Are you hunting for a new job? The “Positions Available” section in the SEMA Member Classifieds lists more than 50 job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest classifieds posted to the website.

• Local Motors, located in Chandler, Arizona, is hiring a CAD programmer to provide support for development efforts requiring CAD and evaluate and advise on new CAD tools and equipment. The successful candidate will have industry experience in CAD development and working in a PDM or PLM environment. The ability to work in both parametric and non-parametric platforms is a plus.

• RealTruck.com, located in Fargo, North Dakota, is hiring a social media community manager to engage the company's fans, customers and partners via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Plus, Pinterest and other popular social media sites. The successful candidate will have a background in marketing, communications, public relations or a related field, and experience managing social channels on behalf of a business or brand.

• Motovicity Distribution, located in Madison Heights, Michigan, is hiring a bilingual sales representative (French and English) to grow an established account base by calling on existing customers to strike up business concentrating on performance and 12-volt products. The ideal candidate is an auto enthusiast with at least one year of previous sales experience in a fast-paced call-center environment and has working knowledge of automotive parts and the industry.

• Power Stop LLC, located in Bedford Park, Illinois, is hiring a technical customer service representative to manage customer questions and concerns with professional, efficient, courteous and timely service. Personal or professional experience with auto parts and working on automobile brake systems is mandatory for this position.

View more listings from SEMA's Automotive Classifieds listings.

By SEMA Staff

The deadline for members to submit their SEMA Hall of Fame nominations is Friday, March 22, 2013. The SEMA Hall of Fame Award honors outstanding persons in the automotive specialty-equipment industry whose creativity, dignity, integrity, industriousness and accomplishments on a national basis have enhanced the stature of and significantly contributed to the industry’s growth.

A rule of thumb to qualify could be the following question: “If this person had never existed, how would SEMA and the industry be different?”

Please take a moment to review the Hall of Fame website and SEMA Hall of Fame criteria and listings of past inductees. In order to assist the Hall of Fame Committee in making their selection, please provide a brief statement, including accomplishments and comments as to why, based on the award criteria, the individual is deserving of this honor. Your completed nomination form is confidential and vital to helping the Hall of Fame Committee make their selection for the 2013 SEMA Hall of Fame.

Please submit your 2013 SEMA Hall of Fame form by Friday, March 22, 2013.

By SEMA Staff

The deadline for members to submit their SEMA Hall of Fame nominations is Friday, March 22, 2013. The SEMA Hall of Fame Award honors outstanding persons in the automotive specialty-equipment industry whose creativity, dignity, integrity, industriousness and accomplishments on a national basis have enhanced the stature of and significantly contributed to the industry’s growth.

A rule of thumb to qualify could be the following question: “If this person had never existed, how would SEMA and the industry be different?”

Please take a moment to review the Hall of Fame website and SEMA Hall of Fame criteria and listings of past inductees. In order to assist the Hall of Fame Committee in making their selection, please provide a brief statement, including accomplishments and comments as to why, based on the award criteria, the individual is deserving of this honor. Your completed nomination form is confidential and vital to helping the Hall of Fame Committee make their selection for the 2013 SEMA Hall of Fame.

Please submit your 2013 SEMA Hall of Fame form by Friday, March 22, 2013.

	The classifieds section on SEMA.org is available to members to post jobs openings, items for sale, business opportunities and more, free of charge.

By SEMA Staff

To help members reach out to the industry at large and build awareness for job openings and business opportunities, the classifieds section on SEMA.org is available to members free of charge. SEMA members are encouraged to use the section to call attention to new job openings, equipment for sale, potential partnerships, internships offered and more. In addition to being one of the most-visited sections on SEMA.org, the majority of the submissions under "Positions Available" are included each week in SEMA eNews, and the entire classified section can be accessed from SEMA eNews with one click.

To post a classified, members must first create an account on SEMA.org, which requires a login and password. For assistance creating an account, or to have your password reset, e-mail member@sema.org or call SEMA's customer service line at 909-610-2030.

