Snap-on Inc. announced Tuesday, Jan. 30, that it has won seven 2006 Technicians’ Choice Awards from global growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan. The awards, which measure the everyday tool preferences of automotive technicians in the United States and the United Kingdom, will be awarded at Frost & Sullivan’s annual 2007 Best Practices Awards Banquet on Feb. 7 in Anaheim, Calif.
Snap-on was a winner in nearly all tool product categories, with automotive technicians selecting Snap-on by a large margin as the best overall brand for hand tools, scan tools and tool storage in both the United States and United Kingdom. Technicians in the United Kingdom also selected Snap-on as the best brand of power tools in the survey.
“We are gratified with the results of Frost & Sullivan’s Technicians’ Choice Awards, especially since the winners were selected by the auto technicians themselves,” says Al Biland, senior vice president of Kenosha, Wis.-based Snap-on Inc. and president of Snap-on Tools Co. “The accolades, combined with the convincing winning percentages, further underscore Snap-on’s commitment to innovation, quality, durability and superior customer service. We are proud to be viewed as the brand-of-choice for tools for the automotive professional.”
According to Frost & Sullivan, Snap-on led in all areas explored, including “Best Quality,” “Most Innovative,” “Best Retailer Customer Service” and “Overall Best Brand.” In most instances, Snap-on’s winning percentage for overall best brand was significant over the second place contender.
“Snap-on led its nearest competitor by at least a 3:1 margin in customer preference in all categories, and in some cases by as much as 9:1,” says Subroto Banerjee, partner in charge of Frost & Sullivan Automotive. “What makes this margin of victory so amazing is that this market is fragmented and extremely competitive. That Snap-on continues to hold such a commanding position is a tremendous testament to the fact that customers value its focus on quality and innovation.”
In the United States, 76 percent of professional technicians surveyed rated Snap-on as the best brand of hand tools, while the second-place brand earned only eight percent. Similarly, in tool storage, Snap-on’s margin of victory was 65 percent to 10 percent, while in the scan tool category, Snap-on topped the survey with 51 percent, compared to the second-place finisher with 18 percent. In the United Kingdom, Snap-on’s power tools won by a margin of 52 percent to 16 percent.
For the awards, Frost & Sullivan randomly surveyed professional automotive technicians and asked the respondents to select the brand they considered to be the best in each evaluative category from a list of market competitors. The survey measured brand preferences for hand tools, power tools, handheld scan tools and tool storage devices based on best quality, innovation, best retailer customer service and best overall brand.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company founded in 1961, provides industry research, marketing strategies, consulting and training in a broad range of industries, markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics, including Global 1000 companies, emerging companies and the investment community.
