ATLANTA -

President Sandy Schwartz and other top Manheim executives recently hosted a two-day advisory board meeting for its top dealer customers from across the country. 

Encompassing a cross-section of franchised stores, independent lots and wholesalers, Manheim insisted the event served as a forum for discussion on industry trends and growth strategies, as well as an opportunity to discuss different business approaches and solutions to their common challenges.

The company insisted key to event success was early outreach to participants, asking for their input on topics they wanted to discuss and were interested in knowing more about. Manheim noted that it built the agenda using this feedback, ensuring dealer expectations were met and the time they invested was well spent.   

Through surveys and direct responses, dealers indicated they were most interested in:

—State-of-the-industry economic data and its implications for the future.
—Dynamic strategies, tools and channels for connecting and engaging with key customers.
—What role digital tools continue to play in the ever-evolving auction space.
—Opportunities to collaborate and discuss the market and its current challenges with peers.

“Manheim realizes that dealers — now more than ever — want partnerships that offer tangible value and deliver bottom-line results,” stated Nick Peluso, senior vice president of customer management for Manheim.

“Manheim is committed to finding new and better ways to help dealers address the new realities they are facing, while offering real solutions to help them succeed,” Peluso continued.

During a variety of presentations, break-out sessions and panel discussions at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead, Ga., the company recapped that attendees heard from a range of subject matter experts from Manheim. The cluster included Peluso, Schwartz, group vice president of Manheim Digital Joe George, chief economist Tom Webb, as well as teams from the consulting and digital groups that led break-out sessions.

“Our goal was to provide a compelling, deep-dive session for these top Manheim customers — one that would allow attendees to explore critical industry topics in a collaborative setting with their peers and get answers to their most pressing questions, straight from a knowledgeable and trusted source,” explained Susie Heins, vice president of dealer sales for Manheim.

Manheim mentioned that it held the meeting again this year due to last year’s success of the event and enthusiastic feedback of participants. The company plans to offer the Dealer Advisory Board meeting annually.

Heins added, “We look forward to collaborating with these attendees again, as the direct interaction allows us to gauge their real-time business needs and respond quickly with strategies, solutions and data that propels their business success.”