March 2006                return to newsletter contents page

Deadline Approaching for 2nd Annual AVDA Supplier Awards Program  

We are pleased to announce the 2^nd annual AVDA Supplier Awards Program for 2005. Last year AVDA introduced a brand new recognition program for animal health product manufacturers who excel at helping distributors service veterinarians and animal health clinics. Our inaugural awards program proved to be a tremendous success; popular with all AVDA members.

Distributors appreciated the opportunity to recognize and reward practices that are important to more effective product distribution in the channel. Manufacturers valued the program because it provided feedback from their customers as well as the ability to benchmark their performance against industry averages. Each manufacturer will receive their own Supplier Report Card that will score them in each awards category and let them know how they measure up against the rest of the industry. Only manufacturers who were members in calendar year 2005 are included in the ballot.

The 2005 AVDA Awards will honor suppliers in five categories:

• Sales Staff/Field Support

• Profit Potential

• Order Fulfillment & Customer Service

• New Product Opportunities

• Overall Distributor Relationship

The manufacturer receiving the most total points in each category will be named Supplier of the Year.

AVDA Distributor members were mailed ballots in February and they are due back on Friday, March 24, 2006. Awards will be presented during the AVDA Awards Banquet, April 25, 2006 in Rancho Mirage, California. As an incentive for distributor participation, AVDA will be rewarding one distributor company that participates in the balloting with a free registration (a $360 value) to the 2006 AVDA Annual Conference. A name will be drawn at random from all ballots returned by the March 24, 2006 deadline.

To obtain details on the 2005 Awards program, contact AVDA headquarters today.