What can we say?  Orlando was great, a pleasant reprieve from the snow and ice in the River City.  Sounds weird to say but yes, it was nice to escape the winter weather in Richmond, Virginia to head south for this year’s NADA show.  Good times were abundant even if food poisoning kept one of us down a day.  The show still rocked.

A couple of minor random ramblings and assorted sundries (by request) on the heels of the show:

It’s great to see dealers ready to invest again!  Thanks go out to all the dealers who dropped by or we met out at the events of the weekend who spent some time to listen to our pitch and tell us about their business.  2010 is the return of Sell More; we want to know how we can drive your business and we appreciated your time over the weekend!

Digital media seemed to be a big buzz along with mobile applications and mobile access to dealer info at the show.  As a media guy with a passion for making the right kind of connection all I can say is “be wary of the vendors who talk but look a little wobbly in the walk.”  We sat in on several workshops that provided little data on why and how you can deploy the latest digital tactics.  Always be asking for the numbers behind the smoke screen and you’ll come out ok.

Kind of funny that several big vendors either before or on the heels of the show announced products or services that are years behind others.  Two come to mind:  RouteOne with a dealer finance app and Autobytel with a “dealer has more power over leads” tool.  Just so happens we have a finance app that validates and scores leads with integration into both RouteOne and DealerTrack based on how the dealer controls the routing.  Speaking of control, iControl? Autobytel has a new toy allowing dealers to measure third party lead sources and remove duplicates.  Our DOLLAR system has allowed dealers to remove duplicate leads and measure lead sources for years.  Welcome to the party guys.

Finally a big wake up call for me… As a guy still wet behind the ears in the auto retail market, I was awe struck at how smart dealers are and are getting.  Whether the recession has made us all look within to find more efficient ways to do business or there’s a new breed of dealer now coming up the ranks, the future of auto retail is looking much tighter than the past.  I don’t think anyone would argue about that being a bad thing.

Our hats are off to all of making through the bottom.  We’re ready to listen and grow your business with you in the trenches.  Let the real year now begin.

See you soon…