Retail

 
Retail December 12, 2024
10:15 am - 11:00 am

Vehicle Lifecyle Management is the Next Horizon. Are You Ready?

Tuesday

With their dealership experience, Jeremy Bravard and Jamie Longwell understand every aspect of the car business. They know what it takes to drive cost savings across the store and increase the gross on the front and back and improve inventory turn. Dealers will learn about the unified approach and a solution that combines acquisition, merchandising, retailing and performance into a single system.

11:15 am - 12:00 pm

Lessons on Hiring That Changed My Dealership

Tuesday

Dealers don’t focus on hiring as much as we do on selling cars, reconditioning, or anything else in our business. It should be one of our top priorities. Tim Evans shares strategies for hiring with the same focus as other aspects of the business.

2:30 pm - 3:15 pm

Building Your Team to Create a Customer for Life

Tuesday

Every manager knows you are only as good as your team. Marshall Zoerner, of Portland, Oregon, has used processes, policies and practices to build one of the strongest used car dealership teams in the country. Come hear how he keeps the focus on the customer and how his team keeps the customer coming back for life.

9:00 am - 9:45 am

From Start to Finish: Leveraging Subprime buyers to maintain profitability during an economic downturn

Wednesday

Luke Lunkenheimer has gone from nothing to something, but it wasn’t overnight. Lunkenheimer shares how his dealerships have maintained profitability during an economy that’s short on vehicle supply. It’s not as simple as buying credit leads and hitting the phones. He shares his struggles to develop a very succinct and highly effective system to market to, qualify, and convert subprime buyers.

10:00 am - 10:45 am

Top Tips for Independent Dealers to Thrive in 2024

Wednesday

After a whirlwind couple of years and the automotive ecosystem returning to a level of normalcy, dealers need to set a new course for growth. Kyle Ballinger, Associate Vice President of NextGear Capital, presents the top tips for dealerships to make the most out of your line of credit and thrive in 2024 and beyond. We’ll cover ways to stay ahead of unnecessary fees and sourcing channels like trade-ins, off-street purchases and independent auctions.

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm

A Dealer’s Candid Conversation with Floorplan Providers

Wednesday

Normally, it’s the floorplan providers who get to ask questions about your business, inventory and financials. Well-known dealer, Dave Guttenberg from Automotive Imports, flips the script by asking the tough questions of three floorplan providers to help you understand what they are looking at and their current view of the industry.

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm

Your Website Is Your Dealership

Wednesday

The days of customers seeing your dealership for the first time as they drive by have been gone for a long time. You still have a drive-by dealership, it’s just online and crowded by thousands of other dealerships. Creating a proper online presence is key to any business these days. In this session, you will learn how to improve your website and grow vehicle sales by focusing on the right KPIs.

4:15 pm - 5:00 pm

Steering Success: Mastering Dealership Profitability through Strategic Operations

Wednesday

This session will help you connect the dots to benchmark your dealership’s financial performance. You’ll learn specific actions you can take to understand your ROI at the vehicle level and ROI benchmarks to monitor your daily holding costs, potential earnings, turn times, gross profit objectives and staffing requirements.

9:00 am - 9:45 am

Service – Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze

Thursday

Opening a service department can sound like a monumental task. What are the initial costs? Where do I find reliable techs? Most importantly, is it even worth the work? Join a group of industry experts who can help you increase profits and customer loyalty by adding a service department to their offerings.

10:00 am - 10:45 am

Don’t Forget the Backend!

Thursday

Hear seasoned dealer, Micah Robinson discuss how he’s maximized profits for his dealership and others by focusing on hidden profits. Backend profits are sometimes a secondary thought for car dealers as we focus on selling the car first. Robinson will explain how he’s sold more cars by focusing on the backend profits and made more money for his dealership.

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