An award-winning, family-owned dealership which goes the extra mile for its customers, the team is a well-oiled machine – much like the gleaming white trucks which line the saleyards.
A slow start to 2020 for North East Isuzu was held in the balance by a booming mid-year period, and according to dealer principal Deane Crowhurst, the business is currently held in good stead – an admission most companies would kill for.
“We’ve actually not had a bad year considering what is happening in the rest of world. We started off a bit slow, but June was a big month for us like it has been for a lot of dealers in the area,” he said.
“During June everyone jumped on board the $150,000 government incentive - it was just amazing.
“We would have taken 25 orders in June, some of them have obviously flowed over which has given us a bit of an order bank in the sales side of things.
“We are going along steadily, our workshop still has work, the parts department is a bit quiet, but I think we are going to finish off the year in a reasonable way.”
Networking has been the way forward during the current climate in order to keep a steady stream of interest flowing at 6 Wheeler St, Shepparton.
Tapping into resources such as their online showroom as well as harnessing the power of social media has kept things ticking on the sales front according to Mr Crowhurst.
“From a sales perspective, we deal fairly heavily with our Adelaide owners in used trucks,” he said.
“We are constantly buying used trucks and passing stock, so we utilise social media and truck websites for this.
“It is not uncommon for us to get four or five leads a night on our truck sales enquiry sites for us to follow up the next day.”
Like most of its counterparts, COVID-19 has altered the procedures and practices at the dealership.
But it hasn’t overwhelmed the business, which intends to storm into 2021 in spite of the global pandemic.
“Due to COVID-19 we have all had to follow the rules as we’ve set within the business,” he said.
“It is just a fact of life; it is what we’ve got, and we are stuck with it for a while, but the COVID-19 side of things hasn’t affected us running the business.
“I am optimistic that if we can pick up four to five orders a month for our factories, we will see the year out meeting targets.”
And with that said, Mr Crowhurst wished to issue a welcome to any curious customers.
“Any truck drivers who want to come and visit us at North East Isuzu Shepparton, they are more than welcome to do so.”
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