SARASOTA, Fla. — Leedom and Associates recently announced its keynote speakers and topics for the 12th Annual National Special Finance and Buy-Here, Pay-Here Conference, which will be held Oct. 7 to 9 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

At this year's event, John Maxwell will serve at the keynote speaker. According to Leedom and Associates, Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert and author of New York Times best-sellers, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" and "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow."

Chris Leedom, president of Leedom and Associates, said, "We are honored and proud that a personal development expert with such international renown as John Maxwell will be a keynote speaker at our event. It truly reflects our ability to deliver an education program second to none. This is the event everyone will be talking about."

Additionally, the company said Leedom will follow Maxwell as the industry's keynote speaker.

According to company executives, "Over the past 15 years he (Leedom) has worked with thousands of dealers and is arguably the best mind in the business. From founding the Twenty Group program to providing hundreds of million of dollars in financing through Leedom Financial Services, Chris Leedom has done it all."

The 2007 conference and trade show will feature more than 50 workshops, roundtable discussions and training sessions. The agenda is slated to include everything from training workshops for dealership personnel to innovative new programs for dealer/owners looking to grow and develop their business, officials said.

The event is geared for dealer principals, spouses, managers and key staff members, in addition to special finance and BHPH vendors. The firm said it has added a complete track of manager and employee training.

The agenda will feature three tracks — special finance, BHPH and special managers.

The special finance track will feature:

—A lender panel discussing the companies that are hot and buying paper.

—How to sell 100 special finance units per month.

—A special finance panel that will share best practices.

—How to make sure your contracts receive funding.

—Leedom group benchmarks for special finance operations.

—Desking software that increases gross profit and captures customers.

—A marketing panel

 

Meanwhile, the BHPH track will feature:

—In market consolidation right around the corner?

—The real facts on starter interrupt devices after 10 years.

—Inventory trends: what level car should you offer?

—BHPH 101: So you are just starting out – a primer for new dealers.

—Special training workshops for personnel, managers and collection department.

—Finding floor-plan dollars for the independent dealer.

—Leedom group BHPH benchmarks.

 

The topics for the special managers track are TBA.

According to officials, since 1996 more than 8,500 unique attendees, dealers and exhibitors have attended the conference.

Last year more than $5 million in products and services were contracted in the exhibit hall, executives reported.

"We are very excited to be returning to Caesars Palace for our 12th Annual event. Twelve years ago we were the first in the industry to establish an industry conference dedicated to the special finance and BHPH segment of the market. Year after year we hear dealers say this is the only event they attend.

"Our training approach is unique — no commercials, just information that you can use to improve your business. And Caesars Palace is certainly a first-class venue for us to host this event. Our sponsors have really responded well to the idea of over 1,500 attendees at a single location all focused on special finance and BHPH. We expect to have over 2,000 attendees as this is the leading industry conference. And yes, the food, reception and beverage is the best you will ever find — we are guilty of going over the top." Leedom highlighted.

For more information on Leedom and Associates and the conference, visit www.twentygroups.com.