Oz dealers O’Connors and Larwoods have taken out the 2017 Dealer of the Year awards at Case IH’s annual dealer conference in Sun City, South Africa
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From left, Lisa Day (O’Connors), David Hair (O’Connors), Bruce Healy, brand leader for Case IH Australia/New Zealand, and Gareth Webb (O’Connors).
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O’Connors won the Case IH Dealer of the Year – three branches or more award for the second year running. The family-owned business operates Victorian branches in Birchip, Horsham, Warracknabeal and Shepparton as well as branches in Corowa, New South Wales and Bordertown in South Australia.
Yorke Peninsula based Larwoods Ag Services was awarded the Case IH Dealer of the Year – two branches or less. Larwoods has been operating for more than 40 years, with its main branch based in Kadina, specialising in sales, service and spare parts.
The Dealer of the Year results are based on finance and business management, performance in sales and marketing, parts and servicing, Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) Certification and total market share.
Case IH Australia/New Zealand brand leader Bruce Healy congratulated O’Connors and Larwoods on their awards.
“Congratulations to O’Connors on again taking out the Dealer of the Year with three or more branches – they continue to raise the bar and have established a strong platform for success and, most importantly, ongoing advancement,” Healy says.
“For Larwoods Ag, the award is well-deserved, recognising the effort the team put into sales strategies and building the foundation for a business that is only going to grow from here,” he adds.
“The standard of the Case IH dealer network is very high, so to get to the top of that group is a significant achievement.
“While any number of dealers can achieve great results in one criterion, to take out these awards you’ve got to be good at everything – O’Connors and Larwoods Ag are consistent performers that pay attention to all aspects of their businesses,” he adds.
O’Connors’ group operations manager Gareth Webb was honoured to receive the award.
“It’s such an important award and we’re honoured to receive it,” he says. “There are some amazing dealers in the Case IH network who we respect enormously, so to win is a significant achievement,”
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Larwoods Ag Services dealer principal Scott Mercer, left, with Bruce Healy, brand leader for Case IH Australia/New Zealand, and Matthieu Sejourne, brand leader Case IH Asia Pacific.
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Larwoods Ag dealer principal Scott Mercer was thrilled with their win.
“I’m blown away by this award, we’ve got a great team of people at Larwoods and so many years of experience within our team,” Mercer says.
“Everyone plays their part at every level of the business and I want to thank them for their efforts – I would also like to thank Case IH for the support they provide, and pay tribute to Kym Flint, who was dealer principal for the first half of last year and was such an integral part of the business for so many years,” he adds.
Other top performers in the Dealer of the Year with three or more branches category included Farmers Centre 1978 as well as Kenway and Clark.
Special mention in the dealer with two branches or less went to South Australian dealerships Rocky River Ag and Lyndoch Motors.