The ATD Convention & Expo offers dealers a rare chance to meet face-to-face with executives of major truck manufacturers and features hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest equipment, services and technologies and dozens of workshops with the industry’s best trainers.
The 2017 ATD Convention & Expo will take place Thursday, Jan. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and will be held in conjunction with the NADA Convention & Expo.
The following is a list of workshops that will be held on the third day of activities, Saturday, Jan. 28. The list does not include those that are more “auto-centric” as part of NADA activities.
Workshops to be held on Saturday, Jan. 28 are:
- Moving the 60 Percent: The Secret to Creating a Powerful Team and a Dominant Business, 9-10 a.m.
Too often poor team results are due to over-dependence on top performers. See how, by focusing on the middle 60 percent, you can get these consistent performers to increase performance, leading to more long term success Learn step-by-step review, coaching and follow up techniques that have helped dealerships improve and retain performance over the long term.
- Explore Hot Tax Topics with Industry Experts, 9-10 a.m.
This “year in review” workshop summarizes – and provides compliance guidance on – the most significant federal income tax developments affecting franchised auto and truck dealers over the past year.
- Guarantee Complete Dealership Growth via a Blended BDC, 9-10 a.m.
Participants will learn to double their customer data base without spending any money on buying more leads. Perfected verbiage to secure the strongest BDC caller candidates will be provided, along with a compensation package that unites the sales floor with the BDC. Participants will be given the step-by-step game plan for a self-generating appointment process increase growth in sales and service.
- Google Analytics: The Modern “Up Log” for Your Virtual Showroom, 9-10 a.m.
Explore how Google Analytics metrics, charts and reports provide insights into your online marketing effectiveness. Learn to analyze consumer engagement on your website and identify areas for improvement; increase conversion of website traffic into sales; and the 10 most important website activity metrics for dealerships.
- Performance-Driven Processes for Higher Service Absorption, 9-10 a.m.
Increase customer satisfaction and maximize service and parts sales with performance-driven processes that increase uptime and accelerate repair cycle time. Action items include improved triage process; better feature/benefit selling; effective maintenance menus; compensating to motivate parts and service employees; holding your team accountable; and achieving higher tech productivity.
- Website Optimization for the Mobile Car Buyer, 9-10 a.m.
This workshop will cover the most effective website and online marketing optimization techniques, specifically for mobile car buyers. Learn how to optimize the website user experience, incorporating best-practice techniques from non-automotive online retailers to maximize sales opportunities.
- The Sale Begins Before You Meet the Prospect, 9-10 a.m.
Learn how to build a winning commercial strategy by creating a powerful online presence, responding quickly and decisively to digital leads and fully engaging with phone prospects. Turn these “first impressions” in to sales.
- Blinded Me with Science! Management Methodology, 9-10 a.m.
The scientific method (measuring, identifying problems, initiating solutions and measuring again) can have significant impact on dealership performance. This workshop will provide real-world examples of the scientific method in a commercial truck dealership and the resulting performance improvements.
- Unlock the Power of Tier 4 Marketing to Increase Profits, 9-10 a.m.
Master the seven steps to creating a Tier 4 marketing culture: define goals, communicate goals, set expectations, provide training, empower your team, hold them accountable and execute effectively. A panel of dealers will show how they implemented these strategies to increase organic leads and dealership traffic and profits while reducing sales staff turnover.
- Federal Excise Tax: Update, New Developments, and Risk Reduction, 9-10 a.m.
The Federal Excise Tax continues to be a menacing subject for heavy-duty truck, tractor and trailer dealers. An intricate and outdated set of laws and statutes has created a confusing tax terrain of unknowns and gray areas resulting errors that risk costly IRS-levied penalties. Get clarity, insight and tips for FET compliance that will help minimize your tax and related penalty exposure. The speakers will also cover recent guidance on glider kits and other FET-affected transactions.
- The Art of Leveraging the Emotions of a Deal, 9-10 a.m.
Emotions can be our best friend and our biggest enemy. Tap into the positive side of human emotion to lead your team to top performance levels by driving your customers to take action and buy. By focusing less on the logical side of the mind and more on the emotional, gain market share, maximize opportunities and create exceptional customer experiences.
- Cyber Attacks: Silent But Deadly, 9-10 a.m.
Dealers and executives will gain a greater awareness of their dealership infrastructures’ susceptibility to cyber attacks; identify cyber-related weaknesses in internal controls; assess their dealership’s overall risk of cyber attacks; employ immediate takeaways/action items to implement various cybersecurity measures and mitigate cyber threats.
- Create the Team Your Customers Deserve, 9-10 a.m.
