by BRETT DAVIS, CEO

The focus of this article is what I call dealer advocacy, an area that was somewhat unknown to me, but I find myself spending countless hours supporting dealers. Often, we mix or confuse our Manufacturer Relations with Dealer Advocacy. Of course, there is cross-over, but dealer advocacy lives in its own world. Another misconception is that " smaller " dealers get more benefit from our dealer advocacy work. I can safely say, we have inquiries from all types of dealers, from large complexes to single stores, mainlines, shortlines, and agriculture / light construction and outdoor power.

What have been the " hottest " items so far

Let ' s start with data privacy; it has become an industry-wide issue, and it crosses multiple verticals. We have opened up dialogue with business management system providers on how they may use( or not use) dealer data. The efforts here are aimed at clarifying data ownership, and we have been successful in helping dealers negotiate those contracts. It then spills to what is shared with OEMs. We, on behalf of our dealers, are working to tighten this up as well. When a significant number of inquiries come in, it drives us to develop a " white " paper highlighting the best practices. You will see a data privacy paper sometime in Q1.

Another common issue is credit card fees. Essentially, how to recover +/- 3 % credit card companies charge processing fees. Probably an area that is most ignored and written off as a cost of doing business. With dealership margins at a historically low point, that 3 % is more than just a cost of doing business. Based

2 EQUIPMENT DEALER MAGAZINE • U. S. EDITION

Recently, a few dealers asked whether NAEDA has the time and bandwidth to handle the growing number of inquiries. My response was simple: we do, and if we need more resources, we will get them, if that is what our members want and need.— Brett Davis | CEO, NAEDA

EDM

on the voluminous inquiries, we were prompted to draft a white paper on how to best handle the recovery. Graciously, our Equipment Dealer Foundation funded a small research project to lay out best practices.

At our annual conference, we had a presentation from one of our associate members and sponsors on data sets. This spurred numerous side conversations, and I spent time helping our members navigate and interpret the data they receive. Dealers and even OEM field staff sometimes struggle with the data source and how to understand, use and leverage it. It can get confusing when OEMs’ present and mix multiple sources. Keep in mind many OEMs use the data to evaluate your performance, but the data can be misleading and even at times inaccurate. So, understanding it is imperative. We are planning either a podcast, webinar, or paper on this topic. We will leverage our internal knowledge, as we have decades of inhouse industry experience at NAEDA. This is unique for a trade association, and it differentiates us.

What else have we seen?

Sales and tax questions are common and come in various forms. We get tax exemption inquiries, as well as inquiries about what is taxable and what is not. We recently supported a few dealers after a misinformed auditor tried to claim sales tax on non-taxable items. The results saved our dealers from a significant liability. After the successful challenge, we had a laugh with our member. He told us he saved enough to pay his dues for over 50 years.

Another common inquiry is texting rules. With all the issues surrounding spam phone calls, texting is surging even more. We will be providing a best-practice resource, written and funded by a few of our associate members. Additionally, we regularly review shortline contracts, which come in all shapes and sizes. It is raising awareness among shortline OEMs that their contracts need to be reviewed( similar to the mainline OEM contracts) and state, provincial and federal law in addition to industry standards. And then day by day, we get all types of general business questions.

Recently, a few dealers asked whether NAEDA has the time and bandwidth to handle the growing number of inquiries. My response was simple: we do, and if we need more resources, we will get them, if that is what our members want and need. Leveraging our associate members and preferred partners is a priority for me. Insurance issues, we have Federated USA and Federated Canada. For human resources issues, we have our hotline that is supported by OPOC. Two examples of how we leverage our partner relationships. At a recent town hall meeting, the dealers present were shocked when we shared a call / issue log showing that, on average, we receive multiple dealer inquiries per day, either through the hotline or directly.

In closing, I urge our members to use the resources we have. We will always be there, and don ' t forget our resource center, where you can find an array of forms, research papers, webinars, and more. We will be updating our website to make it easier to find the resources you need. And finally, I would like to hear from our dealers about their stories on how the association has supported their dealership. Please upload your experiences( anonymous or not, you decide) using the following link. CLICK HERE

I always like to end with a simple reminder: NAEDA is here to serve and support dealer members. The mission is plain and simple.