The process of posting a position available at a company is simple and requires the basics: title of the job, location of the business, name and e-mail address for potential candidates to contact. The description of the job can be included in the body of the classified, which allows for 3,000 characters.

Once a classified is submitted, each listing goes through an approval process that takes up to 48 hours. With the approval complete, classifieds are made live on the site and will stay up for 30 days. After that time, the member will be contacted (via e-mail) and reminded that there is a classified posted on SEMA.org. Companies can then decide to remove the classified or have it remain posted until a later date.

	The classifieds section on SEMA.org is available to members to post jobs openings, items for sale, business opportunities and more, free of charge.

By SEMA Staff

To help members reach out to the industry at large and build awareness for job openings and business opportunities, the classifieds section on SEMA.org is available to members free of charge. SEMA members are encouraged to use the section to call attention to new job openings, equipment for sale, potential partnerships, internships offered and more. In addition to being one of the most-visited sections on SEMA.org, the majority of the submissions under "Positions Available" are included each week in SEMA eNews, and the entire classified section can be accessed from SEMA eNews with one click.

To post a classified, members must first create an account on SEMA.org, which requires a login and password. For assistance creating an account, or to have your password reset, e-mail member@sema.org or call SEMA's customer service line at 909-610-2030.

The process of posting a position available at a company is simple and requires the basics: title of the job, location of the business, name and e-mail address for potential candidates to contact. The description of the job can be included in the body of the classified, which allows for 3,000 characters.

Once a classified is submitted, each listing goes through an approval process that takes up to 48 hours. With the approval complete, classifieds are made live on the site and will stay up for 30 days. After that time, the member will be contacted (via e-mail) and reminded that there is a classified posted on SEMA.org. Companies can then decide to remove the classified or have it remain posted until a later date.

SEMA News—February 2013

BEST PRACTICES
By Steve Campbell

Finding the Right Advertising Agency

For Manufacturers, It’s the Ultimate Match

		Meigan Powell Alexander has used her marketing skills to enhance the success of such brands as NAPA Filters, Carquest Filters, GM and Wachovia. Her wide-ranging agency experience spans widely diverse projects that range from managing media for Six Flags theme parks and implementing Hispanic media and merchandising for Heineken, Heineken Light and Amstel Light to developing and managing a NAPA Filters digital campaign. Powell & Partners has been a SEMA member for five years. E-mail: Meigan Powell Alexander

Building a brand, informing business partners and educating consumers are key factors in marketing a product successfully. And while manufacturers may be experts at innovation and development, few also possess the expertise to publicize and promote their products for optimal sales in media ranging from print to web and from brochure to billboard. That is the business of advertising agencies. Finding the right one should be every manufacturer’s ultimate promotional goal.

“There is a vast difference between a professional, experienced ad agency and an ‘art service,’” said Bill Holland, president of Holland Communications Inc.

“Carefully positioned messages, a feel for the market and compelling ad copy are required to get the best results. An Apple Mac does not make a marketer.”

Experience and expertise are fundamental. So is finding an agency that understands the manufacturer’s product line. But equally important is ensuring that the agency’s personnel mesh well with the company’s staff.

“The people assigned to handle the day-to-day communications with the client must be extremely knowledgeable about the market, the idiosyncrasies of distribution, the manufacturer’s product, their competitors, their sales strategies, the category, the history and what the specific goals of the manufacturer are,” said Don Fall, president of Fall Advertising.

“This person is the direct link to both major and minor decisions that affect the success of the agency and the manufacturer.”

That makes research the first priority when a manufacturer begins to hunt for an advertising firm. The agencies that we consulted referred to a number of easily accessed sources for preliminary information, including consultation with non-competitive manufacturers in the same market segment, the advertising and marketing listings in the SEMA Membership Directory (available either online or as a PDF download at www.sema.org) and through the recommendations of media professionals in both print and electronic outlets.

“SEMA’s website and SEMA News are good places to start,” advised Kipp Kington, president of KingTec Communications and the KTC Media Group. “Invest some time to find out if an agency provides consistently high-quality work, meets deadlines and can handle a variety of projects. An agency should be able to demonstrate overall reliability and the ability to grow and adapt to the market.”

