When it comes to the GIE+Expo tradeshow in Louisville, Ky., Bob Clements is nothing short of a seasoned veteran. This will be his fifth year speaking and leading workshops for the event, and this year he and his associates will be leading five events throughout the weekend.
Clements is the president of Bob Clements International, a training and development company. He is also the author of the book, “The 8 Greatest Sales Secrets in the World,” and has spoken at events all across the country.
All the shows Clements will lead are free with admission, but oftentimes fill up. Our advice: come early.
Dare To Be Different – Wedesday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
“Dare to Be Different is about some of the changes taking place in an industry with new customers. I’m teaching how to think outside of the box as a dealership,” Clements says.
Clements will focus on how to make changes in your labor system to optimize employee behavior by giving them a stake in the company’s future. “Capitalism works best when everybody gets to participate,” he says.
Add Dollars to Your Bottom Line By Improving Your Service and Parts Department’s KPIs – Thursday, Oct. 23, 11:00 a.m. – noon.
This workshop is designed to teach some lesser-known strategies for enhancing employee service efficiency. Expect to learn how to add flat-rate pricing and menu pricing, how to best utilize a service coordinator, how to upsell additional services and how to track, know and understand your company’s key performance indicators.
Get Out of Your Financial Rut and Generate Instant Income – Thursday, Oct. 23, 2 - 3 p.m.
Taught by two associates of Clements’, this is a rundown of Clements’ six core strategies to make some simple infrastructure changes to a company to drum up cash flow when the well runs dry. Expect to learn some new ways to approach labor rates, how to use flat-rate pricing, some different parts-pricing strategies and how to raise prices of a good or service without raising the customer’s perception of the price.
Radically Transform Your Dealership by Improving Your Absorption Rate – Friday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. – noon.
As the title would suggest, this class is all about teaching what an absorption rate is and how it can be improved. “I’m teaching how a higher absorption rate will protect businesses against losses,” Clements says. “The auto industry has a 100 percent absorption rate. I want to teach us to hit 80.”
Turn Your Slow Season Into a Profitable Part of Your Year – Friday, Oct. 24 2 – 3 p.m.
This is a seminar on how to thrive during the time of year when most businesses weather out the season. Clements will show you how to up your marketing strategies via direct mail and email ads, how to follow-up with customers to lock in early bird deals for the upcoming season and how to use customers’ expiring warranties to your advantage to turn a profit.
“What I try to do when I put the programs together is to think about what we’re seeing and doing in dealerships, and build programs around what the dealerships need,” Clements says. “(The programs) are a unique part of what dealerships need and what they’re going through today.”
Despite this being his fifth year speaking at the Dealer Resource Pavilion, Clements still maintains all the passion that he brought when he first spoke at the annual tradeshow in 2009. “I’m excited to get back in front of dealers,” Clements says. “I’ll show them the best practices of our dealers and what we’ve learned from them. I love dealers; they’re the lifeblood of this industry.
GIE+Expo is an annual tradeshow of the lawn and landscape industry that takes place every fall in Louisville, Ky. This year’s event will feature 750 exhibits throughout the 500,000 sq. feet of the Kentucky Exposition Center, and 19 acres of outdoor demonstrations and test driving.
The event is open to the public from Oct. 23-24. It will be open exclusively to dealers for Dealer Day on Oct. 22.
For more information on the event, the exhibits, or how to register, click here.