2010 Orlando NADA Convention Recapitulation

 I think this was one of the best NADA conventions I’ve ever attended.  Dealer attendance was up from last year, but still significantly down from years past, it’s not all about quantity.  The quality of engagement, conversation, networking and learning was outstanding!  Here are a few random thoughts and notes that a few days after the convention are still resonating with me:

• Driving Sales is going to be huge.  That’s not a news flash or an outlandish prediction but Jared Hamilton’s a huge rising star and with some recent tweaks, the site will become more and more useful as an industry resource and community.  #justsayin…
• A few shots have been fired at GOSO recently and I was surprised myself that their booth wasn’t more well attended or a bigger splash.  I had predicted they’d be one of the biggest buzz makers at NADA and that didn’t really happen.  Don’t get me wrong, I think their Facebook application for inventory is slick but it’s not exactly difficult to replicate.  They’ve got a nice presentation; it just didn’t show well at NADA.
• The one booth I didn’t get a chance to see that did generate some positive buzz was Dealer Mouth.  I need to check them out… seems like they were one of the surprise winners.
• The NADA workshops were seemingly well attended.  This was my first time as a workshop speaker and I definitely had it easy with a great panel, but our sessions were standing-room-only and many others were as well.    I think this just goes to show how engaged the dealers were at this show.  If you haven’t heard Suzuki of Wichita’s story and how they operate, I suggest you do!  Changing the way things are done!  Special thanks to Eric Miltsch of AuctionDirect, Tom White Jr of Suzuki of Wichita and Paul Potratz of Potratz Advertising.
• I’m a little biased but this was the first time Dominion Dealer Solutions really came together under their brand and the booth was busy the entire show.  It presented well, looked great and sparked dealer interest.  The ultimate goal of packaging together integrations between their powerful brands is in progress but even now some offerings have realized these synergies and special pricing packages have been put together.  Pretty cool to see this emerging.
• Perhaps I had low expectations but the Dealer Track Open-Track event was really well attended.  It looks like they increased the number of marketers, evangelists and promoters of their product that night.  And, of course, the DT party was great afterwards.  Cuba Libre is an awesome place. 
• I think one of the best things Dealer.com has going for them is how actively engaged their personnel are in the industry.  They are everywhere, engaged everywhere, learning and sharing everywhere… speaks well of their entire organization.  They have a very good product but the people in their organization make them who they are!
• And I think Rafi Hamid has cloned himself…  I see him too frequently in too many places for Rafi to be one person.  In fact, I think I saw him with and without a beard within minutes of each other.  Keep an eye out for that…

I’ve been attending NADA for quite a number of years now and in that period of time I’ve changed my outlook on the conference considerably. Fair warning: I’ve never attended as a dealer, always as an Allied Industry or Exhibitor and this year as a Speaker (plug: http://bit.ly/bhL6ru). Despite not being a dealer, I would guess that many of you have changed your outlook as well… especially in the last few years.

Pre-registration attendance is up this year but still well behind two years ago. My perception is that in the preceding years, dealers and managers would attend for some “get-away” time mixed with a couple of soft agenda items such as, “I’m looking for a new CRM company” or “I want to investigate website opportunities”. Dealers would highlight some vendors in the NADA book and off they would go. They might sit in on some workshops and their OEM meetings… then spend some time having fun.

How does that differ from today? Oh, I still think dealers know how to have fun and will make time for that. It’s understandable, rational and well-deserved after putting 2009 in the books. Surviving 2009 alone is a feat and the “industry correction” has caused dealers to re-examine things they haven’t in a long time… to become more engaged… to be more hands-on. The result? Operations that are more efficiently ran, leaner and better. In many ways this is easily compared to pruning a tree. I’m always nervous about doing this as I worry that it won’t grow back better and stronger as anticipated…and it always does!

So, with dealers more operationally and strategically focused, what does this mean for the NADA conference? I think we’ll see that translate into more engaged dealers with more specific agendas. There won’t just be highlights in the pre-show book, but questions and plans to see more, learn more, attend more workshops, engage vendors in thought provoking conversations and more idea generation.

What can you do to help make the most out of NADA? Here are some tips:

1.If you engage on Twitter or Social Media, follow the sites. Follow @2010NADA and #2010NADA. If that doesn’t mean anything to you (or even if it does) you should attend one or multiple of the social media workshops being held at NADA! Here is a link to all of the workshops offered: http://bit.ly/drjH9x
2.Visit your current and prospective vendors. Here’s a list of the exhibiting companies http://bit.ly/bwLWKF. Why your current vendors? What better, non-pressured place to engage, learn and ask questions?
3.Network. At lunch, on the shuttle bus, at social events, anywhere… ask others, “What did you see that was interesting?” or “What was the best thing you’ve seen?” or “What workshops did you attend?”
More than anything else, make a plan and enter the 2010 NADA convention with the “end in mind”. What do you want to walk away accomplishing and then make a plan to reach that goal. But don’t forget to have some fun too… you’ve earned it! Here’s a good place to start: http://bit.ly/agvuao

If you could let your Twitter followers know what vehicles you have in stock, would you?

It is an exciting time at Dealer Specialties for many reasons and the most tangible reason is the release of our new Inventory Management Software, IVM 3.0. With an incredible amount of new tools enhanced by a new customizable user-interface, IVM makes inventory management easy and robust at the same time. The press release with more information can be found on our website. The most recent feature is the ability to post vehicles to Twitter which will be available next week in IVM 3.0.

There is a cautionary tale to be told about this, however. This is similar to giving my son a $300 baseball bat. Used under the right circumstances, he’ll have great results. However, my son is seven and left to his own devices, I’m quite certain there wouldn’t be a piece of furniture, door knob or light fixture without significant damage. There needs to be some rules or at least some guidelines in place before he takes possession.

So, let’s say you don’t want to damage your furniture with your new bat… how do you utilize Twitter without messing stuff up? Here are some things to do:

1) If you don’t have an account, get one. Easy to do. Go to www.twitter.com … you’ll figure it out on how to sign up. If you struggle with this… seriously… give up. Spend a couple minutes uploading a photo and putting your information in your profile.

2) Figuring out what to do on Twitter seems difficult at first… that’s why a lot of people quit quickly. Try to find some folks you know to follow. Follow @getauto @dealrspecialts @ggarvin for sure (duh). Follow people and they’ll start following you back… some will anyway… people are cool like that.

3) As much as you want to play with your new toy… you really can’t make much use of it yet… sorry. You need to start listening, following conversations and watching news items. Explore. Search. Try http://search.twitter.com/ and type in some topics of interest. After you listen, then engage…

4) Once you understand the landscape, you can start to post some stuff where you might be able to make some money… but don’t think about the goal of selling a car. Think about engagement and how you can help people. For instance, winterizing tips or other points of value…this will engage more people.

5) So, you want to sell a car on Twitter? Think of a win-win scenario… are you the type who walks into a cocktail hour or happy hour and announces that you have cars for sale with a megaphone? I hope not. Same thing here…do you have a nice car for sale? Maybe one that stands out, one that is unique, one that is specially priced or in high demand? Well, then… now you’ve got something. Post it out there… just don’t do it too much or people will stop following you. Who wants to be solicited all the time? Maybe one a day or 3-4 specials per week? It is easy to do in IVM, just set your Twitter account up under settings, then click on the vehicle to post to Twitter. It’ll give you the default information for the vehicle like the year, make and model and a shortened URL… be sure to add some description to why it is a special vehicle or special price.

Just realize that even a $300 bat sometimes misses the ball… so just keep swinging – just not too often