Holland recommended also checking the agencies’ involvement in industry organizations, including SEMA councils, and he pointed out that an agency’s client base is an indicator of its involvement in various niches.

		Don Fall is the owner and president of Fall Advertising. His years of marketing expertise and extensive automotive mechanical background drive the agency and guide companies to success in the automotive aftermarket. The firm is a third-generation advertising agency and is dedicated to the automotive aftermarket. Fall Advertising was one of the founding members of SEMA. E-mail: Don Fall

Tom Marx, CEO and president of The Marx Group, recommended a series of steps to qualify an agency, including the completion of a questionnaire to establish the agency’s credentials, a face-to-face meeting as a second phase and then, when there is some confidence that the agency is a good fit, a paid project as a test of the relationship, communications and the agency’s talent.

“It is so important that the relationship, communications skills and work processes are closely aligned between the client and the agency,” he said. “This is a long-term commitment for both parties and should be looked at as if it were a marriage. Divorce is expensive, time-consuming and disruptive.”

It’s also important to qualify an agency for the types of media it deals with. Consumer and trade publications are targeted differently, so an ad touting a component’s benefits may appeal to an end user, but its salability is probably the salient point for a distributor or jobber.

“Most products manufactured by SEMA-member companies must eventually be purchased by consumers, and wholesale buyers are much more receptive to a manufacturer’s sales overtures when they have recently been experiencing demand for that company’s products,” said Jim Wirth, president of Wirth & Wirth Advertising. “Push-pull marketing is one of the most effective sales programs in our industry because consumer demand pulls the products through the sales channels while the manufacturer’s business-to-business (B2B) sales efforts push them in the same direction. Manufacturers need to find agencies that can build that demand with consumers by brand name within the automotive marketplace.”

Meigan Powell Alexander, executive vice president of Powell & Partners, said that a strong background in research is critical to an agency’s work on either side of the consumer/trade equation.

Read the complete article featured in the March issue of SEMA News.

SEMA News—February 2013

BEST PRACTICES
By Steve Campbell

Finding the Right Advertising Agency

For Manufacturers, It’s the Ultimate Match

		Meigan Powell Alexander has used her marketing skills to enhance the success of such brands as NAPA Filters, Carquest Filters, GM and Wachovia. Her wide-ranging agency experience spans widely diverse projects that range from managing media for Six Flags theme parks and implementing Hispanic media and merchandising for Heineken, Heineken Light and Amstel Light to developing and managing a NAPA Filters digital campaign. Powell & Partners has been a SEMA member for five years. E-mail: Meigan Powell Alexander

Building a brand, informing business partners and educating consumers are key factors in marketing a product successfully. And while manufacturers may be experts at innovation and development, few also possess the expertise to publicize and promote their products for optimal sales in media ranging from print to web and from brochure to billboard. That is the business of advertising agencies. Finding the right one should be every manufacturer’s ultimate promotional goal.

“There is a vast difference between a professional, experienced ad agency and an ‘art service,’” said Bill Holland, president of Holland Communications Inc.

“Carefully positioned messages, a feel for the market and compelling ad copy are required to get the best results. An Apple Mac does not make a marketer.”

Experience and expertise are fundamental. So is finding an agency that understands the manufacturer’s product line. But equally important is ensuring that the agency’s personnel mesh well with the company’s staff.

“The people assigned to handle the day-to-day communications with the client must be extremely knowledgeable about the market, the idiosyncrasies of distribution, the manufacturer’s product, their competitors, their sales strategies, the category, the history and what the specific goals of the manufacturer are,” said Don Fall, president of Fall Advertising.

“This person is the direct link to both major and minor decisions that affect the success of the agency and the manufacturer.”

That makes research the first priority when a manufacturer begins to hunt for an advertising firm. The agencies that we consulted referred to a number of easily accessed sources for preliminary information, including consultation with non-competitive manufacturers in the same market segment, the advertising and marketing listings in the SEMA Membership Directory (available either online or as a PDF download at www.sema.org) and through the recommendations of media professionals in both print and electronic outlets.

