As you may have already read or heard earlier this morning, the deadline for entering this year's Dealer Of The Year awards is imminent. 

Closing this coming Monday at midnight, the final few days to get your nominations in is upon us. You can nominate your own dealership and your members of staff, or you can be put forward by a third party, such as one of your suppling manufacturers. So this reminder goes out  to our manufacturer readers too - please do make sure you let us know who in your network consistently does an absolutely stellar job for your brand. You know who deserves that industry-wide recognition - so share the love!

There are categories this year to suit all dealership types - with size not being an issue. We have our core machinery specialism awards of course - including, for example, the Farm Machinery Dealer Of The Year. This prize was collected last year by Brian Robinson Machinery Ltd, of whom the judges said, "Undergoing a handover and dealing with the challenges of succession, this single depot dealership is certainly proving a force in the field."

There are also awards for individuals within the dealership. If you know there's someone within your place of work, who stands out and always goes above and beyond, please put them forward for consideration. The Star of the Dealership award would be applicable for anyone from within any department who fits this criteria, whilst the dedicated Leadership award is for a senior member of staff who leads their team from the front, by example and not instruction.

Last year this award was presented to Andrew Walker, group aftersales manager at dealership B&B Tractors (who also went on to collect the coveted Overall Dealer Of The year title). Judges said of Andrew, "Contributing to individual training and apprenticeships, he also strives to help manufacturers and service providers improve their offering to fellow dealers."

Elsewhere, there's also a more conceptual category, where we are looking to hear about your best new Initiative Of The Year. This can be any sort of new strategy you've put into place during the past twelve months in your company. Ideas such as innovative showroom renovations, business diversifications or branching out into new technologies could be appropriate here. Last year GGM's new service agreement was awarded, with the judges saying, "Not only did this new initiative show the professionalism of the dealership, but it also promotes professionalism in the industry."

There really is a range of awards that any dealership could consider entering. The organising team have told me we've already received a great breadth of entries from around the country, but of course we would always like more! So please, if you have been thinking about entering, do make sure you get your nomination in this weekend. It genuinely could be you this November!

A force for good?

Also today, again related to our upcoming Conference & Awards event, you might have noticed a request from two of our speakers for some dealer feedback. Sophie Brooks and Camilla Barnes are looking to hear in advance of their workshop, what our readers thoughts are on the notion of the dealership being a force for good?

They have set up a short survey where they are asking for your opinions on this subject, so that they might shape their session to best address actual concerns, questions and thoughts that delegates might have.

There are many facets to a business such as an outdoor powered machinery dealership being seen to be sustainable and a positive force - and not all would be of an environmental nature as might first spring to mind. There would be other areas to consider, such as community involvement and philanthropy, with businesses getting involved locally with educational establishments perhaps, or sponsoring youth sports teams maybe?

Other areas that could be argued as acting as a force for good could be supporting the local economy or simply passing on your expertise and friendly help to your customers. 

There's plenty to think about, so do please share any thoughts you have with Sophie and Camilla. It will most definitely make for a thought-provoking workshop come November.

And on this subject of a wholistic approach to making the business sustainable, there's a fascinating listen available today. Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke recently spoke to the Rural Business Focus podcast, about how his company, TAP, became B Corp certified and what that means in practise.

If you've got 30 minutes, it's an enlightening conversation.