We're into the back-end of the season now - a season which I suspect quite a number of dealers will be glad to see the back of!
There have been rough seasons before, and will be again - but as we know, dealers are a resilient bunch. Thoughts now will be turning to next year and how to make that as successful as possible.
To this end, there are a couple of major industry events coming up over the next few weeks which will offer dealers the opportunity to regroup and consider the way ahead.
One of these is the Service Dealer Conference & Awards which takes place on Thursday November 15th at the Oxford Belfry Hotel. As ever, as well as the Conference, the Dealer Of The Year Awards will be handed out during the evening ceremony.
We are very pleased today to be able to announce those dealers who are nominated across our core categories of Garden, Professional Turfcare, Farm Machinery, Forestry Equipment, and ATV/Quad.
Without further ado, hearty congratulations and best of luck to the all the nominated dealers who are listed below purely alphabetically, across all categories -
AF Wiltshire
Bartram Mowers
Branton Farm Nurseries
Briants of Risborough
Buxtons Ltd
C And C Machinery
Celtic Mowers Ltd
Chandlers Farm Equipment
Duttons Mower World Ltd
Ernest Doe Group
F R Jones & Son
Farmstar Ltd
Farol Limited
Forest & Arb
Garden Machinery Services
Garlick Garden Machinery Ltd
Gayways Ltd
Ground Control
Gustharts
Hayes Garden Machinery & ATVs
Honey Brothers
Hughie Willett
Johnston Gilpin & Co Ltd
Lister Wilder
Llyn ATV's & Garden Machinery
Market Drayton Mowers
Mowwithus.com
Northern Arb Supplies
Oakley's Ltd
R T Machinery
Radmore and Tucker Ltd
RBM Agricultural Ltd
Ron Smith & Son Ltd
RVW Pugh Ltd
Steam & Moorland
Stratton ATV Ltd
Stuart Brown
Thomas Sherriff
Toad Hall
Tudor Environmental
Tweedside Garden Machinery Ltd
Vincent Tractors
Winchester Garden Machinery
Like last year the nominations for the dealerships in the running for an award, have come from both suppliers putting their most valued dealers forward, as well as dealers entering their own businesses.
The assessment process has principally been achieved via feedback from the most important people to a dealer's business - their customers. And this year we were overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of customer feedback responses! It really was quite phenomenal the sheer volume we received. Not to mention the incredibly enthusiastic comments and high grades which dealers across the country have been receiving from their customers.
An expert panel now has the unenviable task of assessing all this feedback. As well as the masses of customer comments, the judging panel will also consider the feedback from manufacturers and suppliers, taking into consideration any awards they may have bestowed on their dealers during this past year.
How dealers present themselves to their customers is also be taken very seriously, with websites and social media presences considered. Testimonials from customers from sources such as Google Reviews and Yelp, as well as those included on dealers’ own sites, will also be taken into consideration.
The nominated dealers listed above will be whittled down to a shortlist of three finalists per-category and then the winner announced 'Oscars-style' on the evening of the Awards ceremony on November 15th.
Also being announced on the night will be awards for individual dealership team members - The Star of the Dealership and The Apprentice of the Year. Service Dealer will also be presenting an Outstanding Contribution Award.
It is all gearing up to be great night, celebrating the marvellous work being achieved at dealerships across the UK.
The whole team at Service Dealer offers our warmest congratulations to all the nominated dealerships and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Oxford Belfry on 15th November.
