The Donalds Group wins big at the 13th Annual Auto Retailer Awards

The Donalds Group has been awarded the Customer Experience Award (over 100 cars) at the national Auto Trader Retailer Awards 2020.

Donalds beat off competition from over 13,000 UK automotive retailers to receive the Customer Experience award at the 13th annual Auto Trader Retailer Awards.  This caps off a successful year for the Mazda and Volvo Ipswich branches who also won Mazda Dealership of the Year and Volvo Regional Dealer of the Year respectively.

The three winners of the Customer Experience award (fewer than 50 cars; 50-100 cars; and over 100 cars) were determined by the UK’s largest automotive mystery shopping exercise; an in-depth analysis of customer engagement across three stages of enquiries: email, phone and personalised vehicle tours. The winners, including Donalds, provided an exceptional standard of customer service across all three stages.

Now in its 13th year, the Auto Trader Retailer Awards celebrate the very best in automotive retailing; those brands that are pushing the standard of all aspects of the industry, including digital excellence, and a commitment to exceptional customer service. In total, 18 award winners were announced across seven categories during the awards ceremony which, as a result of COVID-19, was completely digital for the first time in the Award’s history. It was hosted by Auto Trader CEO, Nathan Coe and Sales Director Rebecca Clark.

The winners of this year’s Auto Trader Retailer Awards were determined by a combination of in depth analysis of millions of data points, independent judging by a panel of experts (from Google and Rightmove, as well as global media agency The Specialist Works, and automotive recruitment specialists Ennis & Co), customer feedback and from the UK’s largest automotive mystery shopping programme.

Commenting on this year’s winner, Auto Trader’s Chief Executive Officer, Nathan Coe, said: “The automotive industry is by nature, incredibly resilient, but we’ve been amazed at just how successful some retailers have been at adapting to the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19. We’ve seen examples of businesses who have truly gone the extra mile to respond to changing consumer behaviour and expectations, not just making the car buying process easier and more efficient, but safer too. We’ve also been hugely inspired by leadership teams that have taken equally bold steps to protect their colleagues and to instil rewarding and collaborative working cultures.

“In this climate we think it’s more important than ever to step back and to recognise true retailing excellence. And based on the most comprehensive judging process, there is no doubt that this year’s winners are incredibly deserving and truly represent the very best of our industry.”