Swinford Motors employee is a finalist in Toyota's National Skills Contest 2019
A Swinford Motors employee was one of the finalists in Toyota Ireland's National Skills Contest 2019.
Hannah Quinn was a runner-up in the Service Advisor Skills Contest, which was won by Gary Duggan of Kelly's Sales & Service in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
The other runners-up were Michael Bermingham, Tony Burke Motors, Co. Galway; Roy Thomson, McConnell Bros., Co. Waterford; and Aiden Kelliher, Lehane Motors, Co. Cork.
After the success of the 2017 and 2018 competition, the National Skills Contest expanded to include service advisors alongside technical staff this year.
“Service advisors play a key role in delivering quality service for customers, and this contest highlights the skills and expertise required,” said Toyota Ireland.
The contest took place at Toyota HQ, where 20 of the best motoring service advisors in the Toyota Ireland network, including Hannah, competed for the coveted award.
The first stage of the contest involved an online aptitude assessment and practical skills assessment, from which five service advisors were shortlisted for Service Advisor of the Year Award.
The final element was for each of the final five candidates to participate in a series of kaizen (continuous improvement) activities, designed to challenge ability and assess customer experience skills.
Meanwhile, in the third year of the National Technician Skills Contest, Colin O’Reilly from Brian Geary Sales was named Technician of the Year 2019. The runners-up were Roger Farmer of Kelliher's Garage, Co. Kerry; Derick Bowen of Lehane Motors, Co. Cork; Gerry Carew of Tony Burke Motors, Co. Galway; and Danny O'Shea of Bowlers Garage, Co. Kerry.
Steve Tormey, chief executive of Toyota Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to host a competition of this nature for our service advisor and technical employees. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the calibre of customer experience of those interacting with Toyota customers throughout the network.
“The service advisors' skills are tested through an aptitude test followed by a series of kaizen activities. To be placed in the top five is an incredible achievement.”