Ballarat Car Sales have had a big few years amongst our local Ballarat area and wider Victorian automotive community. We’ve been privileged to be a part of the VACC Awards and the Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards for quite a few years running, which further drives our passion for running a customer-focused business. We pride ourselves on selling only cars that we would sell to our own family members – after all, your car is your home away from home on wheels!
Being a part of these awards makes us feel like we’re a true part of our wider community – so what have we won and why you may ask?
The VACC Awards (Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce) recognises excellent businesses operating across the state, and have been doing so since 2016. These awards are recognised as the highest honour a Victorian automotive business can achieve, and in its first year, Bec received this award for her astounding work in and amongst the automotive industry. The award was sponsored by the VACC’s ‘Women in Automotive’ initiative, which exists to help support and elevate the profile of women in the automotive community.
In 2018, we were recognised as finalists in the Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards for these two categories. Commerce Ballarat is the largest independent business group in the Ballarat region, and we were happy to have the support from those who create a united voice on matters relevant to business amongst the wider community.
Last year, Bec was presented with the Unsung Hero award for the second year running, again recognising her achievements in the motor industry in relation to business planning, customer satisfaction and community involvement. Whilst just missing out on another Women in Automotive Award, Bec continues to be involved with the Women in Automotive initiative, keeping up to date via workshops and seminars around finance, leadership and many other areas of development relevant to the industry.
Our good work as a Victorian automotive business was recognised by the Best Used Car Dealer Award, which we were stoked to receive! Having been newly nominated for this category in 2019, we have seen the business grow over the years, and thankfully, the recognition has come along with it too.
After being nominated as finalists in 2018, we were so happy to finally take home the grand prize! The Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards recognise the contributions of individual businesses to the greater Ballarat community and encourage further business development as well. We were awarded the Retail Business Award for excelling in marketing, customer service, business planning, community involvement and our business’ environmental impact. One of our favourite community initiatives is our relationship with Colleen and the Fifteen Trees program – we plant a tree locally for every car we sell!
With the categories for awards evolving over the years, we were very pleased to be nominated for the Australian Business Championship Award in 2020. This award recognises hard work and dedication from small businesses that support their community and industry to thrive. Being part of a group of local small businesses that were able to remain open during a challenging time felt like we’d already won the award.
These awards aim to recognise, encourage and reward the positive achievements of regional and rural Victorians, and we were so grateful that Alex took home the top prize. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication to outstanding customer service during a year of pivots and changes. Well done Alex!
The Federation Business Awards were held online in 2021 and was an evening full of live entertainment and celebrations – a great experience to keep all the amazing finalists, sponsors and supporters connected! We were nominated for the Retail Business Award and the Small Business Award categories and were very grateful to be involved.
We were given the honour of being invited back to the Community Achievement Awards in 2022 to be on the judging panel after Alex took home the top prize in 2020. As judges, our role was different this time around and we were so happy to be involved – in-person events were back for our community!
In the lead-up to the event, we were asked to review each entry and help select finalists for the category. The event was held in November last year, and during the evening, we were invited to give a short speech on the importance of customer service in the modern marketplace. We helped the judges to deliberate and select a winner, which was announced later that evening. It was a great night to celebrate and we enjoyed seeing so many small business owners be rewarded for their hard work. It was truly a humbling experience, and we are so grateful to give back to the community for an award that is so dear to our hearts.
Whilst you may think this is a fair list of awards, what we really love is the continued support from our local community, and helping get our customers into the right car that suits them. We couldn’t have done all of the above without you, so thank you to everyone for continuing to put your trust in us!
We believe buying a car should be an exciting experience, and we want to help each and every one of our customers connect with the perfect vehicle. At Ballarat Car Sales, we’re changing the perceptions you may have around used car dealerships – we only sell cars good enough for our family. Come on in and check out our range today and meet the rest of our team – we’re an easy-going bunch who just want to help you find a car that’s right for you!
