Macmaster gm orangeville driver#
Macmaster gm orangeville professional#

вЂњGuess how many chickens we slaughter a day?вЂќ the guest asked. To Mike, the joy of the job, along with driving beautiful cars, is the unknown: вЂњWho knows who IвЂ™ll talk to?вЂќ He recently drove an executive from a big agricultural concern. вЂњThere is not the urgency to get from A to B that you get in the city,вЂќ he says. How we conduct ourselves while picking up and returning a guestвЂ™s vehicle can be a make-it or break-it scenario that could bring a guest back to the dealership or give them a reason to look elsewhere to service their vehicle.вЂќДriving anywhere from Bay Street to Mulmur, the longtime Caledon resident, who now lives in Palgrave, particularly appreciates the beauty of the region and the slower pace of life.

Macmaster gm orangeville professional#

ItвЂ™s critical that we represent ourselves and the dealership in a professional manner. But we are, in most cases, the guestвЂ™s initial contact with the dealership after the sale. вЂњPeople think that all we valets do is drive. First impressions are lasting impressions,вЂќ he says. He didnвЂ™t really have to work anymore, but after three weeks at home attending to the вЂњhoney-doвЂќ list, he thought, вЂњI gotta find something!вЂќ He was a face-to-face guy, but when changes to the business altered that, he chose to take early retirement. Mike had a career selling materials to builders and developers. I do now, even in conversation with friends.вЂќ вЂњA year-and-a-half ago, when I started, I wouldnвЂ™t. Less often, valets will shuttle customers. Is he a вЂњluxury kind of guyвЂќ himself? вЂњIвЂ™d like to think so,вЂќ he smiles, glasses perched atop a grey-stubbled head.ДЄt Northwest Lexus, a valet picks up a car for service, leaving a new Lexus behind so customers are never without a vehicle. One valet for the luxury-brand dealership is Mike Babcock, 58, father of two and youthful-looking grandfather of two more. They boast a staff of about eight вЂњvaletsвЂќ who do the job of getting people where they need to go. Northwest Lexus, in Brampton, doesnвЂ™t employ a shuttle driver. Mike Babcock вЂњI enjoy getting up every day.вЂќ Photo by Pete Paterson. An engineer might inform him about an extension to the local sewage treatment plant, a contractor may speak about the future of a vacant lot, or a soon-to-be-ex-spouse being dropped at his lawyerвЂ™s office might observe, вЂњI donвЂ™t know who is going to get more money today: Hallmark Toyota or my lawyer!вЂќ вЂњOnce or twice a week I learn something new,вЂќ he says.

Macmaster gm orangeville driver#

If I sense a customer is pissed off because they just got some bad news about their car, I can usually put them in a better mood by the time I drop them home.вЂќДЄs shuttle driver and sounding board John learns things about his community and its inhabitants. I can explain things, how brakes work вЂ“ rotors, calipers squeezing, pads getting stuck.

IвЂ™m pretty familiar, though IвЂ™m not a mechanic. вЂњTo a lot of customers who arenвЂ™t in the know mechanically, it is stressful taking their car into the garage,вЂќ he says. Those problems are out there and people will talk.вЂќДЄnd people do talk, so John has learned to listen and respond helpfully. вЂњYou realize there are a lot of similar things going on in peopleвЂ™s lives. In the course of sharing rides with people every day, sometimes all day, John has grown more comfortable and positive in conversation. John clocks 800 to 1,000 kilometres a week, driving both complete strangers and loyal repeat customers who know him by name. As a prank tribute, his signature has been painted on the vanвЂ™s door frame, just like a NASCAR driverвЂ™s. HeвЂ™s the dealershipвЂ™s only, and well-loved, shuttle driver. But his principal role is driving the dealershipвЂ™s 2013 Sienna shuttle van.

Those things are great.вЂќДЄfter nearly 10 years, JohnвЂ™s job title at Hallmark Toyota, on the Highway 9 dealership strip outside Orangeville, has evolved to вЂњservice administratorвЂќ вЂ“ with duties that include cleaning, storing tires and killing spiders. I get them into the shuttle вЂ“ car seats, baby all wrapped up вЂ“ and I say, вЂWeвЂ™ll take the Christmas tree too! WeвЂ™ll put it in back.вЂ™ I fix it up, drive them home, help them in with the tree. His wife and three-month-old baby were in a Quonset hut with the tree guy, his four-year-old was with him by the car, and they had a tree. I drove out there and theyвЂ™re way back in a little RAV4, four-wheel drive. Take this example: вЂњA family was out buying a cut-your-own Christmas tree on Airport Road,вЂќ recounts the 61-year-old grandfather of five. John BraaksmaДЇor Caledon village resident John Braaksma driving a shuttle goes well beyond picking up people or dropping them off. John Braaksma вЂњWeвЂ™ll take the Christmas tree too!вЂќ Photo by Pete Paterson.