We are truly excited to recognize Vantaun Hayes as the November 2022 Jim Ellis Client Champion! Vantaun is one of our Mercedes-Benz of Atlanta South Express Way Drivers. Vantaun was nominated by General Manager Ryan McIntyre.
The Jim Ellis Client Champion award has been presented monthly since 2014 to a Jim Ellis employee who goes above and beyond to deliver the Jim Ellis Promise to one of our guests. With more than 1,600 employees in the organization, only a small percentage of employees each year receive this honor.
Here is the story behind why Vantaun was nominated as the monthly Client Champion:
A couple of weeks ago, a client traveled a few hours to our dealership to pick up his new CPO GLE 63 Coupe. Unfortunately, a suspension warning light came on at delivery that resulted in needing to order a part. We put the client in a loaner vehicle until his new car could be repaired. It took a week to get the part in stock and installed. The client was understandably frustrated with not receiving his vehicle at the time planned and then the part taking longer than originally anticipated for the repair.
As soon as the repair was completed, Vantaun was on standby to deliver the client’s vehicle directly to his home. We realized that the client had already driven to the dealership once to pick up the vehicle and wanted to keep him from having to drive to us again. However, about 45 minutes from the client’s home, the Express Way delivery truck got a flat tire. Vantaun called the client immediately to let him know roadside assistance had already been dispatched, but would take 90 minutes to get to him and repair the tire, so there would be at least a two-hour delay. He could sense the client’s disappointment with this additional delay in his already long overdue new-vehicle delivery. Vantaun took it upon himself to call around and check for quicker options for the tire repair. He ended up finding one that came to him in 30 minutes and got him back on the road an hour earlier than he originally had estimated. It was already 7:00 p.m. when all this happened so the client was extremely appreciative of Vantaun going the extra mile to limit this unexpected delay as much as possible before it got late in the evening.
“Thank you Vantaun for the extra effort on this one to take care of a client that had already been through a lot with his new vehicle he hadn’t yet parked in his garage!” said Ryan McIntyre, Mercedes-Benz of Atlanta South General Manager.