Energize and empower your employees at MDCE 2014

MINNEAPOLIS, September 15, 2014 — With day-to-day dealership operations requiring so much attention to detail and focus on the minutia of each individual sale, it’s easy to overlook a key factor to overall dealership success: The investment, engagement and satisfaction of your employees.

At the 2014 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, taking place Nov. 16-19 in Orlando, Fla., MDCE favorite Sam Dantzler returns to the conference for the third year running to help dealership principals understand the building blocks for creating a strong, committed and invested team of dealership employees that are fired up about making your dealership the best and most profitable in the business.

In his MDCE session, “ESI Fuels CSI,” Dantzler explores the behavioral science behind employee motivation and engagement, discusses the link between Employee Satisfaction Index and the Customer Satisfaction Index, and explains how to strengthen the bond with your current dealership team, picking up strategies for helping employees see your business through “owner’s eyes.”

Attendees will walk away from Dantzler’s session with an understanding of what drives team cohesiveness and a template for reproducing it in the dealership. The session takes place Wednesday, Nov. 19 from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. ET as part of MDCE’s Leadership Track.

“The most important investment a dealership can make is in its people,” explains Liz Walz, director of education for the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, which produces the annual event in partnership with Boating Industry. “Having happy, loyal and engaged employees means they are more likely to bring that energy and enthusiasm to their interactions with customers, which ultimately leads to increased customer satisfaction and more sales. Sam is an authority on employee engagement and brings this expertise to MDCE, sharing with attendees his strategies for communicating with employees, making them feel like contributing members of the business, and helping them appreciate the challenges of running a marine retail operation.”

Dantzler, a noted speaker and sales expert who works with companies like Harley-Davidson and Triumph Motorcycles, has been a retail sales trainer since 2000 and offers dealers in the marine and powersports industries valuable tips and advice through his popular training website, Sam’s Powersports Garage.

Each of the 2014 MDCE educational tracks — Sales, Marketing, Leadership and Service Plus — has a total of five sessions. The Leadership Track includes sessions covering everything from Dantzler’s advice about understanding employee engagement and motivation, to improving dealership decision-making, creating a strategic plan, and protecting your business, your family and your wealth, among other topics.

“Sam is one of MDCE’s most highly rated speakers,” says Boating Industry editor-in-chief Jonathan Sweet. “He knows how to command an audience, and his expertise on building a strong dealership team is something no dealership principal can afford to miss.”

The 2014 MDCE will offer 30 educational sessions in all, the most the event has ever offered, including seven Pre-Conference Workshops. The conference has traditionally included three educational tracks, but in 2014, it has expanded to four tracks: Leadership, Sales, Marketing and Service Plus. A Closing Keynote address also has been added this year.

The MDCE is scheduled for Nov. 16-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. It has attracted an increasing number of dealers every year since 2007. In 2013, MDCE featured double-digit growth in dealer attendance, for a total of 615 marine retail professionals. MRAA’s goal is to grow the event to more than 1,000 dealer attendees. To learn more, visit MRAA.com/MDCE.