“SEMA’s website and SEMA News are good places to start,” advised Kipp Kington, president of KingTec Communications and the KTC Media Group. “Invest some time to find out if an agency provides consistently high-quality work, meets deadlines and can handle a variety of projects. An agency should be able to demonstrate overall reliability and the ability to grow and adapt to the market.”

Holland recommended also checking the agencies’ involvement in industry organizations, including SEMA councils, and he pointed out that an agency’s client base is an indicator of its involvement in various niches.

		Don Fall is the owner and president of Fall Advertising. His years of marketing expertise and extensive automotive mechanical background drive the agency and guide companies to success in the automotive aftermarket. The firm is a third-generation advertising agency and is dedicated to the automotive aftermarket. Fall Advertising was one of the founding members of SEMA. E-mail: Don Fall

Tom Marx, CEO and president of The Marx Group, recommended a series of steps to qualify an agency, including the completion of a questionnaire to establish the agency’s credentials, a face-to-face meeting as a second phase and then, when there is some confidence that the agency is a good fit, a paid project as a test of the relationship, communications and the agency’s talent.

“It is so important that the relationship, communications skills and work processes are closely aligned between the client and the agency,” he said. “This is a long-term commitment for both parties and should be looked at as if it were a marriage. Divorce is expensive, time-consuming and disruptive.”

It’s also important to qualify an agency for the types of media it deals with. Consumer and trade publications are targeted differently, so an ad touting a component’s benefits may appeal to an end user, but its salability is probably the salient point for a distributor or jobber.

“Most products manufactured by SEMA-member companies must eventually be purchased by consumers, and wholesale buyers are much more receptive to a manufacturer’s sales overtures when they have recently been experiencing demand for that company’s products,” said Jim Wirth, president of Wirth & Wirth Advertising. “Push-pull marketing is one of the most effective sales programs in our industry because consumer demand pulls the products through the sales channels while the manufacturer’s business-to-business (B2B) sales efforts push them in the same direction. Manufacturers need to find agencies that can build that demand with consumers by brand name within the automotive marketplace.”

Meigan Powell Alexander, executive vice president of Powell & Partners, said that a strong background in research is critical to an agency’s work on either side of the consumer/trade equation.

Read the complete article featured in the March issue of SEMA News.

By Chad Simon

	Christine Corelli

Where can you find more customers? If you've been chasing some of your competitors' customers for a while, you already know that bringing new customers into your fold is not an easy task. The SEMA Education Institute (SEI) tackled this issue and more when it featured Christine Corelli of Christine Corelli & Associates Inc. in a recent webinar entitled, “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.”

Based on Corelli's newest book release of the same title, the presentation identified real-world strategies and tactics of smart businesses and sales professionals who have successfully swayed customers over to their place of business, gained market share and obtained the highest levels of customer loyalty.

Corelli offered proven selling techniques for today's new and often ruthless business arena where new customers are up for grabs and tips for guarding your own customers from predators and making them less vulnerable to your competitors' wiles. She also provided advice for gaining the highest levels of customer loyalty and increasing sales through a sales-service excellence culture that ensures that you keep your new customers.

In today's business climate, there are three keys to gaining market share and increasing profits: sales, service and culture.

Sales Strategies

Offer a smart, competitive sales strategy that includes a vision and mission. This includes advertising, social networking and e-mail campaigns. Solid business-to-consumer strategies include building relationships with your customers and providing memorable customer service. Set slightly lower prices, offer deals and promotions to get them in the door; for example, buy three get one free.

In business-to-business relationships, position yourself as an indispensable business partner. You have to sell yourself first.

Highlight the fact that you have more knowledge than the competition and you have a well-trained staff. Face time with your clients increases your sales results because it shows that you are paying attention to their needs and interested in how you can help them to achieve their goals.

"For instance, a dealer in Oklahoma has five different locations throughout the country, and his customers are loyal to him because he pays attention to his them, takes great care of them, is hands on and has a very dedicated and well-trained team," said Corelli. "So, if you're an executive, make sure that you are also interacting with customers and not just leaving it up to your employees."

