Every year NADA serves as a great place to see what is new in the world of automotive retailing. The flock of dealers who attend for the seminars and for the exhibition booths seem to go home armed with new ideas and a new attitude.

If you are a dealer attending NADA in Las Vegas this year, be sure you take the time to carefully investigate the products and services offered at the booths in the exhibition hall. At first glance, walking through the hall can be a lot like walking down the midway at a carnival. Dealers have to contend with booth workers hawking their wares. If you are a dealer, NADA gives you a colored badge that identifies you as a dealer. Booth workers watch carefully for these dealer colored badges. You are their target. It is kind of entertaining to watch the eyes of people manning the booths. You will find they scan the badges and ignore those that are not dealer badges.

Despite this environment that makes you feel like the target in an arcade duck shoot, the booths are a must see part of NADA. They are a goldmine of potential cash for any dealer. In these booths you will find products and services and systems that can greatly improve the profit of your dealership. Some services will save you money, some will make you money, and some will just improve the dealership for your customers. Learn to save money on your advertising, learn to do better at F&-I, learn to re-structure your management team-- the list goes on and on. The secret to taking advantage of the booths at NADA is to learn to handle the booth experience. Don't be intimidated by the booth workers, just listen to the ones you want to talk to, and say No Thanks to the ones you don't .

Sometimes it is necessary to listen to their pitch for a few seconds to figure out what they do. Often, exhibitors are great at their core business, but terrible at creating signage that explains what they do. Despite the drawbacks of the exhibition hall, it is still the best place for you to find the new ideas that will help you outsell your competition in your market. If you are attending NADA this year, I hope you will do a careful walk-through of the exhibition hall. This issue includes a map of the hall, and lists booths we think are must see at NADA.

The Dealer Marketing Magazine booth is #5636. We hope to see you there!