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Every year after our User Summit, we say “This was the best User Summit ever!” This year was no different. It may sound disingenuous, but honestly—our Customer User Summits just keep getting better!
Spanning three beautiful October days in Nashville, the User Summit offered Auto/Mate’s customers a variety of educational workshops, presentations and training sessions. Attendees walked away knowing how to better utilize our dealership management system (DMS) to implement more efficient processes in their dealerships.
Nearly 300 people were in attendance. Standout sessions include the evolution of Desk/Mate and F&I, an overview of the new Parts Module, putting data to work with Report/Mate and the art of the eDEAL. Attendees learned best practices and in-depth overviews of Auto/Mate’s newest DMS features designed to increase productivity.
One highlight of the event was the keynote presentation from Rick Parmelee, partner at the accounting firm blumshapiro. His session “2035 Future of the Industry” revealed recent research on how key industry disruptors are expected to impact auto dealerships. Trends include changes in franchise laws, ride sharing, autonomous vehicles and changes affecting fixed operations.
Our customers also had opportunities to network, attend happy hours and give suggestions to Auto/Mate’s software developers. New this year was the addition of customer support tables, where customers could meet one-on-one with support staff.
Auto/Mate’s User Summit was possible thanks to support from the following exhibitors and sponsors: 700Credit, AIB, CarFax, DealerOps, Dealer Scanning, DocuBizz, etfile, Great America Financial Services, Halo Branded Solutions, kimoby, Macrosmith, Northeast Auto Inventories, RouteOne, Scan123, ScanIt Parts, StoneEagle F&I, Text2Drive, Traffic Control, OneView, UpdatePromise, Vision Dealer Solutions and Worldpay from FIS.
In addition to all the education and networking, User Summit attendees soaked in all that Nashville has to offer. The Westin Nashville was a beautiful venue with wonderful amenities including a gym, spa, and rooftop bar with city wide views, which was the location for the Thursday night happy hour. The customer service from the hotel staff was outstanding.
The Westin Nashville is also within walking distance to the Bridgestone Arena (home to the Nashville Predators Hockey team), Music City Walk of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Broadway (Honky Tonk Central), and so much more!
The Westin Nashville was a beautiful venue with wonderful amenities and service. The weather was perfect for those who wanted to get out and explore. What more could you ask for?
Well, apparently some attendees had some ideas. We received feedback and suggestions for next year’s User Summit, which we are mulling over. Our goal is to continue to make this event better every year, so we can continue to say “This was the best User Summit ever!”
Auto/Mate’s 2020 User Summit is scheduled for October 21-23, 2020 at the Westin Nashville. For more information, email [email protected].
We really appreciate the feedback from our customer attendees, sponsors and exhibitors. Here’s a selection of quotes that may help you decide whether it’s worth your time to attend and participate next year.
Great Summit! It’s a pleasure to work with a company that I feel in my heart is committed to our success—W.C. Smith, Vice President, Monument Chevrolet
All the staff from Auto/Mate involved in this event are very friendly and helpful, answered questions or directed you to the people who could answer them. Every year we learn something new regarding the computer system. Thanks again for another great conference—Heather Nichols, Service Advisor, Kunes Auto Group
I enjoyed the conference very much. It was the first conference that I have attended and I was impressed with the ability to interact with everyone from Auto/Mate—Lisa Spencer, Controller, Buckeye Ford, Inc.
This event was very useful for me to learn what Auto/Mate is developing and what I can ask for help with. The round tables were great and they helped me a lot—Bobbie Nicoletti, Accounting, Laurel Auto Group
This Summit was so very informative with features I presently have but didn’t know about. The new roll-outs coming are exciting, especially Parts. I even learned a few tricks to make my end of month less stressful. Ken Rock rocks! So glad I was able to attend. Will be back next year!!!—Susan Croft, Office Manager, Belknap Subaru
I thought the event was very well planned and I got a lot of info. Always good to hear other users’ comments. Auto/Mate presenters did a great job. Bob Reepmeyer is a wealth of knowledge and a please to work with—Fran Bain, Service Manager, Rensselaer Honda
Well run event, ran very smoothly, very informative and great place to network. Thank you!—Jim Brown, CFO, Price Auto Group
This was the first summit I attended. I thought it was very organized and very informative!—Shirley Quinn, Fixed Ops Director, Laurel Auto Group
You guys do an amazing job presenting these User Summits. They are the most useful events I attend—Bill Klein, Parts Manager, Desoto Auto Mall
Picked up a few good ideas and some enhancements that I was not aware of. Thank you—Dennis Pynaert, Service Manager, Gates Automotive Group
Overall it was a great event!!!—Matt Keene, General Sales Manager, Baglier Buick GMC
Well worth the time -thank you—Patrick Dunn, Internet Sales Manager, Inskeep Ford
We’ve been attending the Auto/Mate User Summit for several years now and wouldn’t consider missing it. Why? Their dealers attend in large numbers, and these people come to the Summit to find out how to maximize their DMS, what’s the latest, greatest applications, who’s changed their offerings for the better. We always sell new dealers, and we always cross sell existing dealers into our newest, latest products. This event is locked on our schedule—John Warner, Vice President, National Accounts and Business Development, 700Credit
We thoroughly enjoyed the event and everything went smoothly for us. The location and accommodations were great and we really enjoyed the system of having each attendee stop by the booth for a signature. Anything like that, that you can do to help the vendors get some facetime with the attendees is incredibly appreciated—Max Troyer, Sales Manager, Vision Dealer Solutions
I thought the event went very well. Your organizers did an awesome job in keeping everything in order and answering questions. Thank you for allowing us to participate….Kevin Grayson, Regional Business Development Manager, RouteOne
Kudos, you guys were amazing – probably one of the most valuable conferences for vendors and users I’ve attended (NADA, Digital Dealer and other roundtables)—Cesar Augustus, Dealer Scanning
The Auto/Mate User Summit is a great place to meet customers in a friendly and casual environment. We also have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with prospects to present our amazing product integration with Auto/Mate—Alex Wojcik, VP of Sales & Co-founder, Kimoby