AADA Exhibitors Percepta Talk About their AADA Experience.

AADA exhibitor and 'supporting actor' Leigh Barnes from Percepta has a few words of his own about his experience at this year's AADA Convention.


Aside from discovering he has a hidden talent as a manicurist, Leigh took some great experiences away with him and made some good contacts for future business.


Percepta - AADA Convention - Customer management/contact centre specialists

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Photos: The Trade Village

 The Trade Village buzzing with exhibitors, delegates and food!

It was the central hub of the Convention where colleagues, connections and customers could take some time out in between the presentations and enjoy some of the great cakes and lunches on offer. 

The Team at Salefest saying 'hi' to their customers

Patrick Tessier from Salefest is considering hiring Mr T

Pentana Solutions had the A-Team on their side

The Trade Village

Allen Slev PMA

Vital Software demonstrating their Contact Tracker

David Lloyd from Drive

Steve at Autoline

AADA NATIONAL DEALER CONVENTION TRADE VILLAGE REPORT 4

The final Trade Village Report rounded off nicely with Kirsten Anderson at Corporate Blue talking about the upcoming 2011 NADA trip to San Francisco. The NADA trip is always popular; with dealers gaining a good insight into the technologies and innovations that is happening across the US auto industry.

Steve Bungay at Envision IT Autoline took a few moments out to tell us about what Autoline can do for dealers. The  Autoline dealer management system offers great scalability and can be customised for large or small dealerships. They also offer IBM solutions with remote backup.

Kristy from Shopwatch told us about the great benefits of the Shopwatch system, which is a service scheduling program that has call centre capabilities and is also an efficient communications program.

The team from Salefest were of course on hand to talk about their suite of products and play around with helium balloons too. 

While everyone knows that Salefest is the premier advertising and marketing agency in the auto industry and offers a full range of traditional media, Salefest also has a range of e-business solutions that are cost effective, personalised and offer measurable results. The new products that had everyone talking was the digital shopping cart that dealers can use to sell items through their website, and also the e-catalogue that is a sleek, convenient and extremely cost effective way for a dealer to promote their stock to t heir database.

Finally, MotorOne took this opportunity to have some fun with David Martin who had an absolutely fantastic response at this year’s AADA Convention. If you didn’t catch David Martin at AADA, check out this video and also get booking for his seminars in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane starting tomorrow!

AADA NATIONAL DEALER CONVENTION TRADE VILLAGE REPORT 3

At the third Trade Village Report, Leigh and Amanda at Percepta were keen to tell us about their boutique call centre and telemarketing service and how they're helping dealers with customer retention. Leigh is also a skilled manicurist and had a go at fixing up my nails for me.

Auto-Tub are helping the Australian economy and environment with their 100 percent Australian manufactured and owned vehicle washing systems and water recycling plants. They recycle up to 85 percent of their water which is a big environmental plus. Ron Dodds from Auto-Tub also pointed out that it costs just a  few cents to wash each car with their systems, making this a very attractive product!

David Holmes from CarBuddy.com.au won't have any difficulty in promoting their site which offers free listings for car dealers - a luxury that is paid for by manufacturers advertising.However, the opportunity to win a bottle of Johnny Walker no doubt brought car dealers to their stand just a little quicker.

The guys at Crowe Horwath, Colin and Christopher had a few giveaways for anyone stopping by their stand to chat about their company, which is the fifth largest accounting, tax and advisory firm in Australia, with their strength laying in the advisory side.

The Trade Village is proving to be a fantastic hub filled with a great selection of innovative products and services for Australia's auto dealers.

AADA NATIONAL DEALER CONVENTION TRADE VILLAGE REPORT 2

Pentana Solutions has been a great supporter of the AADA National Dealers Convention for 22 years now and the Trade Village has been made possible with their generous sponsorship. Rick from Pentana took a few moments to chat to us about their presence at this year's Convention.

Data Miner was one of the exhibitors and MD Tim Clark shouted us a slushi and told us his CRM system which has a unique scripting feature to help your sales and service staff navigate their way through phone calls with your customers, optimising sales opportunities.

The lovely Gary Haseldine has been a supporter of the Australian auto industry for over 25 years, helping raise the positive self image of dealers and their staff in corporate or one-on-one sessions. His methods are surprising; with fun and unusual techniques that you won't forget in a hurry. Seriously, you have to speak to him for just a few minutes to understand what I mean.

AADA NATIONAL DEALER CONVENTION TRADE VILLAGE REPORT 1

Watch AADA TV's Trade Village Report for a closer look at who we met and what they had to offer.

Sebastian and Malcolm at Kärcher were on hand to make the whole world clean again with their range of state-of-the-art professional cleaning products that will vacuum, wash and filter their way through your dealership.

We passed by 360 Degree Focus and had a chat to Tony Gunn who showed us a few new products they have on offer including the very yummy Charlies Cookies that come in a tub and have your company logo on the lid which makes a treat for your customers.

Brendan Bates at Infomedia told us about their range of product which are seling solutions, super service menus and micro cap market which help dealers price and sell parts and sell service. They also had a simulator car at the stand which is just asking to be driven - although it may help if you can drive, as I sadly found out.

And everyone's favourite barista Serge was on hand at the Carsguide.com.au stand serving up the freshest cup of coffee in the building. There's nothing like kicking back to read the newspaper and enjoy a good coffee, so Carsguide was a very popular exhibit indeed.

TRADING UP

The first morning at AADA kicked off well with the Pentana Solutions Trade Village exhibitors who were bursting to tell us about themselves.

Pentana Solutions has been a foundation sponsor for 22 years at AADA and is passionate about supporting the Australian automotive indusrty, so big thanks to the guys at Pentana Solutions for being such a crucial part of the Trade Village.

We couldn't start our day without stopping by the Carsguide.com.au stand for a fresh, barista made coffee made by the lovely Serge. Serge is originally from Bordeaux so knows a thing or two about decent wine, but his 38 years as a professional barista has put him at the top of his game here in Australia, making great coffee for the refined Australian tastes. Merci Serge, and thanks Carsguide.com.au for giving us a good wake up in the morning.

Serge preparing a coffee kick at Carsguide.com.au

A familar face with auto dealers is Gary Haseldine who is the founder of the Hole in One Club and Positive Mind Management. Within seconds of talking to Gary you feel relaxed, calm and positive, so it would be interesting to spend a whole day with him on one of his corporate days. I know the team at Salefest has spent an hour in Gary's hands and they came back to work enthused and charged with a feeling they could do anything. 

Me with Gary Haseldine

In fact, two members of the Salefest team told Gary that day they wanted to give up smoking, and lo and behold, that is what they have done. If Gary can seperate those two hardened smokers from their 25 a day habit, think what he could for your sales team.

There's more to come from the Trade Village later.