AAPEX Learning Forum Offers Education for All Aftermarket Segments

The Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) Learning Forum will feature 30 education sessions with specific classes recommended for general aftermarket audiences, warehouse distributors, manufacturers, retailers, auto repair shops and parts stores. Sessions will take place throughout AAPEX, Tuesday, Nov. 1 through Thursday, Nov. 3, at the Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV.

Twenty-eight of the 30 Learning Forum sessions are offered at no-cost. The two additional Lunch & Learn sessions: “Not More Social Media! The Continuing Evolution of Social Media Integration within Marketing Campaigns,” and “New Fuel Technologies: Plug Into Profits with Electric and Hybrid Cars,” require registration and a $25 per person fee.

All sessions will be accredited by the University of the Aftermarket and earn continuing education units (CEUs) toward the Automotive Aftermarket Professional (AAP) and Master Automotive Aftermarket Professional (MAAP) professional designations.

Sessions will be held at the Venetian Hotel, on the Venetian/Palazzo Congress Center Level 1, Marco Polo Rooms 701-706. The Lunch & Learn sessions will be held in Marco Polo Rooms 801/802. For information on any of the following sessions and the Learning Forum, visit the AAPEX website, www.aapexshow.com.

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011
• 2012 Aftermarket Outlook
• Increasing Your Competitive Advantage by Communicating a Stronger Philosophy/Positioning Within Your Markets
• Import Parts Explosion: Are You Taking Your Share?
• Market Intelligence: Don’t Do Business Without It!
• The Four Critical Steps to Increasing Your Sales Management Leadership and Team’s Selling Success
• Not More Social Media! The Continuing Evolution of Social Media Integration within Marketing Campaigns (Lunch and Learn session)
• Building Successful Categories for Aftermarket Products
• Your Business and Your Market Are Being Affected by Your State Legislature
• QR Codes 101: What Are They and How Can They Grow Your Business?
• Advances in Aftermarket Data Standards8 New Vehicle Technologies and their Impact on the Future

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011
• You’ll Love Working Here! The Performance Power of Workplace Culture
• Packaging That Attracts Consumers: Winning Ideas to Generate Sales in the Automotive Aftermarket
• Salespeople are from Venus: Installers are from Mars
• Emerging Business Models: New Pathways to Growth and Profit
• Selling Process Techniques: The New Age of Selling
• New Fuel Technologies: Plug Into Profits with Electric and Hybrid Cars (Lunch & Learn)
• 2012 Aftermarket Outlook
• 5 Trends in 5 Minutes: Trends Affecting the Aftermarket Environment
• Your People Are Your Profits – How to Guide Your Employees to be Efficient, Effective and Extraordinary
• How a Revived Auto Industry & Continued Emergence of Import Nameplates Will Shape Aftermarket Decision Making
• Accessing Repair Information on Today’s Vehicles and the Role of NASTF
• Making Packaging a Team Player in Brand Protection

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011
• Advantages of Internet Access in the Repair Shop to Increase Productivity
• Inside the Shop of Tomorrow and Aftermarket Telematics
• Collaboration: Building Stronger Buyer/Supplier Relations
• Mode $06 Data and Drive Cycle Diagnostics
• Customer Relationship Management for Repair Shops: The Myths and Facts
• Share the Knowledge – Gain the Profits
• Catalytic Converter OBD II Diagnosis

About AAPEX
AAPEX represents the $395 billion global motor vehicle aftermarket, and is jointly sponsored by the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA). For more information, visit www.aapexshow.com or e-mail [email protected].

When Your Shop Is Worth Much More Than You Thought

Although every sale of a shop in which I am involved has its own unique set of circumstances, which makes my job both very interesting and very challenging, Cowden Automotive stands out as particularly memorable because I was able to demonstrate to the long-time owner, Paul Cowden, that his business was worth about three times what he had initially thought.

Case Study: Owner of San Francisco-based Import Service Shop Delighted to Discover Just How Valuable His Business is to Qualified Buyers
I sometimes share case studies of the clients I have been able to assist in my role as an aftermarket business broker and provider of intermediary and advisory services. I do that when I think the story will provide a reader in similar circumstances with new insights or helpful information.
In the case of Cowden Automotive, Inc., I acted in a consulting capacity assisting the owner and his broker in valuing the business, creating a marketing plan, finding a qualified buyer, and arranging financing for the sale.
Although every sale of a shop in which I am involved has its own unique set of circumstances, which makes my job both very interesting and very challenging, Cowden Automotive stands out as particularly memorable because I was able to demonstrate to the long-time owner, Paul Cowden, that his business was worth about three times what he had initially thought.
Needless to say, delivering that kind of good news to a shop owner is a rewarding experience. Discovering that the sale of his business would result in his retirement nest-egg being substantially larger than he had ever thought was a fitting tribute to someone who had spent his entire working career as a busy automotive service shop owner.

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