First lets define customer recognition…

A customer is defined as one that purchases a commodity or service. Recognition is the state of being recognized knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before special notice or attention.

Two root words: Re – again or indicating repetition and cognitive – of or pertaining to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes.

Why is customer recognition important for a business?

Customer recognition is just as important as employee recognition in a business. When manufacturers recognize their successful dealers it motivates their dealer network to strive to be one of the top well-rounded dealerships operating in their network. After all, who DOESN’T want to be the top dog? Depending on the type of customer recognition executed,  ie. an award for a dealership exhibiting excellent business practices, this incentive can build loyalty to your manufacturer’s brand as dealerships want to gain that competitive advantage of being named as their manufacturer’s “favored” dealership. How will they get there? By following the standards set of a dealership by the manufacturer. If the award is anticipated to be distributed quarterly, annually, etc. dealerships can expect to check the news, your company website, etc. for award winners which subconsciously makes them more aware of your business changes and updates.

Let’s take a look at an example:

Just last month JCB recognized the top dealers of the North American Dealer of Excellence awards. The criteria was based on market share, retail performance vs. goal, parts SOE, parts sales improvement, sales and service training, and dealer development and rebranding. The winners are Liftech JCB, YES JCB, Walsh JCB, JCB of Georgia, Harvey and Company, and Earthborne. After receiving this award, Walsh Equipment has placed a link on their homepage for their web visitors to know that they are a JCB Dealer of Excellence. This tactic not only boosts their credibility as a dealership but exhibits a sense of pride in winning an award and being announced for receiving the award by their manufacturer.

What’s your take on customer recognition?