Sytner JLRS Division
Paula Smith
Jaguar Land Rover Ascot Service Centre
Award Nominee, September 2017
Paula has gone from strength to strength in the role as Senior Host. She is super focused on the needs of our customers and always wants to raise the bar in customer service. We are not sure she can take it any higher!! She has successfully recruited three Hosts for Reception to allow our customers continuity with the high standards set along with knowledge of the business. The Showroom is kept miraculous clean, not a dirty cup or saucer insight. Everyone has the same fabulous welcome either on the phone or face to face and nothing is too much trouble. Paula has recently taken over and revamped our internal newsletter ‘BRASCOT News’ keeping the dealership up to date with business and employee news. Guy Salmon Ascot would be a dull place without Paula.
Thank you, Paula!
Mark Ashbee
Award Nominee, September 2017
Our nomination is for Mark Ashbee for providing exceptional customer service.
I was delighted with the customer service received from Mark. The car broke down on the M32 and basically developed a mind of its own, it started to over rev and accelerate on its own, and then I slammed the brakes on and the engine faulted and the steering went slightly heavy making it difficult to pull over to the hard shoulder. Quite a shake-up of an experience. Mark was reassuring, personally helped with the car, (I had two car seats, two prams and a carload of stuff that I then had to put into an uber by your warehouse). He has also been a pleasure to deal with since, so I wanted to compliment you on an excellent member of staff.
The Customer was feeling stressed and agitated due to the incident that occurred on the motorway and Mark put the customer at ease and helped him with his onward travel. Mark worked with the customer to help him understand the diagnosis and depth of repair of his vehicle.
Andy Penn (left), Aftersales Manager, congratulating Des Cox.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Our nomination is for Des, who is our Senior Technician in the preparation centre. Des is a willing pair of hands who is not only technical but will turn his hand to whatever needs doing. He organised and delivered all the new and used cars delivered in September and does so month in, month out. His dedication to the prep centre and the business is exceptional and he is a worthy winner of this award.
Well done Des!
Beth Tyler-Smith
Award Nominee, September 2017
Beth has become a consistent top performer in the After Sales department since completing her Graduate Programme. During the month of September, she covered for Teodora’s breakdown team; whilst also meeting with the Sales department on a daily basis to make sure all commitments were made and September customers were not let down.
She is a credit to the Group.
Well done Beth!
Alan Eldridge (left), Head of Business, congratulating Dean Moon.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Dean Moon is our September nomination, this is in recognition of his ‘One Team’ spirit and understanding that customer service does not just stop with our customers.
Dean is mentioned by his colleagues as someone who can be relied upon to help out anybody in need of help, in particular, our Sales Admin and Front of House Team wanted to express their appreciation.
Thank you, Dean!
Andrew Needham (right), Head of Business, congratulating Paul Shepherd.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Our nomination for this month goes to a member of our team who has worked quietly and with an eye for detail; Paul has worked exceptionally hard to maintain number 1 status in group internal warranty audit – 0% score. He has also been willing to travel to one of our other dealerships to help clear their backlog of work; Paul then spent an additional day helping with their current workload, to give them a good start again.
‘Making it Special’ isn’t always about doing something flamboyant– it’s about doing the things that need doing consistently, effectively and offering a seamless service to the dealership, but this time Paul has gone ‘above and beyond’. He is a star performer and a team player.
Thank you, Paul!
Chris Sillitoe
Award Nominee, September 2017
Our nomination is for Chris, who is always willing to work extra hours to make sure that we are delivering customers cars back to them when they are expecting us to. This allows us to deliver a high level of customer satisfaction.
Chris usually does this without being asked to.
Great effort and appreciated by us!
Gary Cox (left), Sales Manager, congratulating Joanna Brumstead.
Award Nominee, September 2017
We would like to nominate Joanna for this month’s ‘Making it Special’. She ‘Makes it Special’ for many our customers every day with her service and smile. Having been with the company for 18 years, she has been a very familiar face and has taken the time to get to know them which is always appreciated by our customers.