Customer Service

Ideas for improving customer service excellence include identifying in weekly retail meetings the strategies that are working and the ones that are not, calling every customer after service and documenting all complaints. 

Seven steps to providing customer service excellence include:

• Examine “touch points” for opportunities to impress your customers.
• Brainstorm – improve upon your ideas.
• Identify causes of dissatisfaction.
• Practice proactive complaint prevention.
• Establish guiding principles for service excellence.
• Offer customer and employee satisfaction surveys.
• Identify three areas of improvement.

"For example, an automotive service organization was looking for ways to impress its customers, so they decided that if they weren't busy, they would run out and open their customers' car doors and escort them into the shop," said Corelli. "That's just one example of how to separate yourself from your competitors. No detail is too small."

Culture

Transform your culture for sales service excellence by actively involving your employees to better support sales; improve customer and internal service; and foster accountability, teamwork and professionalism.

"Create guiding principles; call every customer by name, strive to answer every call by the third ring, say thank you to your customers and tell them you appreciate them, tell them that you are always there for them. There are so many different things you can do to create guiding principles," said Corelli. 

Listen to the complete presentation of “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.” The session is available through the SEMA Education Institute (SEI) eLearning Center. The eLearning Center is available anytime and contains a vast library of courses that can be downloaded and played at the user's convenience. The webinar sessions included in the eLearning Center can be browsed by topic or by title. Users are also encouraged to enroll as SEI eLearners to keep track of their completed courses and transcripts.

By Chad Simon

	Christine Corelli

Where can you find more customers? If you've been chasing some of your competitors' customers for a while, you already know that bringing new customers into your fold is not an easy task. The SEMA Education Institute (SEI) tackled this issue and more when it featured Christine Corelli of Christine Corelli & Associates Inc. in a recent webinar entitled, “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.”

Based on Corelli's newest book release of the same title, the presentation identified real-world strategies and tactics of smart businesses and sales professionals who have successfully swayed customers over to their place of business, gained market share and obtained the highest levels of customer loyalty.

Corelli offered proven selling techniques for today's new and often ruthless business arena where new customers are up for grabs and tips for guarding your own customers from predators and making them less vulnerable to your competitors' wiles. She also provided advice for gaining the highest levels of customer loyalty and increasing sales through a sales-service excellence culture that ensures that you keep your new customers.

In today's business climate, there are three keys to gaining market share and increasing profits: sales, service and culture.

Sales Strategies

Offer a smart, competitive sales strategy that includes a vision and mission. This includes advertising, social networking and e-mail campaigns. Solid business-to-consumer strategies include building relationships with your customers and providing memorable customer service. Set slightly lower prices, offer deals and promotions to get them in the door; for example, buy three get one free.

In business-to-business relationships, position yourself as an indispensable business partner. You have to sell yourself first.

Highlight the fact that you have more knowledge than the competition and you have a well-trained staff. Face time with your clients increases your sales results because it shows that you are paying attention to their needs and interested in how you can help them to achieve their goals.

"For instance, a dealer in Oklahoma has five different locations throughout the country, and his customers are loyal to him because he pays attention to his them, takes great care of them, is hands on and has a very dedicated and well-trained team," said Corelli. "So, if you're an executive, make sure that you are also interacting with customers and not just leaving it up to your employees."

Customer Service

Ideas for improving customer service excellence include identifying in weekly retail meetings the strategies that are working and the ones that are not, calling every customer after service and documenting all complaints. 

Seven steps to providing customer service excellence include:

• Examine “touch points” for opportunities to impress your customers.
• Brainstorm – improve upon your ideas.
• Identify causes of dissatisfaction.
• Practice proactive complaint prevention.
• Establish guiding principles for service excellence.
• Offer customer and employee satisfaction surveys.
• Identify three areas of improvement.

"For example, an automotive service organization was looking for ways to impress its customers, so they decided that if they weren't busy, they would run out and open their customers' car doors and escort them into the shop," said Corelli. "That's just one example of how to separate yourself from your competitors. No detail is too small."