According to research firm Walker, by 2020 customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Learn to recognize and improve three core areas of your team -building efforts: better hiring decisions leading to reduced turnover; implementing a successful employee development strategy; and aligning dealership staff and the customer experience.
- Turn Your Dealership into a Customer Experience Machine, 9-10 a.m.
Customer experience is mission critical, and every interaction your staff has with a customer can make or break it. From an Internet inquiry to a service call to your sales team, everyone in your dealership must be trained to offer world-class customer care.
- 7 Actions to Onboard Millennials in Your Dealership, 9-10 a.m.
Discover how to attract younger workers and maximize their productivity through engagement and use this to leverage relationships and keep your business thriving. Areas covered include successful sales position ad placement, current interviewing techniques, pay plan variations, new-hire preparation, first day on the job process, sales expert career path and a training game plan for managers and sales teams.
- Finally Get a Positive ROI on Your Digital Marketing: Insider Secrets Revealed, 9-10 a.m.
Cut through the lingo and get straight to the strategies that successful dealers use today for the best return on their digital marketing spend. Learn an integrated strategy using organic search, paid search, GeoFencing, social media, mobile marketing and more, resulting in measurable units sold.
- Rethink Service: How to Capture Every Opportunity, 9-10 a.m.
Dealerships rely on CRM solutions in sales, but what about the back end? Dealerships are not tracking important metrics like declined services and profits from upsells. This presentation will offer specific ways you can embrace the CRM concept and implement modern tools in service to improve these processes, become more efficient, enhance the customer experience and accelerate profits.
- Fixed Ops Marketing in a Mobile First World, 9-10 a.m.
Effective digital and mobile marketing strategies can profitably increase service appointments, repair orders and dollars per RO. Learn to use Google and Facebook advertising to directly target your existing customer database online, and get a playbook for increasing fixed-ops website traffic, increase the conversion rate for that traffic and transacting parts sales online.
- Optimize Your Inventory and Increase Profitability, 9-10 a.m.
With used-car sales slowing and profit margins shrinking, it is vital that dealerships strategically focus on winning business. Learn the three pillars of the optimal lot: segment your customers and understand their value; differentiate your dealership; and stock the right inventory and price effectively. You’ll leave with clear direction on how to apply the pillars to your dealership to achieve greater success.
- The Asking Formula: Ask For What You Want and Get It, 9-10 a.m.
Asking is a skill in short supply. The Asking Formula teaches you to effectively ask for you want, regardless of the topic or situation. In this interactive session, you will create a unique, personal Asking Formula targeted at a specific need and apply your knowledge directly to your most pressing issues and challenges.
- Successfully Navigate the Consolidation of Your Retail Network, 9-10 a.m.
This workshop will identify the options available for each retailer to maximize your value and grow your footprint in a consolidating market.
- Vital Metrics for Tomorrow’s Dealer, 9-10 a.m.
Dealer principals are flooded with data from financial statements, websites, the OEM, CRM, DMS, BDC, vendors and more. Which metrics are most vital and how are they connected? The potent resources of NADA and Cox Automotive will reveal the most valuable data points dealers should be monitoring and share proven best practices to move the needle of success for your dealership.
- Stop the Hemorrhaging of Attrition and Increase Sales and Gross by 50 Percent, 9-10 a.m.
This workshop will identify the leading cause for the industry’s massive attrition problem and provide a strategy to properly recruit, train and retain sales professionals.
- $99 Billion Opportunity with Fixed Ops, 9-10 a.m.
Simply put, most dealerships leave money on the table when it comes to maintenance and repair. By improving the ownership experience associated with service, the auto industry can improve service retention and ultimately increase profitable growth. This workshop will show you how to capitalize on unrealized opportunities presented by fixed operations.
- Tap Into the LGBT Community and Their $830 Billion Each Year, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
The LGBT community is an increasingly strong minority group with tremendous buying power. This session will help you tap into that market by using statistics and market research, looking at proven effective ads and recognizing the importance of inclusivity and avoiding stereotypes.
- Unleash the Power of Connected Marketing, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
The number of places customers can find your dealership’s message is staggering, some you may not even be aware of. Learn step-by-step strategies to determine how to connect your message with customers wherever they find you, from buying offline media to what digital advertising works and why reviews matter.
- Human Habits and Powerful Brand Marketing, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Learn to create and market a brand that is a choice people make out of habit. We’ll explore the importance of marketing your culture through broadcast, online, in-store and recruiting efforts.
- The Secrets to Body Shop Profits: The Dealer Handbook, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Define the specific building blocks of today’s high-performance collision center to include: personnel requirements, motivational pay plans, factory-based production techniques, accurate parts management, optimized floor-plan, and examples of advanced processing tools to significantly increase efficiency, communication, productivity and profits.
