Magazine for the professional car and truck rental industry.
Issue link: https://autorentalnews.epubxp.com/i/97296
R ATINGS & AWARDS FIRST-ANNUAL AWARDS AND EVENT HIGHLIGHT OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE The 2012 Auto Rental Summit and Professional of the Year Awards brought together companies from the around the world for two days to focus on customer service in the industry. A S Stacey Milliken (above left) and Elizabeth Alonso (above right) accept their awards for the 2012 Auto Rental News r Professional of the Year. Veronica Weston (left), the corpoP rate winner, is inset. r BY JOANNE TUCKER AT THE 2012 AUTO RENTAL SUMMIT, OCT. 29-30 IN HOLLYWOOD, FLA., THREE car rental employees were announced as the winners of the frst-annual Auto Rental News Professional of the Year Awards, sponsored by American Express. The awards honor car rental associates who demonstrate and promote outstanding customer satisfaction within the car rental process from companies worldwide. The three award categories recognize an associate from a corporate, franchise and independent location. In addition to the awards luncheon, attendees of the Auto Rental Summit participated in educational workshops, roundtables and networking designed to improve customer service and enhance revenue in car rental operations. THE WINNERS CIRCLE INDEPENDENT From Midway Car Rental in Los Angeles, Elizabeth Alonso was declared the 2012 Professional of the Year for independent operators. Alonso is the area rental manager, in which she oversees four rental offces and 50 employees. She has worked for Midway for 10 years and has worked her way up in numerous roles with the company. ���I learned a long time ago that you have to work hard at everything you do if you want to stand out and make a difference,��� says Alonso, who learned English as a second language. Alonso is recognized for her work in 20 Fact Book 2013 ���The awards are a forum for the auto rental industry to celebrate its champions, enhance industry morale and promote its good works,��� says Chris Brown, executive editor of Auto Rental News. ���The three winners of our frst-ever award not only exemplify the best in customer service, they also lead and inspire others within their companies and their communities. We���re delighted to give them the recognition they deserve and grateful to learn from their good work.��� Brown also cites the award ceremony and the award winners sharing their insights, paths to success and motivations as adding an emotional component to the Summit. ���It is those human stories on how to build customer relationships that can prove invaluable,��� he says. front of and behind the counter. She goes out of her way to satisfy unit-specifc, high-dollar requests, in one instance driving a car to Canada for a customer when it couldn���t be delivered quick enough by truck. And still she was three hours early. For her employees, Alonso leads by example. She sets a tone that emphasizes outstanding service, never turning away a qualifed customer, while growing sales. In fact, she has built up a loyal following of customers by simply being herself. ���I enjoy being with customers and building relationships that last a lifetime,��� she says. Alonso is also recognized for a handson approach to training. Employees even request to work with her because they know it means they will receive the best AUTO R ENTAL N EWS training possible. Alonso owes this to the fact that she holds her team accountable: ���It���s not just me asking them to do it ��� I show them how to do it.��� FRANCHISE In two short years, Stacey Milliken, the night and weekend supervisor for Burgner Enterprises, the Thrifty Car Rental franchisee in Nashville, has proven her customer service skills to win the franchise category for the 2012 Professional of the Year awards. ���In our feld of business, the customer is everything,��� Milliken says. ���Without the customer there is no revenue to be made or business to be done.��� Milliken is regularly recognized for the extra effort she gives to customer service