What to do at your Next Dealer Meet – Train, Motivate, Reward

Evoma OMR is a luxury business hotel and business center that provides serviced offices, meeting rooms, boardrooms, training and other corporate event venues, all under one roof, in the same location.

This makes it an ideal venue for dealer meets, where all your dealers come together to listen, learn, share, and enjoy the pleasure of being part of your sales network.

 

dealer meet

What I’m going to do here is share the typical agenda of dealer meets that we have here all the time.

1. Opening keynote.

The “Keynote” is the opening and closing address at an event. The opening address is typically given to someone who is well-known to all the event attendees, someone whose name on the speaker list can in fact entice and motivate more people to attend the event.

It could be elected leaders and policy makers (ministers, mayors, high-level bureaucrats, etc.) who have a huge amount of influence over what is happening in the sector they regulate and legislate for. It could just as well be industry influencers or celebrities whom the attendees look up to, and will be inspired by.

2. Education and learning.

This is the meatiest part of your dealer meet event. There are different formats you can follow depending on the size and complexity of the learning, panels, presentations and workshops.

– Seek out feedback from your dealers about their biggest problems and challenges. This can be done before the event, or during it.

– Provide standardized training and skills upgrades for your dealers. It’s best if you have a certification program for accredited dealers and their employees.

– Some companies even arrange for their own team building exercises that show dealers how they can work with sales executives, distributors and other parts of the supply chain.

– Workshops and breakout sessions are the core part of this event. Have time slots before and after lunch for breakout sessions, so dealers can choose whichever session is most important for them. This is the only way to fit in a comprehensive agenda into a day or two.

3. Breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and networking.

Food is not just about providing attendees something to eat. The catering arranged at a dealer meet is a critical factor that decides the success of the event.

Healthy food at Evoma, Bangalore

If the food is good and attendees enjoy it, then you’ll get solid participation and good feedback. It also makes for good networking, and virtually ensures a high repeat attendance by your dealers at subsequent events.

seating arrangement for event with buffet

You can also offer one-on-one face time and meetings during the food and drinks breaks between your company executives and dealers, if the event seating allows for it.

4. Best practices and success stories.

This is what people come to hear at any industry event. Allow the most successful dealers to share their best practices, so that others can learn and follow the same guidelines and techniques. Have at least one or two trips to local dealers or businesses that showcase what you are trying to get the other dealers to do.

biz summit panel

Panels on the latest industry and dealership trends, technologies and automation processes, coupled with demonstrations and exhibits, are the most interesting and talked-about parts of your event agenda.

5. Awards and rewards program.

This is what makes dealers sign up to attend dealer meets. Food and drinks, and free hotel stays will draw your dealers to the meet, and then some light entertainment on the agenda (song and dance routines, roasts, standup comedy, etc.) will lighten the mood and keep them interested. A tourist excursion to famous local attractions and restaurants is also recommended.

The highlight of the last day, or the evening of a single-day dealer meeting, is the Award Ceremony. Reward the top performers by calling them on stage and honoring them with awards and prizes. This recognition and the rewards they get will keep your top dealers happy, and it will make the rest eager to do the same and collect their own rewards.

award winner

6. Closing keynote.

The closing keynote is more of a roundup of what happened at the event, along with a prognosis and prediction for the future. It needs an industry expert who can speak as one of you, and yet is an influential enough business leader whose thoughts and analysis are valued by all the attendees.

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