2012 Objective: Agent Summit and Developing New Business

Another New Year is upon us giving way to contemplate, plan and execute innovative ideas for maintaining current accounts and developing new business.

Is attending the Agent Summit on your list of objectives for 2012? If not, it should be. The 2-day information filled conference devoted specifically to your business is the place to move all those objectives into action. The event delivers the latest training techniques, trends and challenges to assist top GAs on better serving their dealer clients.

Agent Summit 2012 presented by Agent Entrepreneur in partnership with F&I and Showroom will feature top trainers of the industry and executives from leading product providers and agencies:

• Paul Webb, Paul Webb Training

Paul Webb will deliver one of the event’s opening keynote address.

A 20-year industry veteran, Webb is principal of Paul Webb Training, a nationally recognized firm that counts many of the nation’s top auto dealers among its clients. A highly sought-after speaker, Webb has addressed crowds ranging from dealer seminars to NADA conventions and 20 Groups.

“I’m excited to speak at the Agent Summit in 2012,” Webb said. “Change starts with education, and each summit provides new and exciting ideas to assist agents with the management of change. Communication skills are critical in presenting products and services. We’ll address the decision process so you’ll understand how to change your mind and keep the change. I look forward to seeing everyone in 2012.”

• John Braganini, Great Lakes Companies

John Braganini, principal of Great Lakes Companies, will present the events evening keynote address. Braganini told F&I and Showroom that his address, titled “Smart Today, Success Tomorrow,” will focus on long-term strategies for success. “I will identify 10 agency operations and management strategies that we have used to build and develop the Great Lakes Companies over a 25-year period,” he said.

• Ron Reahard, Reahard & Associates

Reahard is the president of Reahard & Associates and the author of the firm’s customized, in-dealership training programs. He also is a highly sought-after speaker, having led training sessions for the NADA, state and local dealer associations and the annual F&I Conference, among others.

Reahard plans to share his thoughts on the importance of general agents to their dealer clients. “The focus is on bringing value to dealers,” he told F&I and Showroom, noting that agents are particularly well-positioned to help dealers respond to changes in the economic climate and the industry itself. “That’s what agents have to do: help dealers,” he said.

This event to help you improve your dealers’ F&I performance and profits takes place March 12–14, 2012, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

For more information or to register, visit www.agentsummit.com

For even more business building ideas check out the top 10 most read articles of 2011. Thank you to all who have contributed to AE Magazine!

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2. What Dealers Want From Agents and Product Providers …When we identify the most successful and highest dealer rated agents, the common trait they exhibit is having become an integral part of the dealership’s management team…
3. To Boldly Go Where No Menu Has Gone Before… …We are 10 years into computerized menus now (non-automated menus have been around a lot longer) and it is amazing that there are still late adopters out there that don’t have some form of F&I presentation software, or have it and don’t really use it…
4. Finding F&I Gold On The Service Drive Recent economic circumstances have influenced many dealerships to look outside of the conventional ways they have been doing business and look for additional means within their facilities to increase lost revenues they have suffered…
5. Closing Requires Prospecting! Closing new business requires that you do your homework before ever setting foot in a prospective account. It requires that you be capable of clearly and concisely communicating…
6. Pay Plans: When Reality Must Confront Perception …The serious development agent is constantly analyzing the dealer’s business and tweaking various elements to promote consistent growth. There are many areas in a dealership we can impact…
7. Prospecting And Cold Calling Cold calling to generate new business can be uncomfortable, to say the least. It can be defined as unfriendly, inhospitable and plain unsociable at times…
8. Meeting of the Minds …Between dealership closures and the credit crisis, it’s been a roller coaster ride for the agent community. The biggest threat to their livelihoods was the alleged policies some lenders issued during…
9. 2011…A Year of Feast or Famine In 25 years of working in this industry, I have never seen an opportunity quite like the one that exists today for consultative agents who support income development…
10. If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Measuring …The old adage, “You can’t get to where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’re at,” poor grammar notwithstanding, holds true in spite of the fact that there still exists a large percentage of dealerships today…