Judges recognise COVID response with Chorley Group Customer Service award

Chorley Group emerged as the top Lancashire business for customer service in the annual Red Rose Awards.

Judges selected the AM100 car retail group, profiled in the current edition of AM magazine, as the winner of the events Customer Service Award after recognising that its “has always placed customer service at the core of its offering”.

A multiple AM Best Dealerships to Work for winner, Chorley Group operates 15 franchised car dealerships across the North West and employs more than 350 people.

Commenting on its most recent awards win, Chorley Group managing director Adam Turner said: “This award is testament to the fantastic team we have at Chorley Group. We pride ourselves on our ability to successfully adapt quickly and effectively to the changing retail environment, remaining responsive to changing customer needs, which has been particularly important over the past few years.”

The Red Rose Awards judges noted that, throughout the pandemic, when social distancing and safety were a top priority, Chorley Group was able to support and meet customers' needs with various new initiatives including interactive chat options, with average response times of 10 seconds.

In the June edition of AM magazine Turner explained how the business had driven its customer lead management with the creation of an eight-strong digital response team, on 7am-to11pm shifts, seven days a week, to support the efforts of its retail site staff.

Turner said: “When the first lockdown was announced we managed to immediately swing into action to ensure we were able to deliver vehicles and continue to help our customers.

“The first lockdown taught us a lot and we implemented various measures efficiently and swiftly. We also learnt that being able to stay in contact with our customers, especially when they were not able to come to the showrooms, was vital.”

Turner added: “It’s always pleasing to gain recognition and win awards for the service we provide to customers. But we don’t do it for the awards – we do it because we believe it’s the right thing to do to keep us at the forefront of customer service.”

Chorley Group is embarking on a growth mission, following up its March 2021 entry into the Vauxhall and Mitsubishi franchises with the acquisition of Lancashire-based 06 Ormskirk Ltd with the March 2022 acquisition of two new Citroen dealerships from BCC Cars.

Turner told AM: “Organisations of our size have two options, grow or go, because the industry is moving so fast and the big boys are getting so big,”