Since September she increased her hours to cover the whole day, and is now able to greet our customers back in the afternoon, little facts they told her in the morning, she will remember or note down. Upon their return, she can then use the information collected to make the welcome more personal and more memorable. Her ability to help other departments with additional administrative tasks as well as carry out her hosting and reception duties, whilst managing to offer a friendly and warm welcome to our visitors displays her dedication to Guy Salmon Jaguar Northampton.
We always receive brilliant feedback about Joanna and regularly she gets mentioned as the ‘Most Memorable Individual’ on our customer feedback for her professional and friendly service. We would like to take this opportunity to really thank Joanna for her efforts, especially through a very busy and turbulent September.
Well done and thank you!
Ian Bennett (right), Head of Business, congratulating Mark Edwards.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Mark is our well-deserved nominee, not only for his continued support and One Team spirit but because he goes above and beyond in delighting our customers. He consistently updates customers and sales staff on the progress of their new cars and makes sure when its time to collect they are presented in their gleaming splendour with the customers desired media settings installed. He has also during the busy month of September assisted the Aftersales department to prioritise the new cars through the workshop, enabling the process to be seamless and efficient, reducing customer collection waiting times.
Well Done Mark!
Mike Tyson (left), Head of Business, congratulating Natalie Pidcock.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Natalie is an integral part of the service team. She is very focused, especially when it comes to customer satisfaction. Her role involves some warranty administration, invoicing, email booking confirmations and follow up calls. September was a very busy month which meant that Natalie had lots of follow up calls to make. Her can-do attitude enabled her to do this with ease. The CLP results speak for themselves Customer follow up – Natalie is at 95%. The region average is 76%, the group average is 72% and finally, the national average is 69%.
Well done Natalie, I think you were definitely making it special for our customers!
David Edwards (right), Head of Business, congratulating Deborah Lancaster.
Jaguar Land Rover South West London
Award Nominee, September 2017
Paul Williams (right), Head of Business, congratulating Wayne Potts.
Award Winner, September 2017
Wayne consistently receives great feedback from customers but in this instance, he excelled himself with his professionalism and attention to detail with customer Mr Ian Harrison, who purchased an Aston Martin DB9 in September. Mr Harrison has Parkinson’s Disease and his son-in-law, Nick Bean, had called to say his father in law’s last wishes on his bucket list was to purchase a DB9.
Nick explained that Mr Harrison had deteriorated now to an extent where he cannot walk or talk and could we do something to make the purchase special like placing a sign in the vehicle when Mr Harrison came to view it. Wayne went a few steps beyond and had the car strategically placed at the top of the entrance to the dealership, roped off and adjoined by the Sytner Select flag, also inside the vehicle was a sign reading Reserved For Ian Harrison and a bottle of champagne ready and waiting to present to Mr Harrison upon arrival.
Mr Harrison and Nick were absolutely delighted and even posed for pictures. Prior to delivery, Wayne also arranged to get the car to Aston Martin, Nottingham for a service and also asked Aston Martin for a goodie bag as another nice surprise for Mr Harrison on delivery. Wayne then delivered the vehicle to Mr Harrison’s nursing home where it has been placed outside Mr Harrison’s window for him to view 24hrs a day and on a weekend enjoy a ride out with Nick.
All in all, Wayne truly pulled out all the stops and made this customer’s experience genuinely special.
Jay O’Toole
Award Nominee, September 2017
During last month we have had a high demand on our workshop, this had also been affected by sickness and staff holidays. Jay really stepped up to the mark during this busy time. We had several customers who needed their cars back urgently following breakdowns or additional required work. Jay stayed late every day for a week to ensure that the customers received their cars back on time. Jay’s commitment and work efficiency really benefitted the service department. We had a lot of very good feedback from customers who could pick their cars up sooner than expected.
Well done Jay!
Steve Rogers (left), Business Manager, congratulating Sian Hames.
Award Nominee, September 2017
Sian has recently taken on the role of Health & Safety Coordinator and we have had a great audit and great feedback from Katie on what a great job she has done in a very complex subject.
As well as Health & Safety, Sian is always going the ‘Extra Mile’. Mr Michael Porter rang in after taking delivery but he only had one key ring and wanted another for his wife’s set of keys. Without asking, Sian got one posted out and immediately responded to the customer, “No problem I will send you one out today”.
Mrs Smith had recently taken delivery of an Audi TT and called in distressed because her car was making a funny noise and she had her children with her. Sian immediately asked where she was and said we will come out and pick up the car and bring it back to be sorted. She was over the moon with how we handled the situation.
Great work Sian!
Robin Chapman (), Used Car Sales Manager, congratulating Jason Fowler.
Jaguar Land Rover Ascot Service Centre
Award Nominee, August 2017
Despite only being with the business for a comparatively short time, Jason has established himself as a major part of the Used Car team. This has resulted in delivering 10 Used Cars in both July and August and being on the way to doing so again this month.
We are looking forward to seeing Jason go from strength to strength.
Congratulations Jason!
Tim Fox (right), Aftersales Manager, congratulating Lauren Budd & Ryan Appleby.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Our nomination is for Lauren and Ryan for showing great One Team spirit and for showing that customer service doesn’t stop as soon as the customers leave the dealership. A customer picked up his XF, and Ryan stayed on to finish it off and put pads on the customer’s car. The customer then left with his dad who dropped him off and on the way back home his dad’s car broke down, so both Lauren and Ryan went out to try and get the car going and assisted the customer to get the car home.
Well Done Both!
Trevor Wale (left), Aftersales Manager, congratulating Becci Langdon.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Superstar! Our nomination for making it special for August 2017 is Becci. Becci throughout the year and month of August has been a massive asset to the team, always on hand to give advice, coming into the dealership, assisting with all aspects of HR issues but also a key member of the Land Rover Coventry team. Her work ethic is amazing and she puts herself out for others before considering her own welfare. We have had a good number of starters this year in the business and Becci has assisted us throughout the processes of CV sifting, interviewing and helping us choose the correct candidates. She has been invaluable to the team and has been a superstar for us. Becci does an amazing job, and we appreciate everything she does for us.
Chris Weinling (right), Aftersales Manager, congratulating Janine Gleeson.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Upon return from annual leave, Janine voluntarily took on extra duties throughout the remainder of August and along with her colleagues ensured that a high level of customer satisfaction was maintained during a particularly busy period when the department was short staffed. In addition to this, Janine ensured that she also maintained the post service contact score ahead of the national average and region.
Well Done Janine!
Alan Eldridge (left), Head of Business, congratulating Rob Redsell.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Rob had a lady customer in distress on a Saturday morning with a broken door mirror who was here as soon as we opened. After trying to Mix and Match glass and Mirror backing, and then putting it together, the customer was over the moon!” I received a great e-mail from her, being delighted at the service she received. Also, we accommodated a Wakefield driver to do a hand over from our showroom. When he arrived with us, he had incurred problems with the car on the way down and noted some bits missing! Once again Rob went out of his way and sorted out the parts required, and all went well on Handover. The Wakefield driver who did the handover e-mailed me to pass on his thanks to Rob and Louis, who dropped him to the station for him to get back.
Andrew Needham (left), Head of Business, congratulating Andrew Kitney.
Award Nominee, August 2017
We wish to nominate Andrew our unsung hero, he is regularly mentioned in customer feedback, and on this occasion he organised a birthday card and cake for the customer, letting the sales executive Dan take full credit, resulting in this email:
We would like to have recognised the outstanding service we have received from 2 of your staff and 1 in-particular, Daniel Bobbett & Andy Kitney. Both of these members of your team have given the most dedicated, professional and amazing service we have ever encountered. All of the team at your Aylesford branch are great but these 2 guys deserve extra praise, especially Daniel Bobbett.
We have bought many new cars and have visited other prestige dealerships and none come even close in customer care as we have received from Daniel and Andy. Due to the perfect service from Daniel, this is the second car we have bought from that branch and we will be back in 3 years to buy another. We love the service so much that we would not want to go anywhere else (of course the car is amazing too). We cannot express enough how good the customer care is, we have never received such a great service, not in private healthcare, 5* restaurants, prestige dealerships etc… Nowhere else compares to the professional service received by this branch and these 2 men. Thank you for a great experience and please recognise what a great asset these 2 men are to your brand. It would be very much appreciated if you could think of a better way of letting these 2 know how pleased we are rather than just an email. Thank you.
