Rachel and Brent Delaney with the two awards they won at Mitsubishi's annual Diamond Dealer awards. Photo / Grace Odlum
Rachel and Brent Delaney with the two awards they won at Mitsubishi's annual Diamond Dealer awards. Photo / Grace Odlum
A Kāpiti car dealership has come out on top, winning two awards that prove it knows customer service.
Delaney Mitsubishi, in Te Roto Drive in Paraparaumu, won two awards — the Customer Satisfaction award for their group, and one of eight Diamond Dealer awards.
The awards were given out as part of Mitsubishi New Zealand’s annual Diamond Dealer awards night.
Four Customer Satisfaction awards were presented, with all the Mitsubishi dealerships in the country being organised into groups and judged separately.
The groups are classed by big cities such Auckland and Wellington, smaller cities such as New Plymouth and Lower Hutt, small towns such as Kāpiti, and places that have only a parts and service department.
Delaney Mitsubishi’s Rachel Delaney, who co-owns the dealership with her husband Brent, said winning the awards was a good reflection on its customer service.
“We got the highest customer service score throughout the whole year. When a customer comes in to buy a car or get their car serviced, they get surveyed, so over the course of the year we got top of our group.”
Rachel and Brent Delaney outside their Mitsubishi dealership. Photo / Grace Odlum
The top two dealerships from each group get a Diamond Dealer award, but the criteria are a bit more complicated.
There are three main categories — customer service, market share and after sales (parts and services sales).
They are also judged on other criteria such as how the dealership is presented, training provided to staff, whether they achieve their sales targets, and more.
Until the end of 2021, Delaney Mitsubishi was a part of the group of locations that had only a parts and service department — no vehicle sales — and won that category five times, but this is its first time winning as a dealership, so its team are pretty excited.
“It was always a goal of ours — after being a Diamond Dealer winner as a parts and service dealer, we always had a goal of being a full dealer winner. We thought it might take a bit longer, so we were thrilled.”
Delaney said she attributed the win largely to its great customer service and its team.
“Everyone has that goal of providing the best customer service they can. Customer service is really high up on our achievements.”
