Customer First & Team Spirit: LatAm’s extended service contract success

Welcome to Employee Appreciation Month. To honor the many contributions of our employees, Insider will feature a story each week during March that celebrates teams or individuals who have lived our core values and exhibited exemplary performance on a recent project or program.

By their efforts, these employees provide proof that the values have truly become foundational to everything we do at International.  

For our last installment, we highlight the International Latin America (LatAm) Commercial team’s recent resounding success with the launch of extended service contracts (ESCs). Their Customer First and Team Spirit attitude throughout the development, launch and continuous improvement of the program set the stage for a major win by the team. 

Leveraging a key launch 

ESCs and the solutions included in them are a part of International’s business we are leaning heavily on now and moving forward. When LatAm launched the S13 Integrated Powertrain and its new solutions at Mexico’s biggest trade show, Expo Transporte, in October 2023, much legwork had already been done to set the stage for success. 

“Beginning in February 2023, the LatAm Commercial team started fine-tuning the strategy for launch,” said Irving Romero, senior manager, BD and Presales. “The ESC program has five key elements: maintenance, extended warranty, control tower (for predictive analytics), connected services, and road rescue (roadside assistance). The main goal is to provide a comprehensive solution to our customers.” 

At Expo Transporte, the LatAm team worked with customers to sign letters of intent for the ESCs that later turned into full contracts. The overall feedback from the tradeshow was positive: customers wanted to lean on International LatAm’s expertise and solutions. 

“Our team positioned ourselves as the partner who cares, and who listens,” said Irving. “We want to be the favorite partner; that became our motto.” 

But this was only the start; the team was determined to do more to prove their commitment. 

Continuous improvement through customer feedback 

To truly make the ESCs a customer-focused solution, the work could not stop there. After launch, Irving and team visited 19 dealers and more than 40 customers. Dealers needed to learn how to sell the ESCs and understand the intrinsic value it would bring to their business, while customers needed to be educated on how beneficial it could be to their operations. 

These visits allowed customers and dealers to get assistance in real time, and have their feedback heard and brought back to the drawing board. It also allowed for the LatAm team to really sell what a benefit this solution could be for both parties. 

“The entire ESC program was improved by making small adjustments based on both dealer and customer feedback,” stated Irving. “We made sure they understood the true benefits of this solution, like reduced downtime, improved resale value, higher driver satisfaction and a standardized service throughout their fleets.” 

And the dealer and customer response has been resoundingly positive. 

“The maintenance portion of the contracts have helped us plan and schedule work by organizing customer appointments through scheduling,” said Memo Lozano, International Sierra Norte. “In this way, we can organize resources to maximize the productivity of our technicians.” 

Customer Express Package currently has 500 units enrolled in the ESC program, and stated the ESCs are perfectly aligned with the issues the fleet needed to address across the board. 

Successful solution adoption 

As of 2025, the take rate for ESCs is 63%. This means that for every 10 trucks sold, at least six are sold with an ESC, a huge win for the LatAm Commercial team and International as a whole. 

“At our dealerships, dwell time for maintenance is down to 3.6 hours and over 330 dealer personnel have been trained in various areas needed to sell and execute the ESCs,” stated Irving. “We want to be our customers’ favorite partner and help them run the best version of their business.” 

By creating a proactive approach, anticipating customer and dealer needs, and listening to their feedback, the LatAm team truly embodied Customer First and Team Spirit to turn an exceptional result.