- A New Era in Washington: What Happens Next? Key Legislative Issues and How Dealers Can Engage, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
NADA will provide an update on key dealer-related legislative and regulatory issues in Congress and cover how dealers and managers can engage with elected officials affect the process.
- Guarantee Complete Dealership Growth via a Blended BDC, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Participants will learn to double their customer data base without spending any money on buying more leads. Perfected verbiage to secure the strongest BDC caller candidates will be provided, along with a compensation package that unites the sales floor with the BDC. Participants will be given the step-by-step game plan for a self-generating appointment process increase growth in sales and service.
- Negotiating for Success, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Explore the pitfalls of the old style of negotiating a car deal and focus on a new non-combative, more customer friendly process that will increase sales and gross profits. Negotiating is an art form. Learn a better way to negotiate that will produce stronger results.
- Marketing Opens the Door: Closing Seals the Deal, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Acquiring customers through digital marketing is only half the battle; sales must still be closed. This highly interactive workshop will share keys to identifying and eliminating objections from today’s tech-savvy buyer. The result will enhance the salesperson’s confidence and increase closing ratios while preserving gross profit.
- Accessories: Mine Your Hidden Gem, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Customers spend substantial amounts of money on accessories, yet they do not spend it with dealers. This session will start with research-based statistics clearly defining the missed opportunity; and explore the dealership areas that can be easily mined to increase accessory sales; and cover in depth steps to maintain and grow these new profits.
- The Sale Begins Before You Meet the Prospect, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Learn how to build a winning commercial strategy by creating a powerful online presence, responding quickly and decisively to digital leads and fully engaging with phone prospects. Turn these “first impressions” in to sales.
- The Art of Leveraging the Emotions of a Deal, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Emotions can be our best friend and our biggest enemy. Tap into the positive side of human emotion to lead your team to top performance levels by driving your customers to take action and buy. By focusing less on the logical side of the mind and more on the emotional, gain market share, maximize opportunities and create exceptional customer experiences.
- Create the Team Your Customers Deserve, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
According to research firm Walker, by 2020 customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Learn to recognize and improve three core areas of your team -building efforts: better hiring decisions leading to reduced turnover; implementing a successful employee development strategy; and aligning dealership staff and the customer experience.
- Effective Strategies to Cultivate Business with Your Local Customers, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Cultivate business relationships with local customers with a promotional strategy focusing on: identifying local prospects are; structuring your local sales force to grow volume; using you CRM to optimize local sales; effective advertising budgets; loyalty programs; and leveraging your dealership presence to build relationships with local customers.
- Conduct Powerful 10-Minute Training Sessions, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Learn easy steps to create and conduct team training to boost your team’s selling skills. After the workshop you will know how to develop time-efficient training sessions that target specific goals; this simple training format will take your training program to the next level. You’ll walk away with a structure and examples to modernize sales meetings so you can increase sales.
- Eyes Wide Open: Financial Management Methodology, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Financial statements are report cards for your organization. You should be able to easily gauge in 60 seconds whether your dealership is winning or losing. The timeliness, accuracy and clarity of financial statements are indicators accounting department effectiveness, which indicates how well a business is operated. Does your financial management methodology measure up?
- Dominate with Data; How to Use Google’s Free Tools to Sell More Cars, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Google has been changing faster than ever over the last year, tweaking their local search, creating new ad platforms such as Customer Match and creating and improving their free marketing tools. Learn to use these new tools, data and product updates to increase vehicle sales, improve service retention and dramatically boost website and digital marketing ROI.
- Rethink Service: How to Capture Every Opportunity, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Dealerships rely on CRM solutions in sales, but what about the back end? Dealerships are not tracking important metrics like declined services and profits from upsells. This presentation will offer specific ways you can embrace the CRM concept and implement modern tools in service to improve these processes, become more efficient, enhance the customer experience and accelerate profits.
- Recruiting: To Find a Needle in a Haystack, Light it on Fire!, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
The average dealership has a “road to the sale,” but not a “road to the hire.” This presentation will cover five main areas: Learn and implement a philosophy of effective dealership staffing; Discover how to identify, attract and hire the most desirable candidates; Design a “road to the hire” process; Create unique, successful recruiting ad copy; and Structure and simplify your interview process.
- Successfully Navigate the Consolidation of Your Retail Network, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
This workshop will identify the options available for each retailer to maximize your value and grow your footprint in a consolidating market.
- Learning to Love Complaints: Turning Feedback Into Success, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
As more consumers use social platforms to interact, share information and get product updates, it’s essential that dealerships focus on shopper feedback. Good or bad, feedback influences consumers who are researching online, and it’s important to learn to use all feedback to positively impact your business.
