As I’ve been writing the Elite Dealer profiles for the December issue of ENX and comb through the responses for unique marketing programs I’m seeing quite a few dealers touting their customer appreciation events. It’s amazing how much time, effort, and resources go into events that show customers just how much a dealership appreciates their business.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the annual lobster dinner customer appreciation event of Fraser-AIS in West Reading, PA. I’ve been to five of those so far and they are first-class affairs. Two weeks ago I took the train into NYC to attend LDI’s 15th Anniversary Celebration for another superb customer appreciation event.
What impressed me about both of these events is the participation of the dealership’s vendors. Sharp was a sponsor for the second consecutive year of the lobster dinner and prior to that Muratec. Not only were they sponsors, they were there to show their support and appreciation to the dealership that’s marketing their products.
The same was true at LDI. Among the vendors in attendance were Sharp, Canon, Nuance, and EFI.
It truly is impressive what some dealerships do to show their customers how much they appreciate their business. If you’re a customer, how can you not feel anything but special? All of that goes a long way towards customer retention, but as we all know, putting on a great party is one thing, delivering the goods the rest of the time is something else altogether. I’ll go out on a limb and say that both Fraser-AIS and LDI deliver the goods. Need proof, I’ll settle for the customers and vendors who have taken the time out from their busy schedules to do much more than make an appearance at these events. These dealers must be doing something right and a shining example of what makes the document imaging industry so special.
Thanks for reading!
