As Canadians, we’re definitely ready for the transition from February to March. Spring is almost here, and so is the 2018 edition of the Auto Remarketing Canada Conference!

We’ve been talking about the conference for quite a while now, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what’s in store at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle over the 27th and 28th of March.

There are a few speakers and panels that we’re particularly looking forward to — here’s a look at what (and who) we think this year’s conference highlights will be:

Jennifer Gausby & Rachel Lee – “Building the Dealership Canadians Want & Need”

This is one of our favorite general sessions on the docket for 2018. Jennifer Gausby is the Marketing Research Director at BrandSpark and Rachel Lee is the head of B2B Marketing at Kijiji, but together they’re a virtual library of information about the consumer mindset in the auto industry.

Every wonder how customers in Canada progress through the car search pipeline? How about what makes people decide to buy? Jennifer and Rachel provide concrete steps that dealers can take to better reach customers at every step in the purchasing funnel and align their priorities with the priorities of their customers. Accu-Trade is pretty passionate about the customer experience, so this one is right up our alley.

Melina Beeston – “5 Ranking Factors that Matter Most for Local SEO”

Learning about SEO can help car dealerships jump to the top of their local Google search results — and stay there. We’ve talked about SEO and internet traffic a bit in the past, but Melina, who’s the Lead Organic Strategist at Strathcom Media Inc., has a range of insights into organic traffic and search engine strategies that few in the industry can match.

This presentation will go through SEO in a way that appeals equally to newcomers and experts alike. The auto sales world is steadily moving online, and every serious dealer needs to know how search results work on Google. Melina can give dealers the tools to survive and thrive on the web!

Kim MacPherson – “Close the Sales Your Competition is Missing – Selling Smart in 2018”

Kim, the President of the recently-rebranded company Sell it Smart/Buy it Smart, has a lot to say about auto financing. She’s tired of seeing dealers walk away from potential sales just because certain customers have less-than-perfect credit.

This presentation will help dealers learn how to properly staff and optimize their non-prime departments, and prevent them from unnecessary revenue loss. The non-prime sales tips and tricks that she offer are priceless, and she provides an interesting perspective on how to expand and capitalize on every business opportunity.

Drew Harden – “The Used-Car Purchase Journey”

Drew Harden’s opening keynote address is sure to be one of the most popular events of the conference, and for good reason. CARPROOF’s manager of research and insights starts Auto Remarketing Canada off with a bang as he explores “silent leads”, the relative importance of customer reviews in sales strategy, and different ways to do what everyone’s interested in doing — close more deals and increase referrals.

For any dealers who are at all interested in research into customer motivations, this talk is a can’t-miss event.

Kevin Coombs – “Consumers and the Car-Buying Process: Understanding & Fixing Pain Points”

Kevin Coombs is fascinated by critical pain points, and how they affect the customer journey. At Accu-Trade, pain points fascinate us too, so we’ll be closely listening to what TRADER Corp.’s Vice President of Analytics has to say. As the car purchasing journey moves online, some dealers aren’t meeting customer needs as well as they once did. This talk will focus on how dealers can better address those needs, as well as how they can differentiate themselves from the competition — in the eye of the customer.

We can’t wait to see all of our dealers at this year’s Auto Remarketing Canada conference! There is no shortage of knowledgeable auto industry experts out there, and it’ll be pretty incredible to have so many of them in the same place.

Let’s meet up at ARC! Get in touch with me by email at Logan@accu-trade.ca or text/call at 506.874.7355. It’s easy to schedule an appointment with me on Calendly too — can’t wait to see you at the conference!