4-9-2017 -- Thanks to the growing popularity of the event, and great weather, the turnouts for the seminars on the opening day of KnowledgeFest were high, with many rooms filled nearly to capacity. Retailers, installers and sales staff were in high spirits, eager to make the most of this year's spring training experience.

 

This was showcased particularly well in Eric Carter's "Word of 'Mouse': Dealing with Social Media & Online Reviews" course when, due to a computer delay, he took questions from the audience, creating an instant rapport with the audience where the air of positivity and excitement was palpable. The course tackled the best ways to enhance and maintain your store's social media presence with humorous anecdotes and situational-based how-to's like how to handle a bad review when it was accidentally clicked by a happy customer. 

 

Marcel Newell took retailers in a more serious direction by emphasizing how critical it is to budget every facet of your business to prevent unforeseen losses. The course, called "Budgeting Without Balding," took attendees through the specifics of creating and maintaining a budget, using it to measure their business performance and as a planning tool. One stand-out moment of the presentation was when Newell explained the importance of retailers taking time on their own away from the shop to study the financials and find new ways to maximize efficiency. "Budget vs. Actual is your score card as an entrepreneur. Get better over months at what you buy and what you sell. Understand the gap," Newell explained. "You guys are way smarter than anyone in finance. If you do this, you will improve your business. Plain and simple."

 

The manufacturer trainings featured memorable offerings as well, with JL Audio offering a tuning session with laptops available for each attendee to use. DD Audio went over a series of enclosure builds it conducted over a 30-day period to help educate its dealers on how best to build enclosures for its various subwoofers. Sony explained the ins and outs of its XAV-AX100 smartphone receiver, a popular head unit for the brand. 

 

Seminars and events will continue through Tuesday, April 11, and include a town hall presentation, networking night and the Mobile Electronics show, which offers retailers the chance to mingle with vendors and peers about new products and trends in the industry. If the first day is any indication, it's likely this show will be a huge success both for individual retailer's and manufacturers as well. 

 

Find out more about the show, including a complete schedule of seminars and events, at kfest.me.