Head to these Car Shows this Year!

There are a lot of things vying for your time as an auto dealer. Conferences, events, better sales tactics, your website, moving inventory around, providing sales reports…the list goes on and on. You’re in the automotive business because, like us, you’re passionate about vehicles and transportation in general. It’s easy to lose sight of that when you feel like you’re literally running from one thing to the next!

Not every event that finds its way into your inbox is worth attending. There are thousands of car events every year; if we could, we would attend auto shows and conferences every week. Unfortunately, we have to pick and choose just like you. It’s important to make the tough decisions and carefully plan out how you will use the limited time that you have.

In deciding where you should spend your time, consider evaluating what’s going on at your dealership. Ask yourself some key questions, or get insight from top-level management at your dealership:

What are issues or problems employees frequently ask about or bring to management?

Are there any outstanding areas (sales tactics, customer service or feedback, our digital footprint) where we are lacking expertise or seem out of date? 

What area of our dealership shows the least growth over the last year? 

While the numbers tell a story, take the time to really listen to your team whether it’s in your regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings or this year’s budget meeting when your’e deciding what to attend. Make sure you don’t attend the same events year after year simply because it’s the way things have always been done. After you complete these exercises, check out what these four events are offering for auto dealers this spring.

CAR Conference

March 1-2, 2017
This is the Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR), and it’s coming up quickly. Here you will make contacts and get detailed information about upcoming initiatives in the industry. If you deal with remarketing autos in any capacity – as a part of your inventory, as a fleet manager, etc. – you should consider attending. Sessions this year include “How to Drive Cost out of the Remarketing Process” and “2017 Remarketing Trends and Strategies of Major Fleet Management Companies.”

DFW Auto Show

March 22-26, 2017
We had to plug our hometown’s auto show in here of course! Being in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area, the dealers in North Texas mean a lot to us. We love working with them and transporting their inventory! This year’s DFW Auto Show is another opportunity for us to get together with the dealers we support, and if you can make it you should be here too. Check out more than half a million square feet of new cars, trucks and SUVs! More than 30 manufacturers will be exhibiting their latest and greatest models.

Innovative Dealer Summit

April 4-5, 2017
If your dealership needs a tune-up in the marketing department this is the right event for you. The Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver, Colorado will help you learn about the latest in digital marketing activities like SEO/SEM, social media, and reputation management. This is a full two day event that is sure to help you increase sales and profitability. Presentations will cover more than just marketing including service, finance and leadership.

Digital Dealer Expo

April 11-13, 2017
Education, technology, and hands on application. That’s what you’ll get a the Digital Dealer Expo in Tampa, FL. You can take your sales managers, your Internet sales managers, marketing specialists…there will be something for just about everyone on your team. The thing we love about this conference is not only do you get to hear from top industry leaders and glean practical knowledge and expertise, you also can participate in peer strategy round table events. These peer-to-peer sessions are organized by detailed categories, and give you an opportunity to get ideas from other auto dealers who can offer you another perspective or perhaps share what worked for them in a similar situation. Definitely a lot of value to be had here!

2017 NIADA Convention & Expo

June 13-15, 2017
Anything that’s been going on for 70+ years has to have a great track record. And that’s the National Independent Auto Dealers Association Convention! Head to Las Vegas in June to get critical training and insight on how to take your dealership to the next level. In 2016, 46 states were represented at this conference and this year it’s expected to have about 2,000 attendees. Training on everything from compliance to service is offered; plus you will be able to glean from other “best practices” of wildly successful dealerships from around the country.