Shhhhh... Top 100 Secrets!

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Top 100 Dealer Awards

For ten years, the Top 100 Dealer Awards has been recognizing extraordinary business efforts in categories that move music retailers forward. These awards celebrate the broad activities our retail membership engages in each and every day, creating musical experiences for their communities and growing our shared industry.

As you well know, marketing, community engagement and customer service all play a vital role in business. Through creativity and innovation, leaders create unique value propositions, contributing to business success. These efforts should be awarded and recognized; we should lift up our innovators and celebrate what makes them tick. And in the process, we can all grow a little bit ourselves. That is the meaning behind the Top 100 Dealer Awards.

Each year, dealers from across the globe enter their store’s submissions to share their stories with the industry. A panel of independent judges read through the submissions and the top scores from each category make up the Top 100.

“Who is this secret independent panel of judges?”
Well, that will always remain a secret, but here’s a bit of insight. We change the panel every year. While our members craft and submit entries, the NAMM Staff is hard-at-work finding the best-of-the-best to score each submission. Our goal is to hold a fair and impartial process, and for that reason, we tap judges from all over the world. In 2019, the Top 100 Dealer Awards panel featured 25 judges with expertise in one or more category subjects. Some hail from the music retail industry, while others come from the business world, focusing on marketing, customer service, social media and innovation. Through the combined efforts of these experts, our final results are tabulated.

At Believe in Music, we will announce our Top 100 Dealer list and begin the voting window for the Customers’ Choice Award. Be sure to stay tuned—this is an excellent opportunity to get your customers involved in your success. The best customers are brand advocates; don’t miss this chance to empower them!

Causby Challacombe, CAE • NAMM Director, Membership