of “content,” so we have the unique position of visiting different departments and reporting on all aspects of the company while also seeing comments from the public on social media. That is what prompted us to write an article on the tech line — the unsung heroes of customer service. Hopefully, this article will give you some insight into what the tech line does on a daily basis and help you understand the challenges faced by the support crew. Who knows, maybe it could even lead to a new career for you.

Open from 7 am to 6 pm CST Monday through Friday, the tech line is on the front lines working with customers to solve problems on a myriad of questions dealing with thousands of products. We won’t sugarcoat it — sometimes, it can be a thankless job — but it can also be rewarding, knowing you are helping other enthusiasts. We sat down with Edelbrock Group Technical Support Manager Dallas Moss to gain an understanding of how the tech line functions, some of the challenges they face, and what he would like people to know about what to expect when they call. Dallas has been leading the team for a few years now, and he’s seen just about everything.

Tech Line Requirements

Unlike other customer service lines, the Edelbrock Group tech line requires a rather unique skill set. Before anyone becomes an EG tech, they must possess a vast general automotive knowledge — not just about EG parts. They may not be an expert on everything, but they have to be able to speak intelligently on a wide range of automotive topics. In order to help a customer with a part inquiry or troubleshoot an issue, the tech first has to understand what the customer is trying to accomplish before they can even start talking about the role an EG part plays. Currently, there are 15 (soon to be 16) techs. 10.5 of them answer most of the incoming calls, two are TCI only, one spends half their time as a specialist (hence the .5), and the other two handle emails primarily. Plus, Dallas helps out when he can.

“Although some employees specialize in one specific brand [Edelbrock or TCI] or product type [i.e., EFI or transmission], the EG tech line supports all of the family of brands,” Dallas says. “For the most part, a tech has to take calls across the board. That means employees must be familiar with thousands of parts from Edelbrock, COMP Cams, TCI, FAST, Russell, and Lunati. Because of this, training is extensive and very hands-on.”

Finding a qualified candidate can be like looking for a unicorn. Those with the desire to learn can still take some time getting up to speed, even if they already possess heavy automotive knowledge. Before new hires start taking calls on their own, they shadow seasoned veterans before they are “thrown to the wolves.” That period can last a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Once on their own, they have a fairly good support system from the other tech line employees, product managers, and engineers. It is a neverending learning experience and a great way to learn about the company.

At the other end of the spectrum, there can be downtime, and there is a fine line between an employee being bored and one who is overwhelmed. Burnout is a very real thing for any phone-in support center, whether people love their job or not. EG tries to combat tech line burnout by letting employees work in different areas, such as R&D, for a day or two. Once an employee gets enough experience, they also get to go on the road from time to time to man the EG support trailer at events. Though they are working the events, it allows them to meet customers face to face instead of over the phone and enjoy different parts of the country at night.

Taking Calls — Some Long, Some Short

As you can imagine, the type of calls that come into the tech line run the gamut. As one might expect, camshaft/valve train questions take the majority of call volume. Fuel injection and carburetors are second and third in line, respectively. As far as the length of calls, EFI and superchargers trade places at the top of that list, with camshafts coming in third. You would also be amazed at the number of calls received that don’t even have to do with parts EG sells.

To say the tech line gets a ton of calls is an understatement. Because of the nature of support calls, it is impossible to determine how long a call is going to take. Every customer gets the full attention of a tech until they hang up. There is no “goal” to try to meet for the length of a call. The only goal is to have a happy (or at least informed) customer at the end of the call — no matter how long it takes.

Tech Line Trends

It’s not very easy to analyze the trends, but we’ll try our best. Because of the wide variety of Edelbrock Group products, the phone system is a labyrinth of call paths to get customers routed to the people who can help them best. At the top-most level, calls are funneled into the tech line through three avenues for Edelbrock (Russell), COMP Cams (TCI/FAST/RHS/ZEX), and Lunati, respectively. From there, calls are routed by attributes depending on the number you press. Dallas pulled a report for us with the averages/trends from January 1 to Aug 1, 2023, which is approximately 150 working days. Let’s break down some of the trends at the top level.

During that time, the tech line handled 69,427 calls across the three numbers. That equates to 463 calls per day. If all 10.5 full-time techs work eight-hour shifts, that would be 6,613 calls per tech or 44 inbound calls per day per tech. Of the 69,427 calls, 43,130 (62%) were through COMP, 21,847 (32%) were Edelbrock, and 4,995 (6%) were Lunati. The average call length was just over eight minutes, but certain attributes, such as EFI, crate engines, and superchargers, can last significantly longer. The average valvetrain call, which is the majority at 23,624, lasted 12 minutes over that time. Also, techs make outbound calls; the tracking on that is not that accurate as they can make calls outside of the system, but Dallas says ten per day is a realistic number. Therefore, it is safe to say that techs average between 40 to 60 calls per day.

To Hang Up or Hold On

As mentioned above, EG Nation sees the social media comments, so we’ll try to attack the elephant in the room. It’s no secret that there can be extended hold times, especially after a weekend. We’re not here to make excuses or dismiss concerns, but we are aware of some people’s frustrations around hold times, as is EG management. We will say this; it is a subject that is constantly being monitored, but the solutions are more complicated than you might think.

