Automotive News Canada - October 2020 - v2 - 20

20

* OCTOBER 2020

Car background guarantees she's up to the task
By JIL McINTOSH

She also fills in on the service
desk as required and helps
in the service tower, juggling
repair orders if necessary to
be sure all vehicles are ready
on time.
Warranty payment depends
on the technician's report
matching the repair.
"I make sure it makes
sense, that he followed the
right steps. You have to have
a respectful relationship with
your technicians, because you
learn a lot from them, and I
also help them whenever I can.
"When you're working on
cars and trying to figure out
problems, it's a puzzle, and
I'm a puzzle person. It's really
interesting to me."

OSHAWA CORRESPONDENT

DAWN SUTHERLAND
KNOWLEDGE IS VITAL
FOR PAYMENT ON TIME

GETTING WARRANTY
claims processed quickly is
important for a dealer's bottom line, but accuracy is just
as essential. As senior warranty administrator for sibling
dealerships Subaru City and
Rally Subaru in Edmonton,
Dawn Sutherland checks the
claims and often helps technicians with their diagnoses.
"Because
of the claims
I see, I'll
sometimes
know things
they haven't seen
before," said
Sutherland,
51. "I've been
working on
cars since I
was 16 and
that old-school knowledge
helps when you're thinking
outside the box."
Sutherland took welding and automotive in high
school. She apprenticed in the
parts department of a General
Motors dealership, then spent
13 years rebuilding transmissions at a remanufacturing
plant in Edmonton.
Around the same time that
plant closed, Sutherland was
injured in a car crash and

ROB PEARSON

Dawn Sutherland's
background in automotive
repair helps her process
warranties quickly and
accurately.

FULFILLING CUSTOMER
GOALS OFF AND ON THE ICE

PHOTO: ROBERT MAHON

could no longer work on vehicles. So she applied to Rally
Subaru as a service adviser.
"I didn't have any experience doing anything else," she
said, "and my options were
limited. And I thought with
my training, I would be able to
do this."
While on the service counter, Sutherland also processed
warranties. She transferred to
the larger Subaru City dealership 17 years ago, primarily
for warranty work, but continued to process claims for both.

WHAT DO HOCKEY AND
dealerships have in common?
Both require team players,
and the GM dealership Boyer
Pickering in Ontario has that
in former National Hockey
League (NHL) player Rob
Pearson.
As the Business Elite program manager and the marketing manager, "I do fleet
sales for small to large businesses," said Pearson, 49. "I
get the pricing together and
hand-deliver the vehicles.
"A lot of [customers] need
their vehicles 24/7, and when
they come in, we get them in
and out through service and
make a vehicle available to

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them if necessary."
Pearson played for the
Toronto Maple Leafs from
1991 to 1994, then went to the
Washington Capitals and
St. Louis Blues before wrapping up his hockey career in
Germany.
"I had
injuries, and
I finished in
2001. I was
a stay-athome dad
for a couple
of years, and
then a friend
got me into
Xerox and
I sold that
Former NHL
player Rob
for a year.
Pearson
In the
raises Boyer
meantime,
Pickering's
I ran my
own hockey community
profile through
school.
hockey events.
"A
PHOTO:
friend
COURTNEY
came by,
DIPOCE
and he was
working at Boyer. They were
between managers and the
Boyer family welcomed me
in."
But fleet is only his day
job. Pearson also works for
the Toronto Maple Leafs
Alumni, coaches the Pickering
Panthers Junior A hockey
team and runs hockey schools
for the Boyer Group's dealerships.
"We rent ice and put up flyers," he said. "It's children 5 to
12 years old, and Boyer pays
for everything. A lot of these
are our customers, and we
want to be in the community
supporting them.
"I like to talk to people and
hear their stories, and I think
that's key. That's where my
marketing comes in. I'm doing
it for the Leafs, the Panthers
and for Boyer."

JIM McALORUM

SATISFACTION DELIVERED,
ONE VEHICLE AT A TIME
PICKING UP A NEW
vehicle should be both exciting
and informative for the customer. At Charlesglen Toyota
in Calgary, delivery coordinator Jim McAlorum, 64, makes
sure it is.
"I spend an hour with
them. I do the Bluetooth, the
Apple CarPlay and Android.
Toyota has Remote Connect,
so I download the app, and I
demonstrate the navigation.
"My approach is lighthearted humour, but if they don't
like that, I change my style. If
they already have a Toyota, I
ask if they want a fast delivery
or the full hour. I try to tailor
it to the customer."
McAlorum is one of two
delivery coordinators. The
other, Mark Peters, trained
him for the job.
"Our shifts overlap,"
McAlorum said, "but when
we're busy, I come in early
and get home late. On month
end, we don't have hours. We
just do it.
"I make sure the vehicle is
cleaned, all the accessories are
on it, the keys are there, and
then I pull it into the delivery
room and line them up for the
day. Last month [August], we
had 26 cars in one day."
McAlorum spent 38 years
manufacturing prescription
eyeglasses and for 15 of those
years owned a lab. But the
business gradually changed
and he closed the doors.
"I was a customer of
Charlesglen Toyota and had
an oil change, and one of the
managers came over and started talking to me. We developed
a friendship, and when I shut
my business down, he hired
me.
"I was a salesperson for a
year, but then I had a medical
issue, so I took a year off. They
hired me back as the delivery
coordinator in 2011. I've been
doing this since then, and it's
the best job in the world."
- ANC

www.QuorumDMS.com
When it comes to the end of the month, there are no set hours
for delivery coordinator Jim McAlorum. "We just do it."
PHOTO: ROBERT MAHON
http://www.QuorumDMS.com
Automotive News Canada - October 2020 - v2

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