Day in and day out, the O’Connors team of more 390 staff across 16 O’Connors dealerships in regional NSW, Victoria, and South Australia aim to provide the highest quality service to our customers.
That’s why I am delighted that at the annual Case IH awards for excellence, this year held in Fargo in the United States, our team was formally recognised for its efforts, with O’Connors named the 2022 Dealer of the Year for three branches or more across Australia and New Zealand.
For 58 years, we’ve played a pivotal role in the agricultural supply chain, offering equipment solutions – machinery, parts, service and precision farming. We have an excellent track record of servicing and selling over 20 leading brands of agricultural equipment including Case IH, Croplands, Flexicoil, Horsch, MacDon and Seedmaster. In fact, we are the largest Case IH dealership in Australia.
Of the award, Aaron Bett, General Manager for Case IH ANZ, said O’Connors had performed exceptionally over the past year and a particular highlight was the team’s ongoing commitment to customers.
“O’Connors has again demonstrated the standard of service and performance that has made them one of our top dealers for some time now,” he said. “I commend the effort, expertise and commitment so prevalent within the entire O’Connors team and across their whole network.”
The Dealer of the Year results are based on several different criteria covering all areas of business including facilities, dealer identification and appearance, Finance and Business Management, performance in Sales and Marketing, and Parts and Servicing, Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) Certification along with combined Market Share and parts sales performance.
To be able to excel in all facets of our business, is a terrific achievement. It’s truly a reflection of all the hard work we’ve done over the years in refining our operations to maximise services for customers, upskilling our staff in their chosen speciality, and making adjustments where needed after listening to customer feedback. The focus has always been about O’Connors implementing ways to work better and to serve better.
As CEO of the business, I am so incredibly proud. I know our people are critical to our successes. We are committed to recruiting quality, like-minded people to join our ranks. As well as providing on-the-job training and personal development opportunities to ensure they are equipped with the skills they need to perform at their very best to help our customers, efficiently and effectively. I want to thank the Case IH team and our loyal customers for their ongoing support. This is indeed a shared success and O’Connors is absolutely thrilled to receive this award.
Working well as a team and being recognised through awards like this, means having shared values. I know first-hand how good a place O’Connors is to work. After all, I started my career in the sales team here nearly 20 years ago. The positive culture, nurturing environment, sense of camaraderie, encouragement for career development while supporting rural and regional communities, has always resonated with me. I think it’s fair to say, these are features which also appeal to my colleagues.
In reflecting on my rewarding career path at O’Connors, I feel excited and hopeful of new recruits upholding those shared values as they embark on their own journey with this business. O’Connors has a proud history of providing support to young people entering the agricultural sector and investment for the training of apprentices.
In July this year, applications will open for the 2024 O’Connors RedStart Apprenticeship Program, with opportunities on offer as an apprentice services technician, parts interpreter trainee, truck services technician and engineering apprentice. I really encourage people looking for a challenging and satisfying career in agriculture, who want to work in farming communities and with the best farm machinery on the market, to take advantage of this unique opportunity. I can tell you, many who started out as an O’Connors apprentice have stayed on with the business to enjoy further career development and are now leaders in the farm machinery industry.
Recognition for O’Connors as Case IH Dealer of the Year is fantastic and well deserved, but it doesn’t mean we stop striving to be even better. As the Australian agricultural industry rapidly evolves, we are committed to evolving with it, through continued growth and adaption to continue to provide the best quality service and support to our customers, communities, and our growing workforce.
About the Author
Gareth Webb is O’Connors first Chief Executive Officer, moving into the role in 2018 as the company transitioned from a family-owned and operated business into an executive management and board of governance business structure. Starting out in Machinery Sales with O’Connors in 2004, Gareth has held multiple positions within the business during his career. Gareth is passionate about agriculture and committed to the continued growth, adaptation and innovation of Australia’s largest Case IH dealer network.
About O’Connors
With 58 years of experience and sixteen dealerships across three states, O’Connors play a pivotal role in the Australian agricultural supply chain, offering customer focused equipment solutions – machinery, parts, service, precision technology and support to agricultural businesses maximising their growing potential.
O’Connors is a market leader in the supply of agricultural machinery, parts, service and precision farming solutions with specialist knowledge of Case IH machinery. Offering total farming equipment solutions, O’Connors prides itself on delivering a first-class service to customers in all aspects of agricultural machinery across three states and fifteen Case IH dealerships in Ballarat, Birchip, Bordertown, Condobolin, Corowa, Forbes, Grenfell, Horsham, Ouyen, Mildura, St Arnaud, Swan Hill, Shepparton, Warracknabeal and West Wyalong