Carrier Corporation Announces 2004 Distinguished Dealer Award Recipients

INDIANAPOLIS, March 14, 2005 – After months of dealer preparation and extensive evaluation, Carrier Corporation announces its Carrier Distinguished Dealer (CDD) award recipients for 2004. The dealerships recognized exemplify Carrier's model for operational excellence, business effectiveness and outstanding performance. The 3 dealerships – selected from a field of more than 35 nominees and nearly 5,000 dealers – were honored at a formal ceremony held in Austin, Texas.

"This year's CDD award recipients have demonstrated the tenacity for delivering exceptional customer value, as well as successfully positioning the Carrier brand in their respective markets," said David Meyers, vice president of sales, Carrier North America Residential. "In addition to meeting and exceeding the stringent standards in the CDD evaluation process, the recipients withstood a challenging site visit by Carrier management and an extensive audit of their dealership's business plan."

The following 3 dealerships recognized as Carrier Distinguished Dealers this year join 75 other dealerships that have been recognized since 1994:

  • Bel-O Sales and Service Inc. (Belleville, Ill.)
  • Perry's Refrigeration Inc. (Lima, Ohio)
  • R.H. Witt Heating (Glenview, Ill.)

Selection Criteria

In line with Carrier's brand strategy, the CDD selection criteria for 2004 focused on leadership, management, customer knowledge, brand recognition, industry expertise and operational excellence.

Business Tools

Carrier Corporation, headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, is the world's largest company providing heating, air conditioning and The primary purpose of the CDD program is to provide all Carrier dealers with an assessment process by which they can evaluate their business operation and identify improvement opportunities. The CDD program is not intended to prescribe specific business goals and conduct; rather it is designed to encourage self-analysis that may result in new ideas for building and refining best practices for success. However, the program does enable Carrier to identify sound business practices and share them with other dealerships.

"This year's CDD participants were very receptive to our auditing and business suggestions," said Meyers, who spearheaded the CDD evaluation process. "The whole process allowed the participants to analyze their businesses in depth with an eye toward greater improvement. We were extremely impressed with the planning and detail that went into the development of the CDD business plans this year. At many dealerships everyone on the team was involved in the process, not just business owners and managers."

In fact, receiving award recognition at the conclusion of the CDD process is actually the secondary advantage to participating. The primary advantage of the CDD program is that it enables dealerships to sustain their current business success while optimizing their opportunities for the future. The CDD self-assessment process allows dealers to achieve this by providing criteria in a business plan against which they can compare their operations. Additionally, all participants receive feedback that compares the dealers' ratings relative to other CDD applicants. For many dealerships, CDD gives reason to update or initiate a business plan by which future paths and goals can be planned and implemented.

"While the CDD process culminates in the recognition of a small number of dealers whose business practices deserve special recognition, it is vital to note that the larger scope is to benefit dealers in the majority who are interested in developing and growing their operations," added Meyers.

Carrier Corporation, headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, is the world's largest company providing heating, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions, with operations in 172 countries. It is part of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), a Hartford, Connecticut-based provider of a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.