Siobhan Cott , Service Manager at Barlo Motors
We have asked some of the many women working in motoring to share their Working Week with us. This week we catch up with Siobhan Cott , Service Manager at Barlo Motors, Main Ford & Nissan Dealers
Monday
I am up for 6.30 a.m. every working morning. After a quick shower & good breakfast to set me up for the day I am on the road for 7.30 a.m for an 8.30 a.m. start. As my office is in the service reception area I get all computers up & running for the busy day ahead. I process customers who drop off their vehicles before 9 am. That way the work is ready & waiting for the technicians when they arrive for 9 a.m. I help out on the service desk until 10.00 a.m. The weekly management meeting starts at 10a.m. Once that is completed I check & reply to my emails. I check both Ford & Nissan systems for any Bulletins, updates or general letters & forward to the relevant personnel. I generate service reminders & verify them off our own internal systems. I compile a list of customers from previous bookings & throughout the day I ring them to make sure they were happy with their visit to our workshop. We use a very streamlined electronic vehicle healthcheck system on all vehicles and after a quick lunch I print off listings from this. I give customers a call regarding work that was not needed on their previous visit but which is now due & give them prices etc. & offer them appointments to suit. This system is very helpful as customer often forget that they may need a tyre for instance in between servicing. I help out on the service desk for the busy evening returns & am on the road home for 5.30 p.m.
Tuesday
On the road again for 7.30 a.m. Once the early morning rush is cleared from the service reception & I have checked my emails etc. I set to work on the new Blue Pricing Promise that Ford are launching. This is a more simplified & structured pricing menu for servicing. I get prices on all necessary parts for each vehicle model & make up our new prices. I then liaise with our marketing company & we finalise our new pricing brochures. I submit our new prices to be updated on our website also. After lunch I have a meeting with one of our local Garda Sergeants to discuss their ongoing vehicle servicing needs. I finish at 5.15p.m. & do a quick parts delivery on the road home.
Wednesday
Halfway through the week already & on the road for 7.15am. I pick up a car from a customer in my area & bring it in for servicing. Tomorrow is the last day of the month so it is going to be very busy for the next 2 days. I help with the morning rush & then set about finalising invoices etc. for the end of month. I print off all current work in the system & start the task of cleansing as much as possible. I ring customers who may have parts on order & get them booked in for their fitting. After lunch I receive listings for all technical courses coming up in the next few months & email bookings through to the training academy. It is very important to keep our technicians up to date with the latest technical trends & courses. I then have a meeting with the account manager who supplies our Vehicle Healthcheck System and after giving a hand on the service counter I head for home at 5.45 p.m. On route I drop off the repaired car from this morning.
Thursday
As today is the last day of the month I make an early start at 7 am. By 8 p.m. all computers are fired up & ready for the day ahead. I print out a new work in progress listing & again cleanse as much as possible for end of month. I have an 11.30 meeting with the marketing manager with Ford Ireland. We will be introducing a new digital service recording system & we run through the operational side of this. With this new system there will be no loss of service history on vehicles & it will be accessible by all Main Ford Dealers. The morning has flown by & in no time it is 3 p.m. I spend the afternoon inputting work requests for state vehicles & between that & the busy service desk in no time it is 5.30 & time to head for home.
Friday
On the road for the last time this week at 7.30 a.m. It has been a hectic week & as usual the week has flown. Because it is the 1st day of the month I spend the morning liaising with the Gardai & Leasing companies about the scheduling of services & DOE tests for the month ahead. Once the listings are sorted I arrange bookings with drivers & appointments with the DOE testing centre. The afternoon is spent passing invoices & charging them up to internal accounts. Ford have an online training system so to get up to date with some new introductions I do a quick e-learning course online. I do a final few customer call backs & reply to emails & am glad to be on the road for 5p.m.
23rd April, 2013