Culture

Transform your culture for sales service excellence by actively involving your employees to better support sales; improve customer and internal service; and foster accountability, teamwork and professionalism.

"Create guiding principles; call every customer by name, strive to answer every call by the third ring, say thank you to your customers and tell them you appreciate them, tell them that you are always there for them. There are so many different things you can do to create guiding principles," said Corelli. 

Listen to the complete presentation of “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.” The session is available through the SEMA Education Institute (SEI) eLearning Center. The eLearning Center is available anytime and contains a vast library of courses that can be downloaded and played at the user's convenience. The webinar sessions included in the eLearning Center can be browsed by topic or by title. Users are also encouraged to enroll as SEI eLearners to keep track of their completed courses and transcripts.

By Chad Simon

	Christine Corelli

Where can you find more customers? If you've been chasing some of your competitors' customers for a while, you already know that bringing new customers into your fold is not an easy task. The SEMA Education Institute (SEI) tackled this issue and more when it featured Christine Corelli of Christine Corelli & Associates Inc. in a recent webinar entitled, “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.”

Based on Corelli's newest book release of the same title, the presentation identified real-world strategies and tactics of smart businesses and sales professionals who have successfully swayed customers over to their place of business, gained market share and obtained the highest levels of customer loyalty.

Corelli offered proven selling techniques for today's new and often ruthless business arena where new customers are up for grabs and tips for guarding your own customers from predators and making them less vulnerable to your competitors' wiles. She also provided advice for gaining the highest levels of customer loyalty and increasing sales through a sales-service excellence culture that ensures that you keep your new customers.

In today's business climate, there are three keys to gaining market share and increasing profits: sales, service and culture.

Sales Strategies

Offer a smart, competitive sales strategy that includes a vision and mission. This includes advertising, social networking and e-mail campaigns. Solid business-to-consumer strategies include building relationships with your customers and providing memorable customer service. Set slightly lower prices, offer deals and promotions to get them in the door; for example, buy three get one free.

In business-to-business relationships, position yourself as an indispensable business partner. You have to sell yourself first.

Highlight the fact that you have more knowledge than the competition and you have a well-trained staff. Face time with your clients increases your sales results because it shows that you are paying attention to their needs and interested in how you can help them to achieve their goals.

"For instance, a dealer in Oklahoma has five different locations throughout the country, and his customers are loyal to him because he pays attention to his them, takes great care of them, is hands on and has a very dedicated and well-trained team," said Corelli. "So, if you're an executive, make sure that you are also interacting with customers and not just leaving it up to your employees."

Customer Service

Ideas for improving customer service excellence include identifying in weekly retail meetings the strategies that are working and the ones that are not, calling every customer after service and documenting all complaints. 

Seven steps to providing customer service excellence include:

• Examine “touch points” for opportunities to impress your customers.
• Brainstorm – improve upon your ideas.
• Identify causes of dissatisfaction.
• Practice proactive complaint prevention.
• Establish guiding principles for service excellence.
• Offer customer and employee satisfaction surveys.
• Identify three areas of improvement.

"For example, an automotive service organization was looking for ways to impress its customers, so they decided that if they weren't busy, they would run out and open their customers' car doors and escort them into the shop," said Corelli. "That's just one example of how to separate yourself from your competitors. No detail is too small."

Culture

Transform your culture for sales service excellence by actively involving your employees to better support sales; improve customer and internal service; and foster accountability, teamwork and professionalism.

"Create guiding principles; call every customer by name, strive to answer every call by the third ring, say thank you to your customers and tell them you appreciate them, tell them that you are always there for them. There are so many different things you can do to create guiding principles," said Corelli. 

Listen to the complete presentation of “Capture Your Competitors’ Customers and Keep Them.” The session is available through the SEMA Education Institute (SEI) eLearning Center. The eLearning Center is available anytime and contains a vast library of courses that can be downloaded and played at the user's convenience. The webinar sessions included in the eLearning Center can be browsed by topic or by title. Users are also encouraged to enroll as SEI eLearners to keep track of their completed courses and transcripts.