AM has confirmed its full line-up of plenary session speakers for this year’s Aftersales Conference and has announced conference moderator as Christopher Macgowan.

The conference, which takes place on April 8 at Crowne Plaza, Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire, incorporates seven main stage speakers and three workshops and covers a wide variety of aftersales topics with the goal of helping franchised dealers become more profitable.

Exploring issues such as combating the threat of independents and High Street fast-fits; leadership and training; customer retention; and the vital role of digital in providing an online experience demanded by today’s consumer, AM’s Aftersales Conference will provide insight, ideas and new thinking to better arm dealers in a competitive and shrinking marketplace.

Expect high level input from Macgowan, a past president of BEN and brief interim chief executive, whose automotive retail knowledge has been gained as former chief executive of both the Society of Motor Manufacturers and the Retail Motor Industry Federation and as he continues as honorary chairman of the Automotive Forum at the University of Buckingham.

Steve Young, managing director, ICDP, opens the conference drawing on its wealth of research to provide an overview of current trends and market conditions. Conference sponsor GForces’ commercial director Tim Smith explores how dealers can harness the power of the internet even when confronted with the might of large fast-fit chains.

Completing the morning speaking programme is Helen Farrow, HR manager at Lifestyle Europe who has overseen the development of the group’s contact centre whose team makes a massive contribution to aftersales success of all its franchises.

Following workshop sessions, where delegates can attend one pre-lunch and one after, the conference focuses on people – customers and employees. The IMI’s CEO Steve Nash looks at how the industry and his organisation are working together to create tomorrow’s business leaders and asks what more can be done to encourage aftersales managers into DP roles.

Upsell expectations are now placing service advisors in a sales environment, often with little training or incentives. Karl Davis, managing director of Coachworks Consulting, which devises a host of business improvement programmes for automotive retailers, will challenge the status quo and ask whether aftersales employees should be treated differently.

Hyundai UK’s aftersales director Nick Tunnell will take delegates through the brand’s journey to help its network retain more customers. As a result of research undertaken with 60,000 customers, a number of initiatives were implemented and results soon followed.

The closing keynote speech will be from Dr Martin Leach, chairman of renowned automotive agency Magma Group who will bring the conference full circle by comparing the UK’s aftersales performance against its European counterparts and commenting on likely future trends.

Tickets are available to dealers and manufacturers, with a limited number of supplier tickets on sale. To book, please contact Nicola Baxter on 01733 468289, email nicola.baxter@bauermedia.co.uk or visit www.aftersalesconference.com