If a new vehicle owner cannot quickly view product information and easily determine whether a specialty-equipment part is right for them, that sale can be lost forever. Why? Because according to SEMA market research, 40% of all specialty-equipment parts are purchased within the first month of owning a new vehicle.

Attend the following no-cost seminars at the 2008 SEMA Show to learn how better I.T. practices can increase sales:

• GETTING YOUR DATA HOUSE IN ORDER: Leverage standardized product information to positively impact your company’s bottom line.

• OPTIMIZE YOUR BUSINESS BY STANDARDIZING YOUR PRODUCT INFO: Real-world examples, learn how to clean up your product information and catalog data to be competitive and sell more products.

• STANDARDIZED DATA—THE PATH TO PROFITS: A practical how-to directly from a large WD’s data manager on how product needs to be categorized.

Other topics include when to outsource basic I.T. tasks; how to secure your company’s computer systems; how to automate sales software and order processing; and much more. Attend the 2008 SEMA Show educational seminars and get information that will increase revenues.

For a full list of all FREE 2008 SEMA Show education seminars, visit www.SEMAShow.com/education.

As part of an ongoing effort to ensure the most profitable experience for this year’s SEMA Show exhibitors, SEMA hosted the “25 Common Mistakes Made By SEMA Show Exhibitors” webinar, presented by ConvExx Chairman Chuck Schwartz.

“I think we are all going to find that if we prepare for the Show knowing what our expectation really needs to be, we will be very successful and we will get the return on the investment that we expect,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz outlined the following 25 mistakes that exhibitors must avoid:

1.    Pre-Show Marketing

• Failure to pre-Show market 
• Failure to include the Show in your company’s plan or budget

2.    Suitcasers

• Allowing a suitcaser (an individual who comes to the Show with their booth in their briefcase to try and sell their products to you as well as steal your buyers) to occupy your time.

3.    Show Expenses

• Lack of control over Show expenses.
• Not putting staff on per diem.
• Lack of budgeting for entertaining buyers.

4.    Plan

• Lack of a clear plan and timeline.

5.    Badges

• Not ordering badges.

6.    Budget

• Not making one.
• Not following it.
  

7.    Intellectual Property

• No records of your trademarks or IP protections.
• Not equipped with documentation of patent or trademark protection.
  

8.    SEMA Help

• Not utilizing SEMA assistance when facing various difficulties, including suitcasers, damages, injuries, thefts, etc.

9.    Deadlines

• Missing deadlines and, as a result, paying too much.

10.  Hotels

• Picking hotels by quality and not by price.
• Putting staff in different hotels.

11.  Booth Installation

• Failure to schedule booth labor properly.
• Hiring temps from outside—a no-no. 
• Not testing your booth at home.
• Lack of a back-up plan.
  

12.  Electrical

• Not providing a layout for your electrical order.
• Not being aware of power needs.
• Forgetting to budget for labor and wattage.
  

13.  Rules and Regulations

• Breaking display rules and having to redesign your booth on-site.

14.  Handouts

• Not bringing enough flyers or catalogs to the Show.

15.  Be in Shape

• Not being prepared for 10% humidity, causing dehydration.

16.  Marketing at the Show

• Missing out on a feature vehicle program.
• New products not ready at Show time.
• No press kit.
• No sponsorships.
• Forgetting a directory listing.

17.  Freight

• Not taking advantage of the small-exhibitor 1,000-lb.-free freight program.
• No bids on shipment to Show.

18.  Booth Staff

• Not trained.
• No schedule.
• Doesn’t know rules.

19.  International

• Not attending the international marketplaces to learn how to market outside the United States.
• Not using the free trade leads program in the Center for International Commerce.

20.  Seminars

• Not attending seminars or having staff attend to learn about trends and forecasts in the industry.

21.  Assuming that sponsorships were over the company’s budget—not looking for a sponsorship in the price range or contacting Motor Media Inc. to be creative.

22.  Exhibit Rendering

• Not sending a rendering of the exhibit's floorplan in advance to eliminate problems on site.

23.  Association Booth

• Not stopping by the association booth to find out about special programs that can save money throughout the year.

24.  eNews

• Not looking for exhibitor updates to find out the latest breaking news about the Show.

25.  Leads

• Not protecting leads against loss.
• Not assigning staff to follow up.
• Not following up within five days after the Show.

For a full audio or PDF download of this webinar, click here.

Don’t miss these upcoming webinars:

• “Make 2009 Turn Out Fine: It’s Only the Little Things that Matter,” Thursday, September 4, 10:00 a.m. (PDT)

• "Listen to Your Customers: Their Opinions Really Do Matter,” Thursday, September 18, 10:00 a.m. (PDT)
  

Filler for eNews

There's no doubt about it: Customer opinions about your company and its products and services can mean success or failure for an automotive aftermarket business. Understanding the aspects of your business that drive satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) can put you a step ahead of your competition. This session will introduce you to a disciplined approach to using customer-satisfaction measurements that will unleash future sales for your business.

