Top speakers presenting the most relevant dealership topics have been scheduled for the Dealer/GM track of the 2018 RV Dealers Convention/Expo. The convention takes place in Las Vegas, Nov. 5-9, and includes Vendor Training +Plus on Tuesday, an opening general session featuring leading millennial expert Jason Dorsey, and then tracked education workshops on Wednesday and Thursday. The event concludes Friday morning with compliance education.

Registration information is available online.

Dealer/GM track workshops are focused on ways to become a better leader, increase profitability, and manage your business and people better. Dorsey will kick things off at the Opening General Session by sharing strategies on communicating with and motivating millennials.

Gabrielle Bosché from The Millennial Solution will present the special session, “Not Your Mother’s Presentation on Millennials,” on Wednesday, November 7, from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Bosché will help dealers and general managers learn how to market to, and retain, the next generation of clients. Coinciding with Bosché’s special session, Christina Johnson will host the workshop, “Workplace Harassment: How to Protect Your Company & Provide a Safe Work Environment,” where dealers will get reporting and investigation tips on accountability and understanding consequences of harassment. Johnson is the lead human resources consultant at KPA.

After a break for the annual meetings of RVDA and RVDA of Canada and lunch in the Expo, Bosché will present, “Capturing the Millennial Market: How America’s Youngest Has Changed the Consumer Game,” from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Bosché will share what to post, when to post and why to post while harnessing the power of the ‘review culture’ to gain a competitive advantage.

At the same time, Chris Alford will host the workshop, “Creating the Championship Mentality,” where he will help attendees map out and learn the importance of spending time on the things within their control. Alford is the Lead Trainer for Elite Dealer Services.

From 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, dealer/GMs will have the opportunity to attend the special session, “Super Lawyers Panel – How to protect Your Dealership from Lawsuits.” A four-member panel with some of the top RV defense attorneys will provide dealers practical suggestions, covering all aspects of a dealer’s operation, that can be used immediately to avoid the ever-growing threat of litigation.

On Thursday, November 8, Michael Rees and John Spader will lead off the morning with the special session, “M-Cubed – Measuring, Moving & Managing: How to Measure Three Key Performance Indicators.”

First, Spader will show attendees how to access the necessary numbers for three critical performance indicators that have a direct impact on growing businesses.

Then, Rees will explain how to install processes that will move these numbers forward and grow your dealership. Together, they'll share tips on how to motivate managers and other key employees to continually monitor and improve these numbers.                     

From 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. on Thursday there will be two concurring workshops in the dealer/GM track. Brad Stanek of The Stank Group will host, “Developing an Effective Exit Strategy,” to teach dealers how to understand the value of their business and the criteria buyers value the most.

Tony Gonzalez of Garage Composites will present, “Take Control of Your Day,” where dealers will learn 12 key tasks that should be executed each day to have the greatest impact on a business’ success and how to set up these tasks at a dealership.    

After lunch in the Expo, the track picks up with a workshop called “The Normalization of Deviance is Affecting Your Bottom Line,” from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Presented by Tony Gonzalez, the workshop will identify the characteristics of leadership that are needed to ensure that normalization of deviance decreases in a dealership.

Next, from 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Jane Warner, of Bank of the West, will present a workshop called “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” This workshop is intended for owners, management and family members that are currently involved with issues of employing family members and/or business succession to family owners. The workshop is also useful for those who want to get started on the process of business succession and avoid much of the conflict for the future. All attendees will leave with handouts for identifying key issues and next steps for resolving conflict.

The day will wrap up with an important workshop on leadership titled, “Beyond Win-Win Leadership,” presented by David Spader from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Spader, the lead trainer and consultant with Spader Management Group, will show dealers why businesses that employ an “all-win” approach are more profitable, have stronger customer relationships and more satisfied employees.

Friday, November 9 the Dealer/GM track concludes with a morning dedicated to compliance education. Jim Ganther of Mosaic Compliance Services, kicks off the program at 8:00 a.m. with “Data Security in the RV Eco-System.” Ganther will examine data security best practices, as well as the ways RV dealerships can be the key player in improving data security throughout the RV Eco-System.

From 9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m., Randy Henrick, also with Mosaic Compliance, will focus on compliance hot topics of primary interest and concern to RV dealers. In "Hot Topics in Compliance Today” Henrick will help dealers understand the implications of selling GAP and credit insurance to MLA covered borrowers and address recent advertising enforcement actions by the FTC and the rules of the road for advertising in electronic media.

Visit www.rvda.org/convention for regular updates as the convention approaches. You can also get convention updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.