Winning dealership has a unique approach

The dealership was awarded the best Mahindra dealership in the country by scooping up the title as Mahindra Dealer of the Year for 2021.

“These building blocks form the foundation of our business success. We have a unique approach to business. All our employees have insight into our finances and are involved in the decisions we make. Our staff complement of 55 people, share in the profits we make,” says Warren Olsen, Dealer Principal at Mahindra East Rand Mall, who has many years of OEM experience under his belt.

“Customers pay our salaries, and they are ultimately the reason for our existence. Our staff share our vision and goals because many customers and happy customers are to their advantage too. We look after our staff, and I can truly say we are like a family. We can therefore boast with an exceptionally low staff turnover,” he says.

Warren and Roy Obery own O2 Motor Company and also Haval and GWM Edenvale. O2 Motor Company currently incorporates Mahindra East Rand Mall, Mahindra Edenvale, Chery Edenvale.

Warren is the Managing Director of O2 and DP at Mahindra East Rand Mall, Bruno Branco is the DP at Mahindra Edenvale and Graham Obery is in charge at Chery Edenvale.

“I bought Mahindra East Rand Mall five years ago as a business that was effectively defunct. We had to rebuild it from the ground up, including our staff processes, IT systems and business practices. The first year was a nightmare, but we kept at it and slowly but surely everything has fallen into place.

“Ultimately, it took two years to turn the business around, and from year three of our ownership in 2019 we were competing for top honours in the Mahindra dealer network. By then we had won top accolades like Best in Sales Performance and various other titles,” Warren tells Dealerfloor.

In 2020, Mahindra East Rand Mall won the title as Mahindra Dealer of the Year. This big trophy incorporates awards like Best in After Sales Performance, Best in Parts Performance, Mahindra Finance Award and Best in Vehicle Retention.

Warren says that in the last three years, only two months weren’t profitable, first in April 2020 when the strict lockdown was announced and then in July last year after the chaos that ensued owing to the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Limited stock availability is an ongoing damper on growth. Currently, supply is erratic, but I am optimistic that this could change in the next 6 to 12 months. The Mahindra brand has grown in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years with a value offering that cannot be ignored.

“At Mahindra East Rand Mall, we are building a brand-new After Sales Centre to be able to double our current capacity to service around 50 vehicles a day. We are the biggest dealership in the network and in terms of sales, we sell 3 new vehicles for every used car,” he tells Dealerfloor.

Warren says they spend a lot on marketing and use different platforms to advertise products and services. “Our efforts on the marketing side pay dividends, and we have a lead-generating capacity of 1 500 leads a month. Each lead is followed up.

“I passionately believe in an integrated marketing approach, and we drive this approach aggressively in all our dealerships.”