MINNEAPOLIS, August 19 — As boat dealers continue to adjust to the post-pandemic marketplace and create their plans for the year ahead, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has introduced a powerful Dealer Week educational lineup that aims to help them accomplish that very task.
Bolstered by more than 20 training and educational sessions, Dealer Week, the MRAA’s annual conference and expo, is the marine industry’s only event focused on aiding dealer success. The courses and educational deliveries are the cornerstone of Dealer Week, and the entire event is constructed around the delivery of ideas, insights, strategies and best practices to help dealers strengthen their business.
Organized into three separate pathways:
The Dealer Week educational lineup helps dealers concentrate on the topics that matter most to them. It also helps them prioritize which staff members should consume which content.
“Our goal with Dealer Week’s courses is not to just use talking heads to deliver a message,” explains Liz Walz, MRAA’s Vice President of Education. “Our goal is to give dealers a direct path to implementing the ideas, insights and inspiration they collect at the event when they return to their dealerships. Without that implementation, we don’t fulfill our mission.”
The Dealer Week Sales and Marketing Pathway will be led by Marcus Sheridan, a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, known for his unique ability to excite, engage and motivate a live audience with his simple-yet-powerful transformational business approach. Dubbed as one of Forbes’ magazines 20 “Speakers You Don’t Want to Miss,” Sheridan will kick off the pathway with a session titled, “7 Selling Strategies Your Dealership Will Need in 2023.”
His course will be followed by others, such as:
- “5 Marketing Mistakes Your Dealership Can No Longer Afford”
- “Get Real About Follow-Up or Get Gone”
- “Start Closing More Phone & Internet Shoppers”
- “Why Aren’t We Doing That? The Low Hanging Fruit of Digital Advertising”
The Dealer Week educational sessions within each Pathway run concurrently, and each pathway will add another session — a Panel Discussion with industry dealers will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7 — to the lists of courses found here. Event attendees can select specific sessions they want to attend, sticking within one pathway or bouncing between pathways in order to enjoy the session and topics they determine will have the biggest impact for their business.
Dealer Week favorite Sam Dantzler, a speaker driven by adventure, immersive interactions and continuing education, will host the Leadership Pathway, helping to initiate conversations and connect the sessions to one another for a deeper learning experience. Dantzler, the Owner of Wheelhouse College and President of Garage Composites, is known for his “seize the day” personality, winner’s mentality and devotion to dealerships of all sizes. In Texas, he will help anchor the Pathway with his session titled “Prepare Your Dealership for the Disruption Ahead.”
Other topics in this Pathway will include:
- “Get a Grip on Your Business: Don’t Let Your Business Run You”
- “Apply These Tools to Overcome the Obstacles in Your Way”
- “Rethink How to Engage and Hold Onto Your Employees”
- “Manage Promises, Not People: How to Create A Self-Managing Team”
Jim Million, aka the facilitator’s facilitator and trainer extraordinaire, will host the Service & Parts Pathway helping dealers understand how they install and implement key processes within their service and parts departments to improve operations and achieve their goals. Owner of Million Learning, Jim has been involved within the automotive industry in multiple roles, from salesperson to developer to speaker. His diverse background and familiarity with dealership procedures makes him an invaluable professor of sorts within the marine industry. Millions will conclude this pathway with his session titled, “Reduce Service Dept. Pain with These Workforce Tools & Strategies.”
Other topics in this Pathway will include:
- “Solve Service Writer Suffering”
- “The Service Clock: Rethink Your Department’s Approach to Time”
- “Time to Settle the P&A Inventory Debate: Lean & Mean or Fat & Happy”
- “Service & Parts Warranty: Control the Tsunami”
Dealer Week 2022 is held Dec. 5-8, at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Registration is open, so marine dealers have three convenient ways to join their peers at Dealer Week to learn, implement and grow their business.
- To fully immerse yourself and your non-attending teammates in the full experience of Dealer Week, consider attending the event in person and the online event that follows. With the steeply discounted combo package, you can gain great value from learning in-person and revisiting the content anytime you’d like for up to three months after the live event.
- The OPTIMAL CHOICE is to join the MRAA in Austin, the live music capital of the world, where you gain direct access to speakers, exhibitors and other dealers to maximize your learning and experience an array of additional events, including MRAA’s 50th anniversary celebration.
- MRAA will also hold Dealer Week Online, allowing you to watch 15 expert-led courses at home or in your dealership starting in December, for those who cannot attend the Texas conference.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.
About Dealer Week
For 50 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world-class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week exists to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. The MRAA envisions a brighter future for marine retail, and Dealer Week is the preeminent means for bringing that vision to life. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.