Mercedes-Benz Vans paid tribute to the stars of its Dealer Network at the latest edition of its celebration of franchisee excellence.
Held in the stately surroundings of Edinburgh Castle, the Dealer of the Year Awards ceremony was the first of its kind for the brand – rather than giving prizes across a broader range of categories, the manufacturer presented two awards, while praising every one of its Dealer partners for their contribution to another year of success.
The two individual winners for 2022 were Yorkshire-based Northside Truck & Van, named Best Sales Team; and Rossetts Commercials, with sites in Surrey and Sussex, which lifted the award for Best Customer Service Team.
“Our congratulations to the two victors,” said Mercedes-Benz UK Managing Director Robert Veit. “Performance was extremely high across the whole Dealer Network, contributing to a very successful year.”
“Teams were measured against a very strict set of performance criteria and the margins of difference were extremely tight. Somebody had to win, and when the numbers were finalised Northside and Rossetts came out on top. Both can be very proud of their well-deserved success.”
Northside’s Light Vehicle Sales Director Darren Doleman put his team’s victory down to a determined push to attract new retail vehicle buyers, allied with ongoing efforts to provide the exacting levels of care that translate into uniformly high customer satisfaction scores.
Unstinting dedication to looking after every customer requirement was also hailed by Rossetts Dealer Principal Richard Wheeler, who paid tribute to his Dealership colleagues for their achievement of the highest percentage of five-star rated CSI scores across the UK network.
Darren, who has only recently completed his first full year in overall control of Northside’s van sales operation, said: “We used targeted training and a strategic approach across multiple departments in all our seven branches to grow our sales into the retail sector. As a result, while not by any means disregarding our larger fleet customers, we’ve managed to double our sales to smaller businesses and single-vehicle operators.”
Richard Wheeler said: “The past year has been a very challenging trading period for many of our customers so we have pulled out all the stops to support them. The whole Rossetts team has always delivered great service but we’re very proud of the fact that in 2022 we achieved the highest satisfaction scores in the country.”
Northside Truck & Van and Rossetts Commercials sell and support the award-winning Mercedes-Benz Vans range – which comprises Sprinter, Vito and Citan models, as well as electric eSprinter and eVito variants. Northside operates from sites in Bradford, Doncaster, Hull, Immingham, Leeds, Sheffield and York; Rossetts from Aldershot, Crawley, Eastbourne and Worthing.
“Both our winners are fantastic ambassadors for the Mercedes-Benz brand and their Dealer of the Year awards are thoroughly deserved,” concluded Robert Veit.
