Ciceley bucks recession to land top award
North-west dealer Ciceley Commercials has won Mercedes-Benz UK’s premier prize for its truck and van franchisees after a year of outstanding achievement.
Dealer Principal Mike Lewis stepped up to collect the coveted Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle Dealer of the Year trophy at the manufacturer’s annual awards ceremony for members of its UK network.
Ciceley also made the final three in the categories for After Sales Dealer and Best Mercedes-Benz CharterWay Dealer – CharterWay is parent company Daimler AG’s in-house commercial vehicle finance arm – while Mike Lewis was a runner-up in the Dealer Principal Best Practice Practitioner section.
“I am very fortunate,” he declared, “in having a fantastic team of colleagues here at Ciceley. Everyone understands the part they play in making this a winning team. We all have a ‘can do’ attitude and are all fully committed to providing our customers with the best possible commercial vehicle ownership experience.”
Ciceley Commercials, which has headquarters in Blackburn and other dealerships in Bolton, Carlisle and Dumfries, has been representing the three-pointed star since Mercedes-Benz UK opened for business in 1974. Its Dealer of the Year title follows a period of impressive progress on all fronts.
The company aims to deliver industry-leading service levels, with all of its sites among the top performers within the Mercedes-Benz network. Ciceley has striven over recent years to raise its overall after sales game, staff development programmes driving home the message that the customer must always come first. The success of this strategy has been confirmed by its relentless rise up the manufacturer’s Customer Service Index league table – a dealer’s CSI score is based on a host of performance-related criteria, as well as interviews with customers.
Despite the recession, Ciceley has also ploughed substantial sums into its infrastructure, redeveloping and refurbishing facilities to bring them up to the highest standard. As well as making them more attractive places for customers to visit, these investments have led to improved morale within its 187-strong workforce.
And on sales, while the total commercial vehicle market in Britain plummeted during a very challenging 2009, Ciceley forged ahead strongly – it sold 1,120 vans to retail and fleet customers last year, up by 38 per cent on 2008, while its tally of 383 trucks represented an improvement of 35 per cent; the company also sold more than 200 used vehicles.
“As well as selling more vehicles to customers in our own area, we also won a string of national fleet orders from high-profile customers such as Home Delivery Network and Enterprise plc,” continued Mike Lewis, who took up his post at Ciceley in 2007, having previously worked in a senior fleet sales role for the manufacturer.
“And we were only able to do so because of our very close relationship with Mercedes-Benz UK; the manufacturer is obviously confident that we are going to handle the business professionally and it has therefore given us fabulous support.”
He added: “The determination of staff at Ciceley to provide high-quality service extends beyond our direct dealings with customers, to our relationships with each other. Everyone understands that we’re all in this together, and that this is a great place to be right now.”
Ian Jones, Managing Director, Commercial Vehicles for Mercedes-Benz UK, added: “Our Dealer of the Year award recognises outstanding performance in all areas of our business and Ciceley have demonstrated consistent year-on-year improvement to achieve the highest accolade within our network.
“The drive and energy of Mike Lewis and his management team, their focus on outstanding after sales support and quality of service delivery, and commitment to working in close partnership with Mercedes-Benz to provide sophisticated and comprehensive sales solutions, have all been features of Ciceley’s success story.”
