THE 2015 DRIVINGSALES EXECUTIVE SUMMIT OFFERS CHALLENGING NEW THINKING ABOUT THE AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL INDUSTRY
Jared Hamilton, CEO and Founder of DrivingSales
Frank Cespedes, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School
“You will be pushed,” said Jared Hamilton, to a packed room of dealers attending his organization’s 2015 DrivingSales Executive Summit, held October 18-20 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. “We are here to be stretched, to grow and to learn.”
Hamilton, the dynamic CEO and Founder of DrivingSales, told delegates that the annual event is not for the faint of heart, and is meant to challenge conventional thinking. For that reason, the event is designed intentionally without a theme as is the norm for many such events.
“Our focus is on quality of content. It continues to grow and grow as more dealers come and find that this is the best place for them to figure out their business plan and strategy for the next year,” Jared Hamilton told Canadian auto dealer in an interview at the event.
Conference organizers noted attendance grew 20 per cent from 2014, and attracted dealer professionals from Canada, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and France.
Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL Officer
SMART INVESTMENT
During the DrivingSales Executive Summit, Hamilton presented a much-anticipated keynote address to dealers on how to plan for 2016. He reminded dealers that the DrivingSales Executive Summit is not about digital marketing, but rather about “running an innovative dealership and keeping it above the curve.”
He then broke down various dealership costs, including total marketing and inventory spend.
But the biggest expense that ended up shocking the dealers in the room? People. Dealers spend $US 58.1-billion on human capital, but what’s sobering is the high turnover rate, said Hamilton.
That’s not to say dealers should be cutting their staff, said Hamilton. Instead, Hamilton made a case for improving human capital through optimizing technology, increasing transparency, and by getting better at managing labour costs.
CONTROL LABOUR COSTS
By breaking down labour costs using Costco and Sam’s Club as an example, Hamilton showed dealers that labour rates don’t necessarily equal labour costs.
He told dealers their plan for 2016 should be to lock in variable interest rates, implement responsive-selling and lower their labour costs by 10 per cent.
Robert Karbaum of the Dilawri Group of Companies was an on-stage judge for the 2015 awards
DISPELLING MYTHS
The DrivingSales Executive Summit also brings in thought leaders from outside of the automotive industry to provide dealers with fresh perspectives.
One of the presenters was Frank Cespedes, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, who provided the opening keynote to kick off the 2015 event. Cespedes looked at some of the current myths about selling and salespeople, and then set out to debunk them.
What’s causing the disconnect between sales and strategy is that companies are failing to communicate their vision to employees, said Cespedes.
Companies are also investing millions into social media without really understanding how customers use it. About 62 per cent of car buyers say social media has no influence on their purchase decision, said Cespedes, citing a U.S. statistic by Gallup.
The annual event is not for the faint of heart, and is meant to challenge conventional thinking. For that reason, it’s designed intentionally without a theme as is the norm for many such events.
Cespedes then looked at ways dealerships can link strategy and sales, by creating customer value, linking price and value and productivity.
“As dealers you have a financial motivation to respond,” said Cespedes. He advises dealerships to train their sales staff in product and service opportunities. They should also make a plan that involves measuring and targeting employee behaviour, and rewarding and coaching sales staff. “It’s your responsibility to adapt,” said Cespedes.
Alan Bird, President and Chief Executive Leader at SCI MarketView
CELEBRATING IDEAS
As part of the Executive Summit, DrivingSales holds a contest in which dealers submit an innovative best practice or strategy that is delivering significant results for their store.
And once again, it was a Canadian dealer who took home the grand prize. Josh Pogue, Digital Marketing Manager at Weins Canada, was awarded Best Idea and $3,000.
Pogue’s winning strategy was on how his stores increased their VDP page views by listing interior photos of inventory, resulting in a dramatic jump in conversion rate.
Another finalist and Canadian dealer, David Hicks, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Ontario Motor Sales Ltd., presented OMS direct, which he called a “21st century maintenance solution.” The program is meant to improve customer service by providing online and in-home service solutions.
Benjamin Blanco, Web Manager at Andy Mohr Automotive Group presented his strategy on “Leveraging mobile wallets,” by using coupons to help build loyalty.
The CDK Global team at its booth
Chris Leslie, director of e-commerce at Fairway Chevrolet talked about how he uses MailChimp to power and automate his dealership’s blog feed.
Chris Febbraio, Business Development Manager at Stamford Ford Lincoln, shared his SEO strategy on increasing organic traffic.
The top five selected by the panel had just five minutes to present their ideas, followed by a short Q&A with the judges. The winner and runners up were announced on the last day of the Executive Summit, and were collectively awarded $10,000 in cash prizes.
This year’s onstage judges were Robert Karbaum, National Digital Strategy Manager at Dilawri Group of Companies and two-time winner of the Best idea award, Bradley Lillie, Vice-President of Gregg Young Chevrolet and Erich Gail, COO of Cardinale Auto Group.
DrivingSales also holds a similar contest for industry vendors that can help impact dealers and the auto industry. The finalists were once again given five minutes to present their ideas on stage, and then were subjected to questions from the judging panel.
This year’s winner was Joe Orr of Virtual Deal. His solution is aimed at reducing showroom time by moving some of the sales process online, including vehicle selection, quotes and financing.
Other finalists included Ben Anderson, CEO at AutoMotion, Steve Cottrell, CEO at DealerVault, Mike Martinzez, CMO at AutoPoint, and Andreas Ronneseth, CTO and co-founder of RevolutionParts.
Josh Pogue of Weins Canada was awarded Best Idea.
Photo credit: DrivingSales
