Automotive News Canada - February 2023 - 9

* FEBRUARY 2023
9
Nissan's goal: To walk a financially sustainable path with dealers
By JIL McINTOSH
OSHAWA CORRESPONDENT
ANDREW HARKNESS
UPHOLDING THE TWO
'MAIN PILLARS' OF RETAIL
WHEN CUSTOMERS GO INTO
a Nissan or Infiniti dealership,
they can expect a standardized
facility and service. Andrew
Harkness, director of customer
quality and dealer network
development for Nissan Canada,
ensures that happens.
" We have two main pillars,
one being the health and well-being
of the [dealer] network with
facility image, location, performance,
their financial performance.
The other pillar is taking
proper care of customers in sales
and service. "
Harkness directs a team of
27 at Nissan's head office in
Mississauga, Ont., as well as a
field team. He also manages the
Nissan Canada call centre.
" A typical day is meeting
internally with the teams for
guidance and direction. I also
review the customer quality performance,
evaluating customer
surveys and reviewing any customer
complaints to look for solutions. "
If
a dealer is renovating a
store, he ensures it meets the
Andrew Harkness is
involved with the financial
performance of Nissan and
Infiniti dealerships in Canada
and " taking proper care
of customers in sales and
service. " PHOTO: NISSAN CANADA
company's image and that it's the
right size.
Harkness, 39, worked for
Chrysler in Montreal as a district
sales manager while he was earning
a degree in marketing.
" They were posting job boards
through the university, and I
loved cars and thought I could
be good at this. I was bilingual
and they took a chance on me.
The day I graduated in
2008, my manager said,
'We're transferring you
to Vancouver.' "
Then the financial
crisis hit. Harkness
took voluntary termination
and became a
district sales manager
with Honda. In 2011, he began
with Nissan in Vancouver as a
field representative, and through
transfers and promotions, moved
to Ontario in 2019 as director of
after-sales and quality assurance.
He took his current role in 2022.
" The challenge is finding a
path that is sustainable for us
and the dealers, with the rising
costs for construction and finding
manpower. It's important to
bring the dealers with us so we
are sustainable together. "
LISA PHILLIPS
TAKING THE CLASSROOM TO
DEALERSHIPS ACROSS CANADA
VOLVO DEALERS LOOK TO
the automaker for training and
to get the tools needed to optimize
their customers' purchasing
and service experience.
" On the technical side, it's
the mechanics of our products
for the technicians, " said Lisa
Phillips, director of customer
experience at Volvo Car Canada.
On the nontech side, she said,
it's product training
and customer experience
training for service
advisers, sales and F&I.
Phillips leads a team
of seven at Volvo's
Richmond Hill, Ont.,
head office, which
includes two product
trainers who go to dealerships
across the country.
" A lot of [automakers] only go
into classrooms, but we also go
into the stores and work [with
dealership staff] as a team. "
Phillips is a native of England
and her first job was in the call
centre of the Royal Automobile
Club's roadside assistance.
She began working at BMW 11
years later as a quality-management
coach for dealers, and in
2003 she was transferred to BMW
in Canada. She joined Volvo in
her current position in early
2020.
" We try to get insights from
customers at every touchpoint,
without overkilling them with
surveys, " she said.
" On a typical day I'm directing
the team on our key customer
experience initiatives and
programs. It's a lot of online and
in-person meetings and I go into
the stores when I can. "
Lisa Phillips' goal at Volvo Car
Canada is to make buying and
servicing a car a " pleasurable
experience " through
" seamless " transactions.
PHOTO: VOLVO CAR CANADA
It's one of the best times to be
in automotive, she said.
" We're making it more transparent,
trying to create effortless
transactions and personalizing
the experience so the customer
feels valued and respected. "
Phillips aims for a " seamless
experience between online and
the store, between the car purchase
and aftermarket products,
and between booking [vehicle]
service and the payment and
pickup. "
She said car buying and servicing
should be " pleasurable. "
- ANC
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Automotive News Canada - February 2023

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