The Water Quality Association (WQA) has announced the launch of the WQA Business Operations Report, a powerful interactive benchmarking tool for WQA dealer members in the U.S. to measure the success of their business operations. The report is open now for collection of 2019 data to provide a pre-pandemic baseline for information to be gathered for 2020 and succeeding years.

The report will offer participating dealers dynamic peer-to-peer aggregate comparisons in key areas including the following:

• Profitability/Financial Strength
• Expenses and operational costs
• Productivity and efficiency
• Compensation for key industry-specific positions
• Employee training and benefits
• Sales, customer satisfaction and retention

"What a great tool this is for our dealer members," said WQA President DJ Shannahan, owner and operator of four Culligan dealerships in the Mid-Atlantic region. "I'm going to use this information to see how our dealership stacks up against local competitors and other dealers throughout the U.S. and make adjustments that will help us make better business decisions."

The benchmarking data is available at no charge to all U.S.-based water treatment dealers who participate, but WQA membership is required. The 2019 results are expected to be made available to dealer participants in the second quarter of this year, and 2020 data collection is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021.

The online data reporting site is hosted and managed by Dynamic Benchmarking, an independent third-party vendor, to maintain confidentiality of company-entered data. Data results are displayed in aggregate and will not display unless at least five companies participate.

Information on the report, how to sign up and enter data, a user guide and a recording of an introductory webinar are available at wqa.org/bizops. Information on joining WQA is available at wqa.org/membership.