GLMSS

Great Lakes MSS Association

"MSS" is short for "Motorola Service Station", a term that dates back about 50 years. An MSS is an independent company, generally locally owned, authorized by Motorola to provide warranty, installation and repair services for Motorola two-way radio and paging products. Today it might be more appropriate to call them "Motorola Sales and Service", though that term has not been officially adopted [Motorola authorizes sales companies other than MSS’s, and may use a service agency other than an MSS if it chooses]. The relationship between Motorola and the MSS’s is an unusual one for longevity and durability.

Biography of the MSS

At the conclusion of the Second World War, Galvin Industries assayed its future and determined to build on its wartime experience as a manufacturer of military radio equipment by becoming a producer and marketer of two-way radio equipment for business, commerce, government and public safety. Early on, Galvin recognized that it could make the best radios and offer them at an excellent price, but would still not succeed in the marketplace if it did not have service to back up its equipment. Organizing, building and operating a nationwide company-owned service network was far beyond the means of Galvin (or Motorola, its brand name), so the company set about a methodical program to encourage local entrepreneurs to form radio service companies and align themselves with Galvin as authorized Motorola Service Stations.

The program succeeded, and is an integral part of the foundation from which Galvin Industries grew to be Motorola, Inc., and which has propelled Motorola to its position of national and world-wide prominence in two-way radio and communications. The Galvin family has such regard for the relationship between Motorola and the MSS’s that it commissioned the writing and private publication of a book detailing the history of the MSS program.

The MSS's founded at Motorola's encouragement have proven to be one of the great success stories in the field of service. Motorola's dominance in the radio industry is directly attributable to two things - its skill and progressiveness as a manufacturer, and its alliance with a national network of independently-owned and -managed service facilities. In 1988, Motorola began a major change in its marketing strategy: for the first time, it began to sell its products through independent sales agencies, as well as through its own sales force. Today, the bulk of sales are through outside sales agencies. The MSS's rose to the challenge and have proven themselves to be a major part of Motorola's sales, as well as its service.

Over the years, MSS's have expanded their businesses beyond providing service to Motorola products. Today, they have expanded into other product lines for both sales and service - product lines as diverse as industrial controls, sophisticated security and access-control systems, video, vehicle alarms, and other electronic products which require trained and skilled technicians to support them. Some MSS's have joined Motorola as manufacturers, marketing a variety of specialized devices and products. Others have become engineering centers, offering engineering solutions to special problems on both a local and an international basis.

Most MSS's trace their existence back somewhere between 25 and 48 years. Rather than stagnating and falling behind, they have transformed themselves over the last 10 year as they move to keep abreast of the changing technologies and the changing business climate. As Motorola is now on its third generation of Galvins, many MSS's are now moving into the hands of second- or third-generation ownership, younger men and women who have grown up immersed in the culture of innovation, change, growth, and most of all, service.

The MSS community is a unique resource. Its strength lies in the fact that each member is locally-owned and locally-managed. The owners and managers and their employees are all deeply rooted in their communities. At the same time, they are on the cutting edge of new technology. As central planning has failed governments, as central management has failed national service agencies (e.g. RCA, IBM), the MSS community with its local solution of local problems has moved forward, and is today positioning itself for the 21st century.

A very large part of the positioning being done by the MSS has to do with quality. Major increases in the quality of the two-way products they service have resulted in decreasing need for actual repair of individual radios, and many MSS's today are finding themselves with staffs of skilled technicians who are underutilized. ISO-9000 and other quality management programs being implemented within the MSS's are having the effect of increasing capacity, as return service calls are being eliminated. Part of the slack is taken up by increased need for technical ability to service large systems problems, but there is a growing element of excess service capacity. This excess capacity is available for the use of manufacturers and customer-service providers, and can readily be expanded to meet the needs of new customers.

Over the years the MSS's have been faced with a continuous parade of new products to support, and have integrated product and systems training into their standard operating procedures in such a way that new products and systems are easily absorbed and efficiently serviced. In the late 1980’s, a new element was added - sales. While many MSS’s had before sold small items "on the side", and all had of course sold their services, actual sales of radios and radio systems had been handled directly by Motorola. But Motorola was finding that handling a wide-spread and ever-expanding sales force had the same problems of management and cost as building a national Motorola-owned service organization would have had.

And so Motorola opted to solve a large problem by devolving much of its sales effort to local dealers. In short order, the MSS’s found themselves on the forefront of radio and system sales, and in active competition with other dealers in their markets (not all Motorola dealers are MSS’s). Now, where you find MSS service, you also find an active, growing, trained sales staff. And with the growth of sales capabilities, the MSS’s found that there was no longer a good reason to restrict their operations solely to two-way radio.

While they have accustomed themselves to continuous adaptation to new products and new market conditions, the MSS's have developed a character of cooperation, both among themselves and with customer-owned engineering, installation and service organizations. As a result, the MSS community is uniquely suited to adapt itself to the needs of regional, state-wide, multi-state and national customers. Today, the network of MSS's can provide practically seamless high-quality service, with sales support if needed, anywhere and everywhere in the United States. The advantages of MSS service to a customer are great:

• Experience, organizational and financial stability going back as far as 50 years
• Start-up times on new products and systems measured in days and weeks, rather than months and perhaps years
• Reserve capacity able to meet the peaks and ride out the valleys in service demand for a product or system. (Customer-owned service organizations must employ substantially more personnel than they ordinarily need if they are to be able to cover peak demands)
• Customer has minimal or no capital investment in service equipment, vehicles, tools, furniture, etc., versus the huge investment necessary for customer-owned service
• High-caliber local management of every facility, versus the crippling problem of attracting, screening, hiring and keeping qualified service management by remote control
• Demonstrated performance versus no track record
• Established good relations with many of the businesses and governmental agencies in the area
• Established location and community image
• Attitude of being progressive and flexible, with service experience and community contacts not limited to one product or system

In the past, manufacturers and service marketers have had little choice other than to establish their own sales and technical service departments, regardless of the cost. Today that is no longer true. For sales, installation, and technical service, the national network of MSS's is available. Today, local, regional, state-wide, multi-state or national service is only one phone call away.