#322 - Get The Most Out Of Convention

This is the Independent Dealer podcast, Education by Dealers for Dealers. Now here are your hosts, Luke Godwin and Jeff Watson.

I have no idea what Zoom invites is gonna log in. I don't, I don't even know how to log into Zoom. No clue.

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Independent Dealer Podcast, brought to you by Buckeye Dealership Consulting. Luke, so glad you could join us today. I gotta hurry. We gotta make this a quick one. I'm about to get on the road and head up to Salt Lake because I am in charge of our state's convention this year.

How awesome is it today?

It's going to happen tomorrow, so I got to go. Tonight we'll do some finish prep and then tomorrow we've got an all day agenda. We're doing three different dealer panels. We're doing a question and answer with our motor vehicle enforcement. We've got some guys from the Elliott Group coming in. They're a big sales training company. They're going to do a keynote and then we have our license renewal class at the end of the day. So it's, it's been really fun. You know, you and I, we both have a big passion for education, right?

Yeah, for sure.

Dealers together. So for me, when I joined our state association and got on the board a couple of years ago, I said, this is something I'm going to do. Like I'm going to take the reins. I'm going to run our state convention. I think it's important. I mean, Utah, we have a small, a small membership, you know, not, not a ton of active dealers here. So we'll probably have about a hundred dealers, maybe another 20 or 30 vendors. But it's been, it's been good and, and I've learned some lessons. I'd like to, we're going to talk about some of those, but convention season is coming.

Yeah, it is. We got, we'll see everybody out in Vegas next week. But I agree. Well, one, one problem with your convention, Jeff. Yeah, I'm not going to be there.

Yeah, that's true. You were not invited specifically.

I was not invited.

I said, I think about it till now, huh?

No, but I tell you, everybody, I want you to listen to this. If, you know, we always talk, talk about being, doing your reinsurance company and how important that is. The first important thing, though, is to be a member of your association. And I think even Buckeye will, will agree to that and go to your convention every year. It has single handedly changed my business. It has changed my life because without being a Member of, of the association. I would not have found out about reinsurance. I would not have. I would not know how to train like I do now. I would never met Jeff. All of our friends that are in the, in the industry, we've met through the association. So it is number one importance for you to be a member of your association and to participate. You know, just being a member doesn't really do much.

Yeah, that's. I've got a bunch of takeaways I want to talk about, but one of them, very specific, was, is exactly that, Luke. So I have, you know, I've been reached out to every single Utah dealer we could. We've got, you know, 1400 registered used car dealers in the state and a handful I know personally, and I reach out and I say, hey, man, you're going to come to convention? Oh, no, I don't get involved with that. I don't. It doesn't do anything for me. Blah, blah, blah, blah. No. A week later, the same dealer text me and say, hey, man, how are sales going? It's super slow here. I mean, the last three months have been completely dead. And I'm just like, dude, you don't know that your business is only bad because you've got your head buried in the ground and you don't know what else is out there. And now you want to, like, reach out to dealers and ask what's going on because you haven't sold a car in three months.

Like, yeah, because they aren't training the. They. They're not using everything that's at their disposal and they're wondering why business is bad.

No, he has no idea what's out there. He has no idea what other dealers are doing to make sure that they stay busy during bad times. And I mean, he's a. He's a subprime, buy here, pay here type guy. I've had the best three years. I mean, as good as last year, as good as the year before, like, or last three months might have been just fine because I'm aware of what's going on. I'm looking for opportunities. I'm doing these things to make sure I stay up on stuff. And so it just really illustrates the point that so many dealers just think they can do it all. They think they don't need help. They think they don't need to be involved. They think no one can teach them anything. And then all of a sudden, their businesses implode because they're not changing, they're not innovating. Yeah.

And if you look, on the Facebook forum, you've seen a lot of people crying lately and you know, I just hope they, they reach out to the right dealers and, and are involved in their association because there's a lot of resources out there that you just got to use. Gotta call, you gotta talk.

