DSES is right around the corner. If you have yet to attend DSES, I’ll step out from the line here and let you know that you ARE missing out on one of the best industry conferences to date.
Do yourself a favor, stop hesitating and Click Here to Register. Or Click Here to review the awesome agenda then Click Here to Register.
Why attended DSES? I believe I summed it up, right up there on the first paragraph but for you readers/dealers that are on the fence, I sat down with a long time friend Eric Miltsch (that just so happens to be Director of Product Strategy for Driving Sales) for a quick Q&A on why dealers should attend this years DSES.
UPDATE – Speaking with Jared and the Driving Sales team , due to our “special” relationship, we’re OFFERING DealerRefresh community members $200 OFF the registration. Use CODE: “DR12”
Jeff – Eric, some of the “other” industry conferences have been around awhile, and let’s face it, DSES is quite new to the scene. So let’s start off with a softball question for you. What is the DrivingSales Executive Summit?
Eric – I’m glad you started with that. 2012 actually marks the fourth year of DSES – the DrivingSales Executive Summit is the brainchild of our CEO, Jared Hamilton. I’ve often referred to Jared as the epicenter of the retail segment. He created DSES with the full intention of turning automotive conferences on their head and simply changing the experience for the professionals in attendance. It’s become the defacto standard as the most distinguished retail automotive event for dealership executives.
DSES was created to fuel dealers with cutting edge strategies and unique peer to peer collaboration. We aim to inspire like never before with the most most successful innovators from within our industry – and outside as well.
I recall asking you, six years ago, if I should attend another conference being advertised. Your response resonated – something along the lines of “No, you’ll be bored.” I heard dealers grumbling about being incessantly pitched and speakers missing the mark with stale presentations being packaged as cutting edge (I never forgot the conference intervention you gave me).
As a dealer I wanted to be wowed. I wanted to see how tomorrow’s vision could be put into action now. I wanted to come back to my store and be the hero with all the latest and greatest strategies. That’s exactly how Jared positioned it to me when he invited me to the first DSES. He described an opportunity for exclusive access to speakers such as Chris Brogan, Aaron Strout, Dennis Galbraith and a slew of other speakers who pushed the needle with bleeding-edge concepts and ideas.
DSES delivered and I was hooked.
Jeff – Wow, 6 years. Has it been that long? As you know I have attended each DSES to date and each one gets better and better. What have you guys done to make this year just as special or lets say BETTER, than years past?
Eric – Yes Jeff, 6 years – we’re getting old 🙂
Our entire team has been working hard, and smart, to raise the bar yet again. Last year’s automotive lineup was stellar and people such as Jason Falls and Gary Vaynerchuck set a new standard of automotive conference excellence.
I want dealers coming to DSES this year to expect to be bombarded with high-level, thought provoking insights with regards to mobile strategies, leadership concepts and rarely-heard insights surrounding data and marketing. We truly believe that we can help raise the quality of the products and services our industry provides. DSES can do so by bringing in the best and brightest minds within the areas we’ve identified as having some of the biggest impact on your business.
It’s going to be intense: Billy Beane, Luke Wroblewski, Florian Zettlemeyer, Jim Dance, Rand Fishkin, Doug Frisbie, Kate Balingit, Scott Stratten and Tom Salkowsky – that’s an amazing line-up of brainpower prepared to educate. Plus, we have 21 breakout workshop sessions the dealer community requested and voted to hear.
These workshops are designed around one simple concept: Open sharing of current best practices while delivering concise, actionable take-aways.
Jeff – That’s one hell of a line-up Eric. Seriously! What else is DSES doing to make a real impact on dealers?
Eric – One of my favorite segments is the Best Idea Contest and the Innovation Cup. Think of this session as an early-adopter’s toy store. Dealers present their best ideas with regards to new marketing solutions, technology installations and other creative ideas that have proven to drive success and demonstrate overall progress within their dealership experience.
It’s also a time for Vendors present their newest solutions during the Innovation Cup. Many of these companies have become the most award winning companies, are widely-used in dealerships across the country and a couple have even been acquired by industry giants. (DSES Bump?) Again, objectivity is the key here; on-stage judges grill the participants while dealers in the audience help with the judging.
This year we’ve also made Joe Webb’s infamous Internet debate a main stage event. This proved to be one of the most informative and entertaining breakout session from last year. Prepare for a fact-filled hour of the best information from industry heavy-hitters in the most unique Internet strategy debate you’ve ever seen. More audience participation and even more results for you.
I’m very excited about this year’s event as it’ll be my first since joining DrivingSales. We see the changes happening and how it’s impacting your business, this is our way of helping create the improvements you’re seeking. If you’re there, please stop by and say to me (Eric Miltsch), Dennis Galbraith, Jared Hamilton, Shaun Raines and Tom White Jr. We’d love to meet you and hear how we can make your DrivingSales Executive Summit experience as awesome as possible. Follow all the action online using hashtag #DSES.
Jeff – Eric, I’m not only excited for you but also excited for the dealers attending this awesome conference AND the opportunity to participate this this years Summit. I look forward to catching up with you and many others at #DSES!
Thanks for taking a few minutes to answer a few questions around DSES. Very much appreciated.
Side note: Myself and Malinda Terreri from 1to1 News will be hosting a session at DSES titled “Secrets of the Inbox: The New Evolution of Email” that Tuesday at 3pm. Malinda and I recgonize that dealers continue to struggle with One to One communication and Campaign Email Marketing. We will be covering MANY different topics around email marketing throughout this session. PLUS – we’ll have a few giveaways!
I’ll be posting more about our session in the near future.
Until then Click here to Register for DSES. UPDATE – Speaking with Jared and the Driving Sales team , due to our “special” relationship, we’re OFFERING DealerRefresh community members $200 OFF the registration. Use CODE: “DR12”
Are you attending the next Diving Sales Executive Summit?
