The SEMA Financial Benchmarking Program was developed in order to provide SEMA members with financial benchmarks they could use to help measure and compare their business operations with others in the industry. Industry-specific key performance indicators are reported that can then be used by participants to improve or grow their businesses.
The program provides business owners and managers information, such as: how their year-to-date sales compare with other specialty-equipment companies; how their shipping costs compare to those of other companies; and what other companies spend on advertising.
Trade show participation can be one of the most effective ways to
introduce new customers to your products or services as well as to
update current clients about innovations. A trade show provides an
opportunity for face-to-face consultations and hands-on demonstrations,
delivering everything up to and including order agreements. Yet
somewhere between 75% and 85% of the leads developed at trade shows are
never followed up after the show. That’s a staggering waste of a
significant investment.
SEMA News recently had the chance to catch up with long-time manufacturer and ProPledge participant Check Corporation. We spoke with Brian Champa, the company’s national sales manager, to learn a little more about its products and about ProPledge program benefits the business has realized over the years.
SEMA Show attendees visit the Business Services section of the Las Vegas Convention Center searching for tools to tune-up their day-to-day operations.
In an effort to better analyze the tastes and preferences of today’s auto enthusiasts, SEMA, in coordination with Ford, launched the Enthusiast Opinion Leader Research Program at the 2009 SEMA Show.
The program invited 527 enthusiasts, selected through a rigorous application process, to the second day of the Show and tasked them with using social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to broadcast their personal product and trend highlights of the Show.
This series of SEMA News stories is based on the idea of using reliable and repeatable methods to ensure business success. In coming issues, we will delve into a range of topics aimed at developing Best Practices through knowledge, motivation and skills.
Money has been tight for more than two years. Small businesses were especially hard hit by the recession that began late in 2007, with some estimates indicating that companies suffered sales losses ranging from 10% to 40% or more. The resulting constriction resulted in layoffs, cutbacks, inventory reductions and consolidations that made a bad situation even worse for businesses that were on the bubble between solvency and bankruptcy. Some did not survive.
At the 2009 SEMA Show, 10,603 buyers filled the aisles looking for the latest mobile-electronics products and innovations. To satisfy their appetites, 102 exhibitors in the mobile-electronics section turned attendees on to the newest gadgets driving the custom audio, video and portable infotainment accessories industry. Buyers were clearly interested in grabbing information on the latest technologies and accessories, scanning the barcodes of mobile-electronics products registered in the New Products Showcase more than 4,500 times during the Show.
Every modern vehicle is dependent upon electronics. From the engine’s ignition to sound systems, from safety sensors to climate controls, electronics have become integral to how vehicles operate and how their drivers perceive the on-road experience. And now electronics from outside the vehicle are resulting in a whole new wave of connectivity.
In any given year, the SEMA Show has more than 130 exhibitors that manufacture, distribute or retail powersports products. At the 2009 SEMA Show, a dedicated Powersports & Utility Vehicles section debuted in the upper South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, adjacent to the Trucks, SUVs & Off-Road section. Sixty exhibitors chose to display in the new section, while approximately 70 more elected to exhibit within other sections of the Show.
Vehicle technologies are accelerating as rapidly as an American Le Mans Series racer exiting a hairpin onto a straightaway. The new watchwords for automotive development include vehicle electrification, hybrids, gas direct injection (GDI), clean diesels and next-generation green performance. For SEMA-member companies, the landscape is erupting with innovation and opportunity. But where is it all going? Where are we now, and where are we headed? We asked those questions and many more when we sat down recently with SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology John Waraniak.
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