Hugh Crossley
Award Nominee, August 2017
Hugh Crossley, Warranty and Health & Safety Administrator has recently had to have some time out of the business. After some time at home, he managed to set up a workstation from home to carry out the warranty invoicing for the remainder of the month. Every day he got through the warranty invoicing and then that days’ warranty work, which was to be invoiced was delivered to him at home every day, along with biscuits to keep him going of course. Leading up the end of the month, he managed to carry out all the warranty invoicing to assist the service department to achieve another over budget performance. We would like to recognise his continued support and willingness to help his fellow colleagues to achieve targets set whilst at home recovering from his operation.
Thank you, Hugh and we wish you a speedy recovery.
Ian Bennett (right), Head of Business, congratulating Brian Herridge.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Brian showed One Team spirit going above and beyond to solve issues with a replacement car for a customer. This was a buyback where we had managed to find a used car as a replacement. When the car turned up there were several problems with the replacement and it was the day of handover. Brian took it upon himself to source replacement parts and rallied a team together to get the work done in a tight timeframe which meant we could delight the customer.
Well Done Brian!
Mike Tyson (left), Head of Business, congratulating Barry Hague.
Award Nominee, August 2017
Barry has worked for Guy Salmon Land Rover in Sheffield for many years and is a familiar face around the business. He has been nominated many times since the “Making It Special” Awards began. On this occasion, he has been nominated by one of his colleagues in the Service Department. A part required for a repair was showing as ‘available’ at the factory so it was ordered. Unfortunately, it failed to turn up the following day with the normal delivery. Barry took it upon himself to locate the part at another retailer with the nearest being in Huddersfield. He organised the collection with our parts delivery driver. This action allowed the repair to be completed and the customer could then collect their vehicle at 10:00am as agreed. Without Barry’s help, a customers car would have been off the road for longer than it needed to be and also the loss of a loan car for another day at least. Barry had truly made it special for our Customer and the Service Department.
Mark Holman
Jaguar Land Rover South West London
Award Nominee, August 2017
Mark was nominated by several of his colleagues for his outstanding customer service and care for others. He works extremely hard with his team and is a delight to work with. He is always helpful with customers even those that he has not been dealing with and will go out of his way to help them without any hesitation and always has a smile on his face. Mark has a very positive attitude towards work and is a great support to his team!
Well Done and thank you!
Amy Beardshall
Award Nominee, August 2017
For Making a Little Boy’s Dreams Come True! Mrs Catherine Osborne had emailed the dealership to ask if it would be ok if she brought her son Thomas into the showroom as he was mad about all things Land Rover. We responded by saying it wouldn’t be a problem at all but just to let us know when they would be coming in so that we could organise for somebody to show them around. We asked Amy if she could spare some time to do this and in usual Amy, fashion said, “of course, it would be my pleasure”. Thomas was delighted with the tour of all the vehicles in the showroom and best of all the little toy Land Rover car that Amy gave him! Thomas personally sent a card and a drawing to thank Amy in his own words …
Thank you for showing me around the showroom, it was the best day ever!
Well done Amy for making Thomas’s day so special!
Keith Johnson
Award Nominee, August 2017
For quite simply being the most hard-working, selfless, diligent and supportive colleague anyone could wish for. Voted for the ‘Making it Special’ award unanimously by the other members of the sales team for always being happy to help others with preparation, handovers, paperwork etc. Keith also always goes the extra mile for his customers and we have lost count of the times he has gone out of his way to look after his customers, coming in early, on his day off, staying late to do handovers or generally make their lives easier. Keith is like the glue that keeps the team together, the jam in the sandwich, the sugar in the tea that just makes everyone’s day a little brighter and we can’t nominate anyone more deserving.
Paul Foster
Jaguar Land Rover Ascot Service Centre
Award Nominee, July 2017
Paul has supported the Jaguar and Land Rover Sales Team amazingly through the recent period of staff shortages. He has also looked after the additional support Drivers who have recently come on board and shown them the ropes. During this period Paul always had a cheery outlook and an occasional song…
Thank you, Paul, for not only delivering cars but also delivering exceptional customer service.
