Feature Friday, July 15th, 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 Steve Koehl, Service Technician, as our Feature Friday interviewee this week. Please scroll down to read about Steve's take on life around the dealership.

What does Ontario Motor Sales mean to you?

OMS means family to me, in a lot of ways. There’s a very strong family aspect that I noticed right away when I came here, and I appreciate that very much. Take the children’s Christmas party, for example, where employees’ kids under 12 are invited to celebrate the holidays and each of them walks away with a nice gift. That’s not something the company has to do, but they do it because they love fostering that family setting. I’m in my seventh year at OMS now, and I can say that it has definitely been my most significant employer.

What has been your favourite part about working here?

My favourite part has definitely been my daily interactions with my coworkers. Sometimes our tasks as mechanics can be a bit tedious, so it’s important for us to have fun and laugh as much as we can. I love making people laugh. That’s something I try to do if I see someone having a bad day, whether it’s an employee or a customer. I’ve made it past the coworker stage with so many people here, and now we’re just friends. It’s great.

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

Customer interaction is key, and I try to talk to as many customers as I can. I think that’s why a Service Advisor’s job is so important; they have to be careful listeners and be sure they understand every angle of the customer’s complaints or concerns before it comes to us. I’m always sure to hold the door for someone, or tell them to have a nice day or to enjoy their weekend. The little things really can make a big difference for someone if they’re going through something tough.

How would you describe the working environment here? Why?

It’s a well-run business where everyone knows what they’re doing. Probably the best part is that we recover from bumps in the road very quickly here. Generally any issues that come up in the shop are dealt with so that everyone can move forward in a positive direction. And we’re always looking for ways to impress people. Take this interview series, for example. It shows our customers and other employees around the dealership that vehicles are complicated, tricky things from all angles—delivery all the way through to service-work. It’s great that we can help people understand that OMS is a living organism—not just a machine.

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

We always have the radio on out here in the shop. It blasts out sweet tunes all the time like “Livin’ on a Prayer,” or “It’s Raining Men.” It’s always fun to see what will come on next, but a few of us (alright… mostly Santino and I) like to take our radio game to the next level and change some song lyrics to be more about our fellow techs. Usually we pick on Trevor Caverly, if anyone’s wondering. I probably shouldn’t give you any examples of what we sing, just to be safe…