In September 2011 Minelab held the 2nd Annual Minelab Americas Partner Conference in Chicago. This conference was not only a great opportunity for Minelab Americas Partners to learn more about Minelab products but also a chance for Minelab to recognise some of the outstanding performances from our authorised Minelab dealers from fiscal year 2011.
The winners of the Partner Excellence awards are…
- Don Dodson from North Georgia Relics/DLD Metal Detectors in Ringgold, GA. Don was awarded with Excellence in Customer Care. This award goes to the partner in the Minelab organisation that has shown incredible passion and focus on serving Minelab customers with unprecedented passion. The Customer Care Champion will often perform an extra training session or outing to ensure customers using Minelab equipment understand procedures and techniques required for a successful dig. Don embodies all of these things and spends much of his time teaching his customers how to use Minelab technologies. Don was instrumental in introducing the GPX Series of detectors to the east coast of the U.S.A. as a line of super relic detectors – specifically focused on recovering American Civil War relics.
Candy Harvey from Candy’s Enterprises in Katy, TX. Candy was awarded with Excellence in Business Growth – Total Percentage. This award goes to the partner in the Minelab organisation that has grown their business exponentially in the past year – Candy’s business grew over 500% year over year resulting in well over a quarter of a million dollars of Minelab product purchases. This growth was done the Minelab way – natural investment in her business plan, personnel and overall Minelab product and customer base expansion. Candy opened up our distribution into Venezuela in 2010-11 and has not looked back as she brings Minelab gold detection into the South American continent!
- Cabela’s – World’s Foremost Outfitter from Sidney, NE. Cabela’s was awarded with Excellence in Business Growth – Total Revenue. This award goes to the partner in the Minelab organisation that has grown their business by total purchase dollar amount in the past year. Cabela’s business grew over 200% year over year resulting in stellar total dollar amount growth over the 2010 fiscal year. This growth was accomplished by working directly with our sales management team at Minelab Americas, investing in training of the sales force and putting together some very creative marketing. Driving the education of the value of a Minelab detector through their extensive customer base.
- KellyCo Metal Detectors – from Orlando, FL. KellyCo (Stuart & David Auerbach) was presented with the Pioneer Award. The Pioneer Award rewards creativity, invention and entrepreneurship. The Minelab Pioneer has taken initiative to suggest, communicate and champion a new idea, policy or product that has resulted in improving Minelab’s position in the industry from a sales, service or industry perspective. Pioneers in American history have explored and travelled to undiscovered places and often places that are not yet understood. KellyCo Metal Detectors has been a pioneer over the last fiscal year in the area of on-line social media marketing and overall on-line web marketing. Resulting in some outstanding sales campaigns that helped KellyCo achieve over 30% growth in sales of Minelab product.
- Gerry McMullen from Gerry’s Detectors – of Boise, ID was awarded the Minelab Eagle. The Eagle Award goes to the partner in the Minelab organisation that exemplifies leadership in every aspect of our business from service to sales to technology and business feedback. The Eagle Award is the highest award Minelab Americas bestows upon a channel organisation and represents a lifetime achievement in our industry. Gerry has spent his lifetime, from the age of 12, building Gerry’s Metal Detectors into a true Minelab powerhouse. He is known nationwide and region-wide as an amazing trainer. Gerry puts together dozens of training and exploration outings annually for his clients and the results of this education continue to pay dividends. Gerry is rabid about his results and overall customer satisfaction, he has established himself as a cornerstone in Minelab Americas’ business and his excellence in providing solutions to customers continues year after year.
We also awarded five organisations Customer Care honourable mentions for outstanding Customer Service in 2011. These organisations are:
We had four organisations that achieved our Sales Excellence milestone for fiscal year 2011. This is an annual recognition for partner organisations that achieve a minimum purchase milestone of $500,000 for US & Canada and $250,000 for Central & Latin America.
Fiscal year 2011 Sales Excellence Milestone winners are:
Handelmatschappij Dawson N.V. (Paramaribo, Suriname)
Finally, for the first time we awarded recognition to our partners for the top website in regard to its effectiveness and recognition of Minelab products, services and overall brand.
This year winners of the Website Award are:
Minelab wishes to congratulate all of this year’s award winners for their amazing performances in the 2010-11 fiscal year! Minelab would also like to extend our thanks to all of our partners. Throughout any year there are too many exceptional performances to recognise. Minelab’s partners lead the way to the word “exceptional” in the metal detection industry. For this excellence, dedication, and enchantment all of us at Minelab thank you and appreciate all you do for Minelab customers!