Title: "Listen to Your Customers—Their Opinions Really Do Matter"

When: Thursday, September 18, 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. (PDT)

Presenter: Joe Bates, vice president, Rockbridge Associates; and Charles Colby, chief methodologist, Rockbridge Associates

Mark Your Calendar for SEMA's Upcoming Webinar
Don't forget to mark your calendar for the October 16 webinar, "Right-On, No-Bull Guide to Marketing in a Tough Economy." Presented by Brian Offenberger of BizGrowth Search Engine Solutions, this session will cover why a tough economy is the best time to capture profitable market share and how to use specific strategies and tactics to sell more at higher margins.

Offenberger will show you how to incorporate 10 proven steps to increase revenue and deliver strategies that help you avoid lowering prices, damaging cash flow and downsizing your business. After this session, you will have the tools needed to install a "recession-proof" strategy that actually grows your business—in good times and in bad.

SEMA's Webinar Program
The SEMA webinar program brings the world-class business seminars featured during the SEMA Show right to your desktop. Different business-building sessions are constantly added to the program, offering members the latest insight and practices from today’s leading speakers.

All SEMA webinars are conducted live and are open to all employees of SEMA-member companies free of charge. To participate, all you need is a computer with Internet access and a telephone. All previous SEMA webinars are available for download by clicking here. To view upcoming presentations that you can attend via telephone and Internet, click here.

Filler for eNews

"The Mercedes-Benz Gullwing has often been referred to as the SLC, but we’re expecting the production version to have a new name and quite possibly be under the AMG brand," Priddy says.

The Gullwing is expected to be introduced at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, with a limited run of sales for a period of two years. Production numbers will likely be around 6,000 units a year and should carry a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars, Priddy explains. Horsepower estimates range from 550–650, and power is expected to come from a forced-induction V8 or perhaps a V10.  

Filler for eNews

SEMA defeated California legislation to require annual (rather than biennial) smog-check inspections for vehicles 15 years old and older. The bill would also have required that funds generated through the additional inspection fees be deposited into an account which could then be used to scrap older cars. In an effort to sneak the bill through in the closing days of the legislative session, California Assemblyman Dave Jones amended a completely unrelated bill with the annual smog-check inspection language. 

While pre-'76 motor vehicles would have remained exempt under existing California law, this proposal ignored the fact that vehicles 15 years old and older still constitute a small portion of the overall vehicle population and are a poor source from which to look for emissions reductions. This latest action represents the second time SEMA was able to defeat this legislation.

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Last February, Congress raised the annual expensing limits to $250,000 (from $128,000) for 2008 when a company purchases new machinery and equipment.  Otherwise, the cost is generally spread over a number of years as the property depreciates in value. The depreciation is referred to as a "Section 179 deduction" and appears on IRS Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization). The election must be taken in the tax year the property was first placed in service. Lawmakers also included a bonus depreciation deduction of 50% for 2008 and increased the phase-out cap based on total equipment purchases in a year, rising to $800,000 from the current $510,000.   

Here is an example on how the tax breaks work:

• The direct expensing allowance is applied first.  If you have a $450,000 machinery purchase, the amount written off in the first year would be $250,000. 
• The 50% bonus depreciation is then applied to the remainder basis of $200,000.  That means another $100,000 can be written off in for 2008. 
• Then the regular first year depreciation allowance is taken based on the remaining $100,000 basis. That amount depends on the class life of the asset and a few other technicalities, but for this example we will use a five-year life and a straight line deduction of another 20%, so the taxpayer can expense another $20,000. 
• Final result, the taxpayer is able to expense $370,000 of the $450,000 in tax year 2008.

Many states have not matched the federal amounts and thus have smaller allowable deductions. In those instances, taxpayers maintain two sets of depreciation schedules, one for the IRS and the other for the state. For a copy or if you have questions, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has delayed the effective date for the revised lighting standard, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, from September 1, 2008 to December 1, 2009. The extra time is necessary to confirm that there were no changes of substance as the agency completed its two-year mission to reorganize and simplify FMVSS No. 108. 

The regulation has been amended many times since it was first adopted in 1967 in order to address technological advances and enhance safety. As a consequence, the old regulation was unnecessarily complex and difficult to understand. The NHTSA benefited from industry comments during the revision process, including comprehensive recommendations from SEMA.

Many industry groups have recommended additional clarifications or revisions to confirm that the reorganized FMVSS No. 108 imposes no new requirements.

Questions or comments may be directed to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.