Feature Friday, July 22nd, 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 Scott Smith, Sales Manager, as our Feature Friday interviewee this week. Please scroll down to read about Scott's take on life around the dealership.

What does Ontario Motor Sales mean to you?

OMS gave me an opportunity out of university to have an extension for both marketing and business with cars, which are my passion. I was only 23 when I started here, and I am now in my fourteenth year, but back then, I had no formal experience in car sales. Although I had studied the industry at Georgian College and Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Florida, lots of places were looking for 3-5 years of prior sales experience, so I was very excited to be able to get started here. I was “given a shot” and am loyal to the Willson family and to OMS for having been presented that start.

What has been your favourite part about working here?

I can’t pick between the people and the challenges. No two days are ever the same around here. It’s a fun environment for the most part. Everybody has such a unique background and as stories are shared, both by our staff and by customers, you learn a lot about people and their lives. I actually moved from Lindsay to Oshawa in order to work here, but we have several employees who commute anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours each day just to get here, and I think that’s a testament to the positive working environment we have.

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

I’m always sure to listen and try to understand a customer’s needs and wants, and that’s something that others have told me sets me apart from a traditional salesperson. The next step in our role is to take those needs and wants and make recommendations based on them. When I was selling cars, my customers found that effective and appreciated being listened to. Now as a manager, I get to help an even broader range of customers and listening is still always at the front of my mind.

How would you describe the working environment here? Why?

I have a lot of keywords to describe it. It’s dynamic, flexible, innovative, friendly, family-oriented, rewarding, challenging, and some days, stressful. We deal with huge amounts of dollar value every month and I know we keep that in mind while assisting people all over the dealership. At the same time, we’re an organization that is always incorporating new technology into everything we do. Rewarding is probably the best way to think about it since our reward is that we get to make customers happy…after all, who wouldn’t want to upgrade their vehicle from time to time?

I also like to embrace the stressful side of things though. If work isn’t stressful at times, you probably aren’t doing it right or working outside your comfort zone. In this business, you can’t put something off today and expect to be able to do it tomorrow. We have a lot on our plates and it’s about balancing that, but also accepting that it can be difficult some days.

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

I actually met my wife by selling her her first-ever car. I wasn’t on shift that day, but I was in for something else and my co-workers were tied up so I assisted her and her dad. She had been to a few other dealers and wasn’t happy because she would ask questions and the salespeople would direct their answers at her father. But she was the buyer and had specific questions, wants and needs for her new potential vehicle. I heard her out and answered to her directly. Although she was after a black Cavalier with automatic transmission, air and a CD player…she settled on a blue Cavalier with automatic transmission, air and no CD player. Later that week when she took delivery of her new car she asked me out! That was eleven years ago now and we’ve been married nearly nine of those years and have two beautiful children… to say I’m really happy with the way it all turned out would be an understatement! And yes, I quickly added a CD player to her blue car!!