Kijiji Hosting their First Annual DealerTalk Conference for Canadian Auto Dealers

TORONTO January 31, 2013 // Kijiji Autos, Canada’s largest automotive site, has announced their first annual Canadian dealer conference DealerTalk, where high profile industry experts and motivational speakers will converge in Toronto on March 7 to help empower dealers to succeed, grow and build their business.

"The U.S. often hosts conferences like this, but the barrier to attend is high, with conference costs in the thousands plus the airfare," said Ryan Thompson, Head of Sales at Kijiji Autos. "We wanted to host something in Canada that's accessible to dealers, geographically centered, affordable and with great speakers."

With high profile speakers such as Grant Cardone, Automotive Sales Training Expert and New York Times bestselling author, and Scott Monty, global head of social media for Ford Motor Company, attendees will leave with renewed sales energy and refreshed marketing strategies for 2013.

“Too often business owners get distracted by what their competitors are doing instead of focusing on how to really master their space,” says sales expert Grant Cardone. “I’m thrilled to be part of Kijiji's first DealerTalk conference, so I can give Canadian dealers real insight and proven techniques on how to dominate their market in 2013.”

The conference offers a unique blend of experts in the automotive industry and beyond. Attendees will garner fresh business insights, digital marketing strategies, updated social media best practices and information on how to empower employees in a sales driven market.

“Most North American auto dealer conferences cater to a very small section of the dealer population. It is clear Kijiji has made a huge effort to ensure that the speakers and content at DealerTalk will be of value to everyone,” says Sach Raja, manager of Autodome in Mississauga. “Kijiji knows that the small independent dealers who have only 20 vehicles in stock are just as important as the superstores.”

DealerTalk is taking place downtown Toronto on March 7, 2013 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m at the Four Seasons. Full conference schedule is available at Dealertalk.ca.

Confirmed speakers & topics:

Grant Cardone – How to Dominate your Market in 2013

John Edelman – How I sell 5000 cars a year by empowering my staff, customers, and community

Scott Monty – TBC

Paul Potratz – Retargeting: Dealer strategies for recapturing potentially lost customers

Follow Kijiji on Facebook | Twitter | #DealerTalk2013

About Kijiji Autos

Kijiji Autos is the most visited car site in Canada with more than 4 million unique visitors per month (comScore, November 2012). On average, there are over 300,000 live listing of cars and trucks on Kijiji Autos, which users can search & refine, create custom alerts for, and save their favourite vehicles to a watchlist.

About Kijiji Canada

Kijiji, which means "village" in Swahili, is the number one classifieds site in Canada, connecting ten-million buyers and sellers each month. Kijiji.ca offers Canadians a free, easy, and local way to buy, sell, and trade goods and services in their community. With local sites for more than 100 cities and towns across the country, Kijiji makes it easy for Canadians to find exactly what they're looking for in their own community. Kijiji Canada is part of the eBay Classifieds Group, the global leader in online classifieds with a global presence in more than 20 countries and 1,000 cities.

First off I don't know why it has taken me so long to post something on DrivingSales.  I stumbled across a real game changer today that is taking place just a short drive east of the city (The City is Toronto and yes I'm in Canada!!!).

Running my own blog and also talking to dealers on a regular basis it seems that the "Social Media Manager" title is starting to spread through the industry like wild fire.  In general I would say the Canadian dealer body is aboooot  1-2 years behind our neighbours to the south in most things digital.  However, I have yet to see something like this at a dealership level.

I think this contest  Endras BMW is holding should get them some big love in the blogging community.  It's a pretty sweet deal to think you are going to be driving a new BMW , free rent, and $65,000 a year to be sent all over the place blogging and building their social media game.  What I would love to hear from DrivingSales is do you think this offer is worth it for the dealership.  You can outsource a lot of content writing and Social Media presence and I think with a $65,000.00 budget you could get the best in the industry working for you, without giving up a car and paying their rent.  

As you know it is so tough to put a price on a businesses Social efforts.  Be great to here from the regulars on here and see if they are

a) on to something

b) chasing fairy dust

c) the right mix

Here is the video: