Last Thursday (November 16th) the Dealer Of the Year Awards took place at the Oxford Belfry Hotel, organised by TurfPro's sister publication, Service Dealer magazine.
The awards celebrate the incredible work which the UK's independent specialist dealer network carry out all year round - which can often go unsung.
As turf professionals, readers of this newsletter will appreciate just how vital it is to have local specialist teams who can advise with new machinery purchases and almost more importantly, keep those machines running if something goes wrong throughout the year.
You can read how the Professional Turfcare Machinery Dealer of the Year was won last week by George Browns Ltd of Leighton Buzzard here.
The standard was so incredibly high across the board though, the judges had an awfully difficult task narrowing the nominees down to a final three and then to an ultimate winner. The turf professional industry is lucky to have such dedicated teams of experts serving it all around the country.
It's never easy for these small businesses to continue to flourish in today's uncertain business environment, but these guys are giving it their all to provide a quality service to their professional customers. They need your on-going support though. Yes things can go awry on the odd occasion, but listening to the dealers speak last week, all of their efforts are geared to making sure their customer service is exemplary and they know it's that which sets them apart from the crowd.
Prior to the awards ceremony last Thursday, there was a conference held for the attending dealer delegates which struck a hopeful tone. Whilst it was acknowledged that it's tough out there at the moment, there was a sense that for companies doing it right, there's the possibility to succeed and therefore invest back into the business - making their dealerships even more appealing to their customers.
Service Dealer and TurfPro owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke told the assembled dealers, "Businesses like yours are the engine room of the UK economy. Despite all this general uncertainty and negativity, our sector, like the majority of SME’s in the UK, is more than surviving.
"We mustn't lose sight of the fact that we do some things very well in the UK and if we can deal with the rapidly changing landscape and technologies, then things might not be too bad after all. That is why we have focussed this year’s conference on change, embracing it as well as the challenges and opportunities it brings."
Duncan went on to explain why is was important to recognise the superb work being carried out within the dealer network with the awards. He said, "We are a close knit industry and an industry that is changing rapidly. It is more important than ever that we seek out and acknowledge excellence so that we can all learn, evolve and meet the challenges ahead and turn them into opportunity."
The standard of all the winning dealerships was extraordinary this year. These standards were clearly reflected in the quality of comments received from satisfied customers across the UK which formed part of the judging process.
These businesses are delivering a level of customer service which is only possible through a dedicated specialist. And these businesses can only continue to go the extra mile for you, their customers, as long as you continue to support them.
