Auto/Mate’s annual User Summit in San Antonio was its most successful to date. The three-day event offered 145 Auto/Mate customers a variety of workshops, presentations, and training sessions designed to help them better utilize their dealership management system (DMS) and increase productivity. Representatives from 17 exhibitors and sponsors also attended the event, along with 20 staff from Auto/Mate.
“As much as we’ve come to expect it, the extent to which our customer base loves us still wows us,” said Mike Esposito, president and CEO of Auto/Mate. “We got numerous unsolicited comments from customers on how great our employees are, how much they love doing business with us and how happy they are to be an Auto/Mate customer. Hiring ‘car people’ really matters.”
Standout sessions included previews of software updates in the pipeline, as well as demonstrations of Auto/Mate’s newest updates and features; most notably the parts program, e-signature capture, AMPS mobile and cashiering.
“I enjoyed every segment I attended and learned something new in each one. It was a great time to meet fellow dealers and learn from them as well,” said Walt Sicard, president of Walt Sicard Car Company. “The Auto/Mate team was awesome as always. This was a very informative and enjoyable event.”
A highlight of the User Summit was the keynote from Larry Schlagheck with WardsAuto. The presentation, titled Dealers Selling Autonomous Vehicles: When is it Really Going to Happen, summarized data from a recent WardsAuto study. According to Schlagheck, the year 2030 is a more realistic timeframe than many current projections for 2020, to expect fully autonomous vehicles to meet safety standards and be available for consumers to purchase.
Other highlights of the event included sponsored happy hours, meals and other networking opportunities for Auto/Mate’s dealership customers.
Auto/Mate’s User Summit would not have been possible without support from the following exhibitors and sponsors: WardsAuto, RouteOne, Kimoby, AIB, DealerOps, etfile, DocuBizz, ScanIt Parts, Halo Branded Solutions, Great America Financial Services, 700 Credit, Darwin Automotive, CARFAX, Traffic Control CRM, Worldpay, Scan123, Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, Northeast Auto Inventories and One View.
“This conference was outstanding as it brought the dealers, DMS vendor and third-party vendors together to share ideas and visions that help everyone better serve their customers,” said Michael Kinnear, account executive with Scan123. “This is a must-attend event!”
The three-day User Summit ran Nov. 7-9 in San Antonio, TX. Auto/Mate’s next Customer User Summit will take place in the fall of 2019. For more information, email [email protected].
Links:
Auto/Mate User Summit
