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For the second consecutive year, the carsales Dealer of the Year accolade has been awarded to Illawarra Special Vehicles of New South Wales. So what’s their secret?

To find out the tricks of the trade we spoke with Garry Rogers, Director at Illawarra Special Vehicles, for some advice on what dealers around Australia can do to better their online results.

Garry Rogers has been in the automotive industry since 1969.  Over the years he has seen a great deal of change; from practicing as a trainee salesman with a Blacktown Ford Dealer, to owning his first business in 1975, trading as Plaza Motors in Penrith, NSW, through to selling this business and setting up shop in Illawarra in 2006.

It wasn’t until his time with Illawarra Special Vehicles that Gary made the move online and began working with carsales.com.au.

“We enjoyed a fantastic response from carsales immediately. So much so that I needed help to manage enquiry – which is when I brought in an old colleague of mine, John Darroch,” says Garry. 

Since then, Garry and John have been working together to attend to their online enquiry. 

“Being a used car dealership, we pride ourselves on having a high standard of stock at a reasonable price. But, I believe a large part of our success can be attributed to the way in which John and I respond to our customers,” says Garry.

“An enquiry will come through as a text message on our mobile and we respond to it without delay, even if it’s after hours. If they’re awake to send it, they’re awake to answer a phone call.”

It is just such habits that carsales.com.au encourages of all dealer customers, so much so that many of the carsales.com.au Dealer of the Year criteria are based on online dealership best practice procedure.

The Awards are after all decided based on the collective results of carsales.com.au 24 hour and 14 day customer surveys, specifically the average response time of the dealership, the ratio of customers contacted and closing ratio, as well as the dealerships overall customer experience ranking.

“It is more than just making calls, though,” says Garry, “you have to get the customers attention first and foremost.”

To do this, Illawarra Special Vehicles make use of carsales Top Deals, with 15 vehicles rotated in and out of these feature placements, as well as regularly updated comments and photographs. Garry and John also follow up every phone call with an email providing customers with the location of the dealership as well as additional information on the vehicle, including photos. 

“We follow up every lead until the customer has either purchased a vehicle from us or is no longer in the market.”

Illawarra Special Vehicles have also leveraged their Dealer of the Year win in 2008, including an award mention in their online advertising, window banners, in any print advertising, as well as in and around their office building (front back and side to side!).

As the 2009 National carsales.com.au Dealer of the Year winner, Illawarra Special Vehicles not only receives this years accolade but also a prize pack including a branded plaque for display, marketing materials, and a $10,000 carsales.com.au product package. 

State & Territory winners in the Awards also receive a prize package including a branded plaque as well as a $2,000 product package.

“We’re really excited about winning this award for a second time,” says Garry, “without carsales.com.au, we wouldn’t enjoy the level of sales which we currently experience.”

If you’d like more information on the carsales Dealer of the Year awards – and some more tips on how you can better your online results – contact your account manager or the carsales Dealer Service Support team on 1300 728 800.