Success: The Echuca Toyota team of Glen Viney (parts manager), Sam Lehmann (sales manager), John Merritt (dealer principal), Emma Merritt (marketing and guest experience manager), Luke Dunham (service manager) and Blake Pitson (financial controller) at the awards night.
Echuca Toyota has beaten out all other rural Toyota dealers in Victoria to win rural dealer of the southern region for 2022.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Echuca Toyota principal dealer John Merritt said that it was “a team effort.”
“I am just extremely proud of our team,” Mr Merritt said.
“It is a team award and really solidifies us making a difference and going above and beyond in what we do every day.
“It is really the dedication, hard work and determination of our staff and the dealership in total.”
Echuca Toyota not only took home the highest rural award, but also ‘parts excellence’, ‘business management excellence’, ‘marketing and guest experience excellence’ as well as ‘guest experience masters’ awards.
“It has been announced that we are number one nationally for loyalty and repurchase for the new vehicle department in the country,” Mr Merritt said.
“Which is a good feather in our cap.
“It is a really good example of the loyalty of our local customers and guests, which we are very thankful for.”
Grand stage: Michael Elias (Toyota Motor Corp), John Merritt (Echuca Toyota), Sean Hanley (Toyota Motor Corp) and Jack Hobbs (Toyota Motor Corp).
The four awards accumulated in Echuca Toyota taking out the National President’s Award.
“We were the recipient of that award in 2019, so we were delighted to achieve this again, which is essentially related to all departments.
“It is exceeding and being the best of the best throughout the dealership as judged against our peers.
“It is not just one department, it is essentially a combined total dealership award, the highest achievers nationally against a set of benchmarks.
“And as a result, we were awarded the Rural Dealer of the Southern Region for 2022,” he said.
Mr Merritt thanked all team members at Echuca Toyota for their efforts throughout the year that made the awards possible for the dealership.
“They should be really proud of their efforts,” he said.
“It was a pretty proud moment for me, professionally as well.”