Yeah, yeah. Those opportunities. So here's, here's another takeaway I have and we're going to give you some of our convention advice. Right? You're gonna go to your state convention. You're going to hopefully Buy Here, Pay here United next week. If you're a buy here, pay here customer. We also have national convention coming up, so that's going to be June 17th through the 20th, so hopefully you guys are signed up for that. It's going to be back in Las Vegas at the Wynn, I think. Luke and I are both doing presentations, I think, but it's going to be again, a great opportunity to network, to know what you don't know, to meet dealers. So here's some tips for when you go. Right, the first one obviously touches on what we just touched on. Get involved. That seems like the most obvious thing in the world. But so many dealers show up to these things. They roll right into a session. They leave right when it's over. They go have lunch by themselves. They just maybe associate with the manager they came with or their business partner. They don't go to the events, the activities, the first Timer reception, the 20 group meetings, the lunches, the, the after hour get together that their vendors putting on. So the number one piece of advice I'd have for you is get involved with all the events that go on that week, as much as you can.

Yeah. You know, another thing I used to see and I, I don't. You still see it every once in a while. But back in the day when you go to convention, people went there to party. They didn't even show up for the sessions. I know there's still some dealers out there that probably do that. But if you're going to take the time away from your, your job, your, your business and you're going to Las Vegas, you know, keep it between the lines because you're there to learn. Go to the sessions. Don't stay out too late. I know Vegas is fun, but you really, really need to take advantage of the time you're away because this is when you really get to learn.

Yeah, we have a lot of guys where the very first night they go out and just cut loose and done for the rest of the time, they don't show up. They got headaches. I mean, I get it. Yeah. Have a good time, participate. But you, yeah, obviously remember the reason you're there, which is. Yes, learning.

That's the reason I hang out with you. You make sure that I go to bed all the time.

Yeah.

Keep.

Keep this. Keep your semi sober.

Yeah.

So the other thing I want to point out is I'm really impressed with the vendors. Right. So me putting together our state convention, obviously we need some sponsors. So we went out. There's a handful of vendors in the space that just support the industry blindly. Right.

Yeah, for sure.

So obviously, Buckeye, we get a Buckeye, not only because they sponsor this podcast, but when I reached out to Sean and said, hey, man, we're having a state convention, he said, what do you need? What do you need? What do you want me to pay for? What do you want me to bring? Like, they were just completely on top of it. They're bringing out two people, flying to Utah, being at our convention, paying for our entire, you know, drinks and hors d'. Oeuvres. After, like, they just really stepped it up, you know, Same thing with Blitzpay, another sponsor of the podcast. Great, great company. And Robin said, what do you guys need? What can we do for you? You know, there are some great, great vendors that just want to support the industry any way they can.

Yeah. And not only do they want to support. We've talked about this in the past. They want to teach. And some of the best people to learn from are your vendors. While you're in the vendor hall, have a specific. And we've talked about this before, but have a specific area that you need to improve on. Whether that's your website's garbage and you're looking for a new website, go check them all out. Right. Your phone system's garbage. Go check out the phone systems there. You're not happy with your reinsurance or you don't have reinsurance, go to Buckeye.

You.

And not only that, they will train you to do it. And you may even already have that vendor and may not be using it to its full potential. Then you, you know, folks like that, they're really robust. I know I don't use half of it, but sometimes you need to go and talk to those people in the convention hall. Cause the vendors will teach you how to use your product to the fullest potential that it has.

Yeah, that's a great point. I can't tell you how many times I've showed up and gone up to a vendor I was currently using and just Said, hey, what's new? And they say, oh, you know, this is the feature we're really excited about right now. Or this is something we just rolled out. And I was like, where the crap that come from? Like, did I miss an email? Like, why did I not know that you do something that I'm paying someone else for, right? And now all of a sudden, I can be like, all right, cool, I can get rid of this guy or this feature that they're charging me for, because a current software. I have just developed that feature, right?

And it's all. Yeah, and it's also a time to try to negotiate a better deal than what you currently have, Right?