Well Done!
Bradley Goldsmith
Award Nominee, July 2017
Bradley has had a big impact on customer service, he is an apprentice and every morning he goes out to the service desk and helps the service advisors seeing customers in. He obtains information from the vehicles and takes customers to their loan cars. He also inspects the loan and customers cars. Bradley has also started helping with customer waiters during the day, this has had a massive impact on customer waiting time. He always offers to come in on weekends to assist and brings a lot to the team.
Well Done Bradley, a fantastic start to your career with us!
Rob Redsell
Award Nominee, July 2017
Rob had a lady customer in distress on a Saturday morning with a broken door mirror who was here as soon as we opened. After trying to Mix and Match glass and Mirror backing, and then putting it together, the customer was over the moon! (Perhaps she had damaged this and hadn’t told Hubby)! I received a great email from her, being delighted with the service she received.
Also, we accommodated a Wakefield driver to do a hand over from our showroom. When he arrived with us, he had incurred problems with the car on the way down and noted some bits missing. Once again Rob went out of his way and sorted out the parts required, and all went well on handover. The Wakefield driver who did the handover emailed me to pass on his thanks to Rob and Luis, who dropped him to the station for him to get back.
Kaylea Hodson
Award Nominee, July 2017
Kaylea is a worthy winner of July’s Employee of the Month. Not only is she consistently the life and soul of any Guy Salmon Knutsford event. Throughout July she decided to come and re-join the Service team in their hour of need on a short-term basis making outbound bookings to relieve the pressure on the two new reservation executives. Kaylea’s vast experience in this area from her previous role was invaluable in ensuring the Aftersales department continued to meet its retail sales objectives. She also took time out of her busy life supporting the Used Car team to pass on her knowledge and experience to the new members of the service team. Kaylea showed true Sytner one team spirit and we are extremely lucky to have her.
Well done!
Leanne Abrey
Award Nominee, July 2017
Leanne had the majority of the votes this month as she has very quickly become a valued member of the team, due to her teamwork, efficiency and sense of fun.
Leanne’s colleague says “I am nominating Leanne as even though she is new herself she has taken me under her wing with training me. She has been so patient, supportive and encouraging over the past 4 weeks. Even when I have made mistakes or had a mini-meltdown she has been there to help me back on track.”
Well Done Leanne!
Karla Eszenyi
Award Nominee, July 2017
Since we have had a switchover of systems, it has been very time consuming and Karla has been going the extra mile and spending additional time to ensure the business doesn’t have any outstanding warranty claims.
Her work ethic and commitment to her role are second to none.
Thank you Karla!
James Wright
Award Nominee, July 2017
One evening a Land Rover Customer arrived explaining he was sent to us to collect a courtesy vehicle and that he had a meeting in London which he urgently needed to get to. Unfortunately, the company had not made us aware that this customer was coming, nor that he was to collect a courtesy vehicle from here. We proceeded to investigate, and learnt which vehicle the customer was due to take, we then were made aware that the courtesy vehicle was not on site with us, and that instead a hire car had been arranged to be delivered here. However, the hire company had taken the wrong address and sent the hire vehicle somewhere else instead. Understandably, this made the customer incredibly frustrated and now leaving him late for his meeting in London. Seeing what predicament the customer was left in, James kindly offered to take the customer during rush hour traffic to the hire company to pick up an alternative vehicle. After battling through the traffic to get the customer on his way, he then had to get back to the showroom. This meant that James arrived home approximately 1.5 hours later than he should have. James didn’t have to do this but with his continued efforts in providing excellent service and making it special for every customer, he made the decision to go out of his way and help the customer. Well done James, great service.
Brian Herridge
Award Nominee, July 2017
Brian showed “One Team” spirit going above and beyond to solve issues with a replacement car for a customer. This was a buyback where we had managed to find a used car as a replacement. When the car turned up there were several problems with the replacement and it was the day of handover. Brian took it upon himself to source replacement parts and rallied a team together to get the work done in a tight timeframe which meant we could delight the customer.
Well Done Brian!
Geoff Meakes
Award Nominee, July 2017
Geoff has been with Guy Salmon for many years. He started as a technician and then progressed to a service advisor role which he has been doing for several years. He has been nominated by a member of the Service team because he always goes out of his way to help where ever he can, getting it right and making it special for customers and colleagues alike. “He’ll come in early to move cars to make life easier for our customers and his colleagues. He’ll also stay behind if other members of the service team are running late so they don’t have to walk to the car park on their own. It’s a really sweet thing to do” says Kerry Agar, a member of the Service team. “Geoff is truly a One Team player,” said Brian Bannister, Service Manager.
Julie Eacott
Jaguar Land Rover South West London
Award Nominee, July 2017
We are delighted to announce Julie Eacott as our winner for July’s ‘Making it Special’ Award. Julie has been nominated by her colleagues for her outstanding work on our service reception area and for dealing with all of our customers so well every day. Julie has been a breath of fresh air here and her contribution to making our customers feel valued at that first point of contact we believe is having a very positive effect on the whole place. We have also received great feedback from our partners at JLR about her hosting skills so if they see it the customers certainly are. Not only is she amazing with our customers – she is amazing with the team. She gets stuck in – has spent this last week washing all the cups etc. with her bare hands as we have had no dishwasher, she is always happy with a smile and our customers love her! She has received numerous mentions in CLP as well as direct emails about her welcome manner and how lovely and efficient she is. First impressions make a difference and we can’t thank Julie enough for the impact she has had on our business and our customers. Well Done Julie!
Adam Hoyle & Callum Osborne
Award Nominee, July 2017
Parts and Service came to the rescue of Mr and Mrs Price, who were new to the Land Rover brand and had owned a Mercedes for 12 years, were due into the dealership for their handover of a brand new Discovery Sport. During the handover, the vehicle starting giving out malfunction readings saying the bonnet wasn’t closed properly. Having opened and closed the bonnet several times this wasn’t having the desired effect and it continued to show warnings on the dashboard. Craig Archer, Sales Executive reassured Mr and Mrs Price that is was an errant reading and giving that the time was getting on lead Mr and Mrs Price back to the hospitality area. Craig then drove the vehicle down to the workshop for assistance.
As it was late, all of the Technicians were finished for the day, but he just managed to catch Callum and Adam when they were literally walking out the door. Craig explained the problem to them and without hesitation or delay, Callum told him to drive the vehicle into the workshop where he would look at the problem. It turned out the bonnet catch was actually faulty and not tightened properly during the cars build. The problem involved the removal of the grille and part. Whilst Callum was investigating the problem, Adam stayed late to see if any parts were needed as this department was also closed for the day. After the first fix failed, it was decided that a new bonnet catch was required and Adam went to check if we had one in stock. Thankfully, we did so this was supplied and fitted and problem sorted.
Thanks guys for wonderful team effort thus eliminating any disappointment to Mr & Mrs Price with their first journey into Land Rover ownership.
Keith Johnson
Award Nominee, July 2017
For quite simply being the most hard-working, selfless, diligent and supportive colleague anyone could wish for. Voted for the ‘Making it Special’ award unanimously by the other members of the sales team for always being happy to help others with preparation, handovers, paperwork etc. Keith also always goes the extra mile for his customers and we have lost count of the times he has gone out of his way to look after his customers, coming in early, on his day off, staying late to do handovers or generally make their lives easier. Keith is like the glue that keeps the team together, the jam in the sandwich, the sugar in the tea that just makes everyone’s day a little brighter and we can’t nominate anyone more deserving.
Hannah Melding
Award Nominee, July 2017
This month’s award goes to Hannah Melding and the reason for that is due to giving Tim Mason Excellent Customer Service.
Hannah Melding was the lady who made the sale and was very polite, professional, efficient in closing the deal but not pushy and made me feel very comfortable in buying the vehicle, and also very welcoming when I arrived to collect the car. A real credit to your team with a professional and personable approach. Steve Rodgers provided me with the finance and again ticked all the boxes above, knowledgeable, organised and thorough with all the paperwork. Both were a good laugh and relaxed but maintained what I believe was an excellent service and left me with an enjoyable memory of buying what I believe is a fantastic motor. Hopefully, we will do business again and I would recommend you to my family, friends and work colleagues.
