Automotive News Canada - April 2023 - 15

* APRIL 2023
15
Subaru exec makes sure callers don't get the runaround
By JIL McINTOSH
OSHAWA CORRESPONDENT
CHRISTINA MORRIS
THE CONTINUOUS QUEST TO
IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS
WHEN CUSTOMERS CALL AN
automaker with questions or concerns,
the right answers need
to be at hand. Subaru Canada
depends on Christina Morris,
manager of customer operations
and communications, to make
that happen.
Based in the company's head
office in Mississauga, Ont.,
Morris manages a communication
department of 10 staff and a
call centre run
by a partner
vendor.
Christina
Morris of
Subaru
Canada
believes
that a fresh
perspective
can find ways
to improve
processes.
PHOTO: SUBARU
CANADA
" Customers
come through
our website, our
1-800 number,
email and social
media, and our
role is to give
them information, "
she said.
" Then there's
the internal
infrastructure,
making sure
the interface is
quick and the
systems are up
to date. We're
seeing if [webbased
chat] compatibility
can be
put into our system in the future. "
When customers call, they connect
with the external centre, or
for more complicated issues such
as warranty support, the internal
agents.
" We want to answer anything
at first contact as much as possible.
It takes a lot of back-end information.
If [customers are] calling
about winter tires, for example,
there might be a pop-up [for the
agent] so they're not scrambling
to find the information. "
Morris, 43, grew up in
Montreal and went to school for
interior design but graduated in a
recession when clients were cutting
back. She worked at a Money
Mart store and then in 2013 contacted
an employment agency
for bilingual workers. She was
matched with Subaru.
She began in customer care,
then moved into positions in
aftersales, parts tracking and
product training. She began her
current role in 2021.
Each new position was challenging,
" but when you're not
familiar with the processes and
you're learning, you can objectively
look for opportunities to do
it better and new technologies to
make it more efficient. "
Morris also co-founded
Accelerate Auto, a nonprofit that
provides industry opportunities
and awareness for Black students.
APRIL O'REGAN
AN ABILITY TO SEE OPPORTUNITY
AND A PASSION FOR AFTERSALES
PARTS AND SERVICE CAN
make or break customer relationships,
and the Policaro Group
understands this. Across its seven
dealerships in or near the Greater
Toronto Area, April O'Regan,
director of aftersales, constantly
searches for improvement.
" Three to four days a week, I'll
drive to a store
and spend
time. I'll sit
with the service
manager,
look in the
[parts] inventory
to make
sure we're
prepared. I'll see the processes
in the drive-thru and look
for opportunities where we can
make a difference. "
For instance, Policaro is
implementing walk-around videos.
When customers bring in
their vehicles for service, a
video is taken of any damage " to
ensure we're protecting [the customer]
and us. "
O'Regan, 43, worked in dealerships
straight out of school, detailing
cars and booking appointments.
In 2007, she was recruited
by dealership software company
Reynolds and Reynolds as a trainer
and then spent five years in
national sales.
" I travelled to 800 dealerships,
all run differently, " she said. " It
built my knowledge of how to run
a successful service and parts
department. "
Policaro was a client, " and I
tried to be noticed, because they
were family-run and always good
to me when I was
working with their
teams. In 2014,
they offered me
a home. "
She became
April O'Regan's work history is full of experience
in different automotive roles. In 2014, she found
a " home " with the seven-store Policaro Group.
She is now the director of aftersales.
PHOTO: STEAK + SIZZLE
director of aftersales and then
the fixed operations manager
at the Toyota dealership the
group owned at the time. She
achieved Toyota's Platinum
Certification in service management,
which was a first for the
store. Preferring her previous
companywide role, she returned
to aftersales in 2019. She also runs
the wholesale-parts division.
" I'm part of the corporate team
of leaders, and in any room I can
see an opportunity for change and
growth. Experience matters. If
someone questions me, I can say,
'I lead by example; I did the job,
too.' " - ANC
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Automotive News Canada - April 2023

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