Two Western regions joined forces for a super gathering this month.
Rocky Mountain, Pac Rim members meet in California
By YSN Staff
Members of BrandSource’s Pacific Rim and Rocky Mountain regions joined forces with vendor partners this month for a “super region” meeting in California.
The event, held at the Hilton Irvine, provided three days of collaboration and conviviality, as attendees shared best practices, gained industry insights and bonded over cocktails at a BSH Experience Design Center reception and at a GE and Tempur Sealy-sponsored dinner pool party.
See: ‘Super Region’ Meeting Will be Twice as Nice
In between, members learned the “Top 10 Recruiting Strategies” for hiring winners vs. whiners, presented by HRSource’s Daniel Abramson, and received an economic update from AVB’s resident financial expert Joe Higgins.
Other sessions included an MTEQ review from AVB CMO John White; a first-half recap by Tempur’s Paula Higginbotham, who said BrandSource bedding dealers are leading in a down market; AVB Marketing’s Kate Morris, who spoke to the benefits of HUB; and vendor updates from Beko, GE and Serta.
Highlights included best practice roundtables led by region presidents Jackie King and Ira Fruitman, one-on-one “blind date” member-vendor rotations, a well-attended FTS roundtable led by vendor relations manager Luke Larsen and, for the children in tow, a day at Disneyland after the meeting’s conclusion.
Member feedback was overwhelming positive, with dealers delighted by the comradery, group engagement and practical takeaways.
Among the latter:
- Drive traffic by giving back to the community
- Ask for and deploy co-op dollars
- Hold vendor-supported customer appreciation sales
- Use text-message marketing for its effectiveness and great ROI
- Get involved with the group
The advice from the folks at TeeVax Home Appliance & Kitchen Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., was to stay engaged because the more involved people are, the better it is for everyone.
— Reported by Gerald Viray, AVB BrandSource
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, furniture, mattress and CE dealers.
