Almost 40 Parts, Service and General Managers from dealers across the UK attended Ransomes Jacobsen's Customer Care Conference held at the commercial mower manufacturer's head office in Ipswich.


Jason King addressing the delegates at the start of the conference

The conference provided the opportunity to promote best practice from across the group, discuss such topics as dealer development, marketing and training as well as enhancing communications channels within the Ransomes Jacobsen network.

The morning session began with an introduction from Customer Care Director Jason King, who thanked everyone for their attendance and then outlined the programme for the day. Sales Director Rupert Price followed up with an overview of the brand sectors and sales financials for year to date.

After a brief break for refreshments, members of Jason King's team then provided updates on the company's Warranty processes and procedures, proposed improvements in Parts identification and picking and then the Cutting Edge Training team provided an overview of the array of training options available for dealer staff.

Following an excellent lunch, the afternoon programme began with a selection of breakout sessions, where the delegates were split into small groups to discuss the morning topics in greater depth.

The final session included presentations from Ransomes Jacobsen's Product Management team, who provided the delegates with a preview of the new products and developments coming on stream in 2016 and beyond.

At the conclusion of the conference Jason King said, "This was probably the best and most enjoyable UK Dealer Conference that I can remember. The wealth of experience in the room was unbelievable; we asked everyone to introduce themselves and it was incredible to consider the amount of industry knowledge and experience we had in one place.

"Personally I think the breakout sessions were the most rewarding. By getting people into small groups, I think they are more comfortable expressing themselves and this led to some lively debate. The enthusiasm of the delegates for our new initiatives exceeded expectations and the way my team prepared and presented the programme on the day was first class."

Clive Andrews of Bartram Mowers said, "This was anexcellent conference, well managed with a lot of preparation to ensure that we got the full benefit from our time in Ipswich. With our peer group we were able to exchange best practice ideas for maximising the effect we have within our own individual businesses, while also adding benefit to the Ransomes Jacobsen organisation. The hospitality was excellent and the whole event was really enjoyable."