Business leaders know that education is a lifelong pursuit. And as schools and institutions open their doors for another school year, ATD continues to offer year-round educational opportunities for truck dealers. The Academy is proud to offer its five-star curriculum along with brand new offerings tailored to truck dealers and their employees.
The renowned ATD Academy offers live and intensive instructor-led classes at our headquarters in Tysons, VA. A new Academy class begins on September 19. The curriculum includes six one-week sessions over the course of a year with topics ranging from financial management to business leadership. Each session is taught by industry experts who will help strengthen your dealer business for the future.
I’m especially excited to announce new courses that will help dealership employees adapt in a rapidly changing landscape. The Essential Service Advisor class is a brand new course geared to commercial truck service advisors. It will cover critical areas like the do’s and don’ts of customer service; managing customer complaints; leveraging technology in a sales approach and much more.
Dealership Buy, Sell or Hold will cover timely issues in a landscape where dealers continue to see consolidation in the market. The seminars will teach multiple methods for determining the value of a dealership, completing an adjusted pro forma for your business, and more. ATD is also hosting a Buy, Sell, or Hold Webinar on August 17 where Pat Albero and Dan Argiro of Performance Brokerage Services will discuss how to maximize the value of your dealership. We welcome all members to attend.
Finally, the Championship Coaching class provides exciting tutorials that will teach managers critical skills to be effective and inspiring leaders. This is an excellent course where students will learn how to assess and develop a dealership’s overall coaching culture.
If you can’t come to ATD, ATD can come to you. In fact, we are gauging interest for a live ONLINE Academy class. With the increase and convenience of virtual learning, ATD has created a waitlist for students interested in a virtual ATD Academy course. Please join the waitlist ASAP so the Academy can accommodate student needs. Finally, review the 2022 class schedule today and enroll as spaces are filling up fast. The Academy has a few more spots available for full-time students in class ATD048. There is also a new class, ATD049, which will begin February 2023.
I encourage all truck dealer members to take advantage of the many educational opportunities ATD has to offer. There is a depth of resources that are free to our members, including hundreds of online courses; ATD Show workshop recordings; online webinars; and expert publications such as the Driven guides.
My endorsement of the ATD Academy is personal. My three sons—Adam, Zach, and Corey—are all proud graduates. And my COO, Kevin Coleman, is also a graduate. It’s where they received the most tailored education they could get outside of my dealership. Apart from the valuable lessons that sharpened their business acumen, they were exposed to many real-world issues including navigating the regulatory maze, recruiting the next generation of employees, and adapting in an emerging EV world.
The pursuit of knowledge never ends, and I wish all ATD Academy students a fruitful and healthy school year ahead!
