MADA will host our annual Golf Outing and Crab Feast at Queenstown Harbor on the Eastern Shore on Wednesday, September 12, 2012. Registration forms were sent out earlier this week. Please reserve your spot on the course today and we will see you in September!

Download a Registration Form here  

We wish to thank the following Associate members who have agreed to sponsor this year's Golf Outing and Crab Feast:

Adstrategies

American Fidelity

Bel Air Auto Auction

bgr CPA's

Comcast Spotlight

Councilor Buchanan & Mitchell, CPA's

CVR

Federated Insurance

Helion Automotive Technologies

IWIF

Kelly Integral Solutions

HealthPlan Headquarters

Motor Trend Auto Shows, Inc.

PNC Bank

SunTrust Bank

Baltimore Sun Media Group/Cars.com

Washington Gas Energy Service

Zurich 

"This seminar was awesome! This is the best seminar that I've been to in my 81/2 years in the business!"

Talk about praise! Last week, MADA hosted dealership sales guru and top-industry consultant, Chip Thomas, who presented his one-day seminar to rave reviews. Mr. Thomas first joined MADA at our 2012 Summer Convention in Cambridge. His short presentation there was such a hit, that we decided to bring him back. A salesman himself, Chip's presentation is based on his personal experiences in the dealership over a 31 year career. His techniques are time-proven and are applicable to every salesperson across the country.   

Chip Thomas driving home the point that your goals must be S-M-A-R-T.

Post-seminar evaluations contained the highest praise and positive reviews. On a scale of 1 to 5, every single attendee rated the seminar at the very highest rating. Because his techniques are so easy to apply, we anticipate increased sales from those dealerships who sent their salespeople to attend the seminar. Due to the high praise that last week's seminar received, we hope to bring him back in the future. Some of the praise and comments from attendees included the following:

"Thank you Chip. I know this seminar will help me to improve my career." - Salesperson, Shockley Honda

"It's easy to believe in Chip's material because it works for him. He was an engaging speaker, one of the best that I've been to." - Salesperson, Boyle Buick GMC Truck

"The topics of negotiating and closing the sale and self-marketing were really informative." -Salesperson, Plaza Ford

"All the information was real and useful. I feel like twice the salesperson walking out as I did walking in." -Salesperson, Hagerstown Honda

"Very good and relevant material that transcends time and careers." -Salesperson, Chevy Chase Nissan

When we decide to bring Chip back to Maryland, we urge every dealership to attend. You won't want to miss out on this opportunity the second time around!

MADA Associate member, Injured Workers Insurance Fund (IWIF), which provides workers compensation insurance for many Maryland based members of the association, will become Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Company effective October 1, 2013. Under it's new name, Chesapeake will be a private, nonprofit, non-stock corporation that will continue to provide worker's compensation insurance only to Maryland businesses.  If you have further questions regarding this changed, please visit this document for FAQ.  

#1: How to Protect Your Dealership DMS from Harmful Employee-Installed Software! 

Date/Time: Thursday, August 16 at 1:00 p.m.

Presenter: Erik Nachbahr, President, Helion Automotive Technologies  

Cost: $149.00 per person

Investigators have already discovered one Georgia dealership in which employees had installed infamous "Peer-to-Peer" file sharing software, resulting in the compromising of personal information of 95,000 customers.

Data exposed included names, addresses, S.S. numbers, birth dates and driver's license numbers, all of it originating from rogue software innocently installed by dealership staff members!

Good News!  It can all be controlled!  In this webinar, you will learn what software causes the problems and how to make sure it does not sneak onto your dealership systems!

You will Learn:

• The importance of "locking down" your PCs so that P2P (Peer-to-Peer) software applications cannot be installed.
• How "Smartfilter" can limit access to the Internet and prevent access to known "bad" sites.
• The importance of having the right "firewall" in place to prevent unauthorized access to your system.
• The value of "P2P Blocking Applications.  Symnatec has ID'd over 50 suspect P2P software applications that should be blocked.
• Why limiting local admin access should be part of your compliance program.
• The danger of having employees bringing their own devices for use on dealership systems.
• How to comply with government system security regulations.   

#2: Strategies and Tools to Shrink Work-In-Progress and Unapplied Labor!  

Date/Time: Thursday, August 23 at 1:00 p.m.

Presenter: Rob Campbell of The Mironov Group

Cost: $149.00 per person

Featuring a practical discussion of both the accounting issues and practical steps to help eliminate WIP and Unapplied Labor in your Service Department, this webinar will focus on the following:

• How adjusted costs impact your profitability and gross retention
• All about the five primary causes of a growing WIP account
• How to identify and understand the interaction of all the accounts involved and how they should be functioning to keep these accounts under control
• How to get to the bottom of WIP in your shop and trace the source of errors
• What systems are available to help minimize your Unapplied Labor adjustments
• How to make the right decisions on WIP write-offs, reductions and other corrective changes
• How to whittle the WIP and Unapplied Labor problems down to size and save the bottom line! 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!

Chesapeake Environmental Group, Inc. Providing environmental consulting to dealerships. 1329 Wildwood Beach Road, Baltimore, MD 21221. Bernard Bingham, President, (410) 686-8070 or email: bernardbingham@comcast.net.