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Feature Friday: June 10th, 2016—Susan Peter

susan peter


Susan Peter

Feature Friday, June 10th, 2016

Ontario Motor Sales is very pleased to announce Feature Friday, a web series that will highlight our talented staff here at OMS!

Each week we will be featuring a description of, and brief interview with, one OMS employee to find out what makes us a great place to both work and do business.

We are excited to feature Susan Peter, Accounting Clerk, as our Feature Friday interviewee this week. Susan is retiring from OMS next week after 42 years of service, and we would like to wish her all the best. Please scroll down to read about Susan's take on life around the dealership.


What does Ontario Motor Sales mean to you?

Do you know how, when you open your door at home, there’s a comfort in walking inside? I get that same feeling when I come here. Everyone who works here is professional, hard-working, and comfortable to be around. The people we get to work with make it—we’re only as good as they are, after all. I may be retiring, which is bittersweet, but I know I’ve made lifelong friends in working here, and those are what I absolutely won’t be retiring when I leave.

What has been your favourite part about working here?

I’ve always admired how the company has been run. The main philosophy of the dealership has been kept across two generations (since I started), and it’s been exciting to watch Tony grow into the wonderful leader he is today. I’m proud of him, and I know his dad would be too. Also, I want to say how thankful I am that OMS let me do my other job—of being a mom—as well as I could. I left when I found out I was pregnant, and was asked to come back a little while later, after my daughter was born. I was allowed to work part-time and my hours were very flexible, as I wanted them to be. I think our family-owned mantra trickles down to the employees too, and I’ve truly loved that.

What is one thing you try to bring to your interactions with customers?

We never bounce customers around and, in my department specifically, we are always sure to help customers out over the phone. Even when I walk around the dealership to collect various papers or other things, I know how important it is to represent the dealership. What might surprise people is how much even us in the accounting department see and interact with customers. But I think the best word to describe my goal would be “courteous.”

How would you describe the working environment here? Why?

I think it’s relaxed, but professional. Everyone knows their roles well and we work really well together as a team. If someone falls behind for whatever reason, everyone else will pitch in to help because that’s just what needs to be done. I really think you can be yourself here.

What is your most interesting—fun, funny, or otherwise—OMS story?

Well, I was hired as a data entry clerk (which I loved doing). One day, back in the ‘70s, something on the machine didn’t work so I ended up having to retype all of the work orders for the entire month. It was a frustrating experience but I finished up and went home for the day, having left the boxes of work orders on my desk. When I came back the next day, they were gone! Panic ensued, but I ended up figuring out that someone mistook the boxes for something else and threw them in the garbage. I trekked over to the Used Vehicle Department, where we kept the bins at the time, and had to dumpster dive to retrieve them all. Just imagine me in my high heels, frantically searching around in the garbage containers! But, in the end, I did find them all—although no one sat beside me on my bus ride home that night…