First, some background. For the past few years, we have organised our annual Dealer of the Year Awards Dinner on the first evening of the SALTEX show at Windsor.  But as you know the IOG are moving both the SALTEX show and the IOG Awards to the NEC, Birmingham in early November (4^th/5^th).

As SALTEX will only be a two-day affair this year, and we would not want to compete with the IOG’s Awards, we have decided to put on a very special and exciting new dealer event that will combine a business programme, networking - and socialising (something we are rather good at).

The Awards Dinner will be preceded by a One-Day Conference which we’ve called DEALER 2020. Simply, it will be a look into the near future, only five years hence, to see what challenges are likely to face the specialist servicing dealer network in the year 2020.

This will be a unique dealer event, the like of which has not been staged since the heyday of the old BAGMA Conferences. It will feature a wide range of presentations from suppliers, dealers and, most importantly, key speakers from outside the industry and has been pencilled in to take place on 19 November 2015 at a centrally located conference venue in Oxfordshire.

The outline programme content will consist of:

1. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: By a well-know business leader from an internationally renown company
2. DEALER 2020: VIVE LA DIFFERENCE: How should dealers set themselves up to attract and retain customers in this new and evolving retail environment? How can they ‘sell themselves’ as being different to the multiple stores, internet sellers or other retail channels?
3. SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE: With new developments in low maintenance servicing, robotics, and throwaway products, what impact will this have on the provision of service by the dealer?
4. COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS:  What methods should dealers be using to communicate with both their existing customers – and to ‘forage’ for new business? Ideas for effectively using social media, text reminders, apps and a host of available technology.
5. QUESTION TIME:  Our version of the BBC favourite featuring panel members with different views of the way forward for the industry

Now we like your feedback and opinion

The outline programme reflects the major concerns of dealers as expressed during many conversations over the past few months, but in order to precisely tailor the programme, we would value YOUR OPINION.

We would be pleased if you could take a few moments (should take any more than 5 minutes) to help us shape the Conference Click here to take our survey