Dealers ‘Connect’ in Columbus

I was all in when Dave McMahon called to invite me to the NPDA conference in Columbus. After all, it is practically in my backyard (by about 100 miles). So, I was looking forward to seeing what was happening with the association at its inaugural Dealer Connect event held Oct. 20−23.

McMahon was at the helm of PSB for many years and spearheaded our Accelerate Conference (which takes place in January in Charlotte, North Carolina, by the way), so the familiarity was striking. Still, it also reminded me of what I love about our conference. McMahon and Tigra Tsujikawa put together a great event on very short notice. I know the idea of doing an event was floating around the association, but until McMahon joined the team with Tigra, they didn’t have the necessary skill set in-house for such a big task.

The whole point of the event (besides educating dealers) was to highlight the importance of the association to members. The overarching theme was, “We need to stick together and grow the industry together.”

While I missed the opening day, they held some bonus sessions before Garage Composites kicked things off with a new take on Ed Lemco’s “Update.”

I got in bright and early Monday morning to have breakfast with dealers before the day’s meetings. You learn a lot about what’s going on at these industry meals. And boy, did they have meals! It was a feast at all three meals, but also an essential part of the event, as networking is often a highlight. And this one was no different. We spoke with Bob Althoff of Dealernews and NPDA. He shared some big news with the group that morning after breakfast.

NPDA is growing quickly. They now have 52 percent of the congressional districts represented. And Althoff says that is the key to getting things done in Washington. Representation matters both locally and nationally.

Bob Key (Destination Cycle, Texas) is vice chairman and helped get things going with Gail Worth (Gail’s Powersports, Missouri), and both are founding board members. Key and Worth reiterated how the time is now to come together (and not just for the election). “Every great achievement has a long, unseen road to get there,” Key noted.

Jayson Davis (PowerSports of Greenville, South Carolina) also spoke about the need to unite as an industry and as dealers for common goals. We all joked that he sounded like a politician, and with that speech, he may get a big voter turnout.

Later, Althoff announced a new joint venture with Triple-B Media to launch a new streaming channel called Powersports World TV. The new channel will (hopefully) be incorporated into dealer member stores on a streaming platform that can be played on TVs throughout the dealer and showroom areas. The channel will feature everything from mainstream racing events to obscure powersports-related programming. Althoff and his team hope to tap into the $47 billion powersports industry.

Althoff encouraged attendees to meet the board of directors and discussed how the NPDA can benefit members now. NPDA board member and Harley-Davidson council member Don Meyers spoke about how effective NPDA councils can be for dealers willing to put in the time and effort. The Harley council is working with the Motor Company H-D council to have their voices heard. As many may know, there’s been some turmoil with Harley lately. Meyers and others on the council believe they now have an effective channel to Harley management, even though they are not an official Harley council.

Next on stage was Garage Composites’ presentation about being accountable. Jordon Schoolmeester, who was an ex-firefighter, asked the audience, “Would you work for you?” That is a question I would decline to answer. But it makes one think about the people who do work for you. And are you accountable to your customers? What is your word worth? It starts at the top, says Schoolmeester. He looked at how accountability shapes your team, the importance of setting clear expectations, and effective strategies for tracking our progress.

Next up was Mike Murray, vice president of sales at National Powersport Auctions (NPA). He showed how to improve your trade-in valuation skills and make your preowned business more profitable. Murray offered practical tips and tactics on how to make the most of your valuation process. He then asked the audience to come up with their own valuation of vehicles on site, using various tools and then showed how each group came to their final valuation.

After lunch, Tom O’Connor from his namesake Sales Academy discussed overcoming price objections. He says too often, salespeople lose control early in the sales process due to their inability to handle a price objection from a customer. He shared 20 effective word tracks for handling price in the showroom and during follow-up.

Following an afternoon break, dealership management veteran Patrick Weekley from NCM Associates discussed “Buying Better in Parts.” He focused on inventory categories to improve parts department performance. Weekley provided tips for more profitability and reviewed a list of P&A categories to show how to make the parts department operate optimally.

The cocktail hour followed Weekley’s presentation and was meant for attendees to network with vendors and other NPDA members. Gene Silas, vice president of sales at Brightline Dealer Advisors, commented afterward: “This Association is doing the work that others need to take notice of. David McMahon did a great job putting this together. Thank you to Kim Harrison, Donald Meyers, Jr., Bob Althoff, Bob Kee, Jayson Davis, George Gatto, Jay Goodart, Bob Henig, John Leach, Gail Worth, Brett Tekavec, and the other members of the association for allowing us to be a part of this work. It’s a tremendous honor for us all! Keep grinding. Keep growing. Keep winning.”