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's a great one. Put the screws to it. Hey, what are you guys offering right now? You know, what's the current incentive? What's the current going rate? Most of the time, at least what we saw over the last five years is prices were going up, right? And there's still a bit of inflation. And I know I just got a letter from my DMS that they're increasing the prices. So you may want to be, you know, aware of what the current pricing rate is. But also, you know, I know I have another vendor that I went back and I said, guys, I'm just not using all these features. I gotta either drop you completely or I gotta cut some back. And, you know, we found a way where I could keep them, but I just wasn't paying what I was paying before. So it is a great time to audit all those expenses that you're having for sure. Other thing is make sure you are getting contact information. I know so many times, and this comes down with the networking thing and participating guys, when you go to lunches and breakfast, just sit at a table separate from your manager or your partner that you're there with, sit at separate tables and just sit down next to a group of people you don't know and start asking questions, right? Who are you at? What, where do you live? What kind of dealership do you run? You know, how many do you sell? Blah, blah, blah, blah. All these questions are perfectly fine. And convention. And then get their contact information. Hey, that's great, man. Can I bounce something off you? Could I ask you questions if I have a thing? 95% of dealers that show up to convention want to help other dealers, Right?

Totally agree. Again. Some of the. Some of my best friends in the industry, I met at these conventions, and I did get their number, and sometimes I forgot to get their number. So I Had to scrounge and find them some other way. But I've. I've gotten so much help from those people. And honestly, Jeff, that's how you and I book. A lot of the guests we have on is at these conventions and sitting down talking to dealers. Our dealers coming up to us, we love that. And they're just saying, hey, what's going on? Next thing I know, I get a text message from somebody I didn't realize I gave my phone number to, and I got to figure out who it is. And then, then we, you know, then we develop a relationship. But it's so much fun. And without, without getting that contact information, just with your, like your rep when it comes to a vendor, you know, stay in contact, text back and forth, have a, have a stream that goes on. So you, you keep in contact.

Yeah, it's very, very unlikely, guys, that you are experiencing something in your business that some dealer there hasn't already experienced. Right? You're not unique. You're not some little snowflake all of a sudden. This happened to you and no one's going to understand me. No. Someone's been through it, if not all of us, right? Especially depending on where you are in your growth phase or on, on your dealership life. Someone's been through it. So reaching out and asking those questions, hey, man, have you ever experienced this? You know? No, Jeff, I have no experience with floor plans. I can't help you out there, but let me get you in contact with someone who can, because I know these guys have been through two or three floor plans and they've kind of navigated the system, right?

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. So the, the final thing or little piece of advice I would give you is along those lines of writing down what your purpose is when you go there, right? And you touched on that, Luke, with your vendors. But what are the pain points? Right? What are the two to three things that are just really a thorn in my side? Whether it's operational, whether it's software, whether it's mental, you know, whether it's financial, you know, you need to find a good accountant, right? You need to find, you know, a better way to handle your stickers or your balloons. Like all these things that can be kind of, I don't. You think you know it, or, or you just think you. There's no answer, right? Like, ah, no one's ever figured this out. Someone has. So write those things down beforehand so that you go into convention with a game plan, right?

For sure. And this is something you probably should do every quarter anyway is write down your pain points and see if you can try to find the solution. And the solution a lot of times is another dealer or a vendor or a self introspective. And so keeping a list of your pain points is a very good idea to do anyway. Take those pain points, put them into a plan, a convention plan, and you're off and running.

Yeah. Where do I hire a good mechanic? You just put that in permanent ink right at the top of your pain points list. That one will be there forever. Yeah, don't put that in dry erase because it will be there forever. Luke. That's all I've got, man. I gotta run. Hit the road, head up north and hopefully we have a, you know, hopefully have a good time. Because it's just kind of about networking. It's about meeting other dealers, you know, getting.

Yeah, well, safe travels, Jeff. And you know, I'm gonna see you next week out at by here pay here United. And we're gonna see all our favorite vendors and all our. All of our favorite people, hopefully.

All right, take care.

Thank you for listening. Please leave us a review. We'll catch you in the next episode.