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2021 Summit: Day 2 Recap

Today’s Summit began with the opening general session, with a welcoming from AED’s President and CEO Brian McGuire and Chairman Ron Barlet of Bejac Corporation. AED’s 2021 Chairman, Craig Drury of Vermeer Canada was sworn into office. Awards were also presented at the opening session, including: 

• Acknowledgment of P. E. MacAllister Democracy Award and Morton R. Hunter, Sr. Distinguished Industry/Association Contribution Award  winner Wes Stowers of Stowers Machinery 

• Presentation of Paul D. (Bud) Hermann Emerging Leaders Award winner Meredith Newman of  Newman Tractor 
• Presentation of The Chairman’s Award winner Michael Brennen of Brandeis Machinery & Supply Co. 

The session continued with an OEM Panel, sponsored by e-emphasys. The panel was led by Michael Marks as the moderator and included panelist Doug Hundt, Industrial President of Vermeer Corporation, Jason Daly, Global Director of Marketing and Support at John Deere Construction and Forestry, Stephen Roy, President of Volvo Construction Equipment North America, Kristen Girard, Distribution Director of West and Canada Doosan Bobcat NA, Mike Ballweber, President of Doosan Bobcat NA, and Tim Tripas, VP & GM of CE Division at Komatsu North America Corporation.

After the panel, the CONDEX ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to kick off the event, which ran from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. 

Two media events took place that include hosting Congresswoman Dina Titus to discuss infrastructure and The AED Foundation hosted a media event shortly after, which detailed the findings of AEDF’s latest research report.  

The second day of professional education sessions began in the afternoon, with the first block of sessions consisting of leadership, management, product support, sales, rental, and Canada. 

The day’s first rental session, Your Rental Department Needs to Grow Up! was run by Larry Kaye of Script International. The session focused on the why, when and how dealers should segregate rental activity from the sales department. 

The product support session, The Customer Service Process, presented by George Russell of Machinery Advisors Consortium, detailed the importance of customer service to keep internal and external customers happy. Russell explained a step-by-step customer service process for running a successful dealership. DPL Telematics sponsored this product support session. 

Bob Collins of BuildForce Canada ran the Canadian session, Eastern Canada: The Economic Outlook. Collins provided the audience with predictions for the construction industry’s future based on the current economic situation in Eastern Canada due to COVID-19. 

Tuesday’s first leadership session, Negotiation Strategies for Formal and Informal Dispute Resolution aka Let’s Make a Deal, was hosted by Mark Leitner, Joseph Goode, & John Halpin of Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC. and sponsored by TARGIT. The session covered risk avoidance and mitigation, negotiation tips and dispute resolution. 

Todd Cohen of SalesLeader LLC ran the first management session, Management to Leadership: It’s Mindset Not Just Metrics. Rhodes gave insight on how attendees can systemize their sales processes, scale their successes and learn from selling mistakes. 

The first management session, Management to Leadership: It’s Mindset Not Just Metrics was run by Todd Cohen of SalesLeader LLC. Cohen detailed the mindset of successful leaders and gave the audience tips on how to set yourself up for growth and success. 

The second block of education sessions included sessions on rental, leadership, product support, technology, Canada and management. 

The second educational block’s management session, Unleashing the Power of Your Employees, was held by Sara Hey of Bob Clements International. This session focused on providing attendees with insight on how to improve employee performance. Hey detailed possible causes for employees to become unmotivated at work, and provided a plan to help management inspire employees, allowing them to develop the skills needed for the business to succeed. 

The day’s technology session, Amazon Business is Coming for the Construction Industry: What You Need to Know was hosted by Luke Powers of Gearflow and sponsored by Trimble. Powers dove into how Amazon can affect the equipment industry and what attendees can do for their company to successfully compete online. 

The second leadership session of the day, sponsored by TARGIT, included a session hosted by Marc Johnson & Clinton Baker of K·Coe Isom, titled, Never Put All Your Money on 7, but Maybe on These 7 Key Principles. The session gave the audience 7 principles to focus on to position their organization’s next generation of leaders for success. 

The day’s second rental session, Benchmarking Rental for Performance Management, hosted by Dick Stewart of Stewart Consulting, reviewed the findings of AED’s first rental study and discussed the methods dealers currently utilize in their rental strategies and business models. 

The second Canadian session of the day was focused on Western Canada. Bob Collins of BuildForce Canada, hosted the session, titled, Western Canada: Economic Outlook. Collins gave an analysis of Western Canada’s economic situation and provided predictions for what to expect in the future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The second product support session of the day, Lifecycle of a Part: Key Decision Points, was hosted by Bill Mayes of Machinery Advisors Consortium and sponsored by DPL Telematics. Mayes detailed the importance of understanding where a part is in its life cycle in order to satisfy customers and get the most out of your dealership’s investment. 

The final event of the day was the Women in Equipment Distribution networking session.  

Thanks to our generous sponsors of the educational sessions, Trimble, DPL, and TARGIT. We hope all virtual and live attendees enjoyed Summit day 2, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow for day 3!