So, how “bad” are hold times? If you read social media, you’d think it is days; however, the reality is not that bad. Hold times can fluctuate throughout the week and/or the time of day. It also depends on what queue you are in and how many people are in that “bucket” at the time you call — especially if you are calling for something like EFI or superchargers that require a tech specialist. This is why it is very important to make sure you are pushing the correct number for the question you have. If you have a question about EFI and you choose “valve train” in the system, then chances are you will not get to the right person and may have to go back into the proper queue.

The average hold time across all attributes from January to August was 10 minutes and 28 seconds. Ideally, management would like to see that number cut in half and would like to add at least one more person to the tech line in addition to the one trainee coming online soon. However, as mentioned before, it has to be the right person. With that said hold times have been dropping over the past month or two. There are a few reasons why. First, two new hires have come on board since the first of the year, so they are getting into the flow of the job. Second, inventory is reaching pre-Covid levels, which cuts down on people phoning in to see where their parts are. Third, we are deep into the racing and car show seasons, so there aren’t as many builds happening.

If you are put on hold, there are a couple of things to consider when deciding whether to hang up or hold on. Firstly, if you hang up, you will not get your place back, so keep that in mind. When you get into a queue, the automated system will tell you how many people are ahead of you in line. There are some variables that could make wait times shorter or longer, but you can use the following ideology to gauge how long the wait might be to determine whether you want to stay on the line or call back later.

Here is a scenario. You are in the “valve train” queue, and the system says you are fifth in line. Given the numbers we calculated in the previous section, you can guestimate how long until you talk to someone. If the average valve train call is 12 minutes, and you know there are four in front of you, then you could be on hold for 48 minutes. Again, that is just an estimate, but it will allow you to decide whether you have the time to wait or call back at another time when the hold times are shorter. If you decide to stay on the line, do not hang up! Just keep in mind that the techs are giving every customer the time to get their questions or problems answered to the fullest extent, the same as they will do for you when you get to speak to them.

How to Maximize Your Tech Line Experience

When we spoke with Dallas, we asked if there was any message we could help get out to the masses to help alleviate any frustrations for either side. He gave us some insight into some of the more common issues they deal with on a consistent basis. Here is a short list of things to consider or things you can do to help speed things along — both for you and others.

• Prepare before you call. Have all of your information handy, including where and when you bought it. If you have a camshaft question, it might benefit you to go through the Cam Recommendation Form on COMP’s website and print it out. That is information the tech will probably be asking you anyway. It’s always better to have too much information than not enough. If you don’t know anything about your engine, it is nearly impossible for them to recommend a cam or even troubleshoot a problem.
• The busiest days of the week are Monday and Tuesday, and then it trails off toward the end of the week with an uptick on Friday afternoon. Logically, this makes sense as people are in their garages or racing on the weekends.
• The busiest times of day (most likely to be on hold) are mornings, around lunchtime, and Friday afternoon.
• Make sure you are getting into the proper queue. Don’t hit the button for camshaft help if you have an EFI question. Remember, there are some guys who specialize in certain disciplines, so you may get put back on hold if you end up in the wrong queue.
• If you are calling about a warranty return, the most important thing to remember is: DID YOU BUY IT FROM Edelbrock Group? If you did not buy a product directly from an EG website, then you MUST go through the dealer where you bought it for warranty replacement. The EG tech line can tell you if something is covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, but they cannot accept returns that were purchased elsewhere.
• DO NOT HANG UP! Calls are answered in the order in which they come in. If you hang up, you go to the end of the line again. As an aside, the telephone system allows Dallas to see how many times you’ve called in and how long you’ve been on hold each time, so don’t say you’ve been on hold for 4 hours if you’ve hung up several times.

It goes without saying, but the folks who work on the tech line are there to help you; they are not paid to take abuse, so please don’t take your frustrations out on them. Honestly speaking, Dallas says they don’t have too many issues with customers when they get them on the phone. “Generally speaking, the conversations are pleasant,” he says. “We genuinely want to help our customers. It does nothing for either one of us to get into a fight. At the end of the day, almost every guy on the tech line is an enthusiast first, and they can empathize, or at least sympathize, with the callers.”

While we hope you don’t have to call for a problem, we understand that things happen. Anytime there is performance involved, things are going to break. And many of the applications are custom applications — there are many moving parts that have to work together for a perfect relationship. If that time comes, the Edelbrock Group tech line is there to help resolve your questions to the best of their ability.

Tech Line Employees

Dallas Moss (Manager)	Bryant Malone	Heather Dorethy (Email/Phone Support)
Nick Russo	Bruce Huggins	Robert Overfield (Email Support)
Jeremy Dent	Daniel Stevens	Ricky Kennamore (TCI Automotive)
William Cantrell	Matthew Williams (EFI)	Jimmy Lakey (TCI Automotive)
Jonathan Martin	Peter Yapelli (Edelbrock EFI)	Nobel Del Mar (Trainee)
Jesse Shappley	Tony Avina (Superchargers)