Local dealers vie for automakers' premier awards
While many area car dealers decorate their walls with plaques and commendations, experts will tell you certain awards mean a lot more than others.
Dealerships can win awards based on customer surveys for high ratings in their service departments, or for how a salesperson treated a customer throughout the sale. However, only the best dealers will win awards that incorporate all those standards.Several area dealers have been selected for those big-ticket trophies. "All the manufacturers hold their dealers accountable," says David Williams, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association (MSADA). "These awards allow dealerships to look at themselves in the mirror and be proud."
The President’s Award from Ford recognizes Ford and Lincoln/Mercury dealerships that have run the gamut of customer care, obtaining high rankings on the complete service experience from tire-kicking to putting keys in the hands of new customers. The award goes to only 450 dealers out of the 5,000-member network across the country, and is based entirely on how the customer ranks the dealer on a survey sent out by Ford. Lamoureux Ford has won the award 12 times, and uses the competition to improve its operators.
"The award is an indication of customers’ perceptions on how they were treated here," says Bob Pillsbury, general sales manager. "It also allows us to see if there’s a weak link in our customer service and helps us to try and fix it."
Wagner BMW in Shrewsbury also prizes the recognition it gets as evident by the trophy displayed in its showroom. The Quality Management Systems award goes to dealers who voluntarily participated in a quality assurance audit. BMW uses an outside firm to audit the dealers, and Wagner is the only New England BMW dealer to hold the distinction. In obtaining this recognition, General Manager Brad Nacomber admits that big sales numbers may get put second to completing the audit with top marks.
"Going through the audit is hard work," says Nacomber, "and you probably forgo a few sales to achieve the ratings."
Other honors for dealerships rely on the ratings that auto brokers give their competition. Time magazine holds a yearly competition for its Quality Dealership Award (QDA), where dealers from each state nominate other dealers for their community involvement and for overall dealership excellence, and one national winner is plucked out of the entire contestant pool.
Luddy Chevrolet has been earmarked for the national convention twice, where all the nominated vendors convene. President George Luddy says that the dealership always strives for high marks regardless of whether or not it wins an award, but the QDA recognition is particularly meaningful. "It’s a satisfying experience to know that your fellow dealers felt you did something worthy of the nomination," says Luddy.
The MSADA’s Williams notes that these awards come in several flavors, but the dealer moving the most cars doesn’t always finish first.
Jeffrey T. Lavery can be reached at jlavery@wbjournal.com
WBJ Web Partners
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