Mastering Manager SE in Our Own Backyard
Just getting started with a big welcome to our San Diego attendees. (click to expand image to full size)
We’ve just wrapped up the first Shop Management Workshop for 2016, held in our own backyard, San Diego. CA on May 12-14. It was our second event at the Hotel Solamar, and once again, everybody loved the unique vibe this property offers. It’s a beautiful setting downtown with the facilities, services and staff to make it all special for our attendees. We had a terrific crowd that included some familiar faces from returning shops, some participating in their third or fourth workshop! Folks came from far and wide to unlock even more potential of their Mitchell 1 or ShopKey shop management programs.
Barry and Amanda Stearns attended as our VIP guests, as the grand prize winners of the Shift into High Gear Sweepstakes (click to expand image to full size)
We were delighted to meet and welcome the winners of our “Shift into High Gear” sweepstakes, Barry and Amanda Stearns of Stearns Auto Repair in Ewing, Nebraska. Barry entered our Facebook contest in March and won an all-expense paid trip for two to attend the workshop and enjoy the amenities at the resort.
If you’re not familiar with our workshop events, over the course of two full days we deliver comprehensive training covering the latest versions (6.6.12 & 7.0.7) of Mitchell 1 Manager™ SE system. The training is led by John Dwulet, senior product manager, and me in my role as national training manager. Together, we’ve been working with and teaching the nuances of the Manager product for about 40 years now. In addition to covering program flow, optimizing setup values, inventory and catalog integration, we also showed the new License Plate-to-VIN Lookup feature and reviewed the all-new SE 7.0 Schedule in greater detail.
Instructor John Dwulet (left) has the floor. (click to expand image to full size)
Helping our users increase confidence, efficiency and profitability is the name of the game. Attendees also have a chance to practice the skills they’re learning in the classroom and receive one-on-one assistance with questions in our on-site computer lab staffed with product experts from Mitchell 1 headquarters just a few steps away from our main event.
While the primary mission of the workshop is to thoroughly review Manager SE and present new ideas and an improved set of skills attendees can take back to their shops and put into practice immediately, we also talk about ways to boost the power of the management system.
In a casual reception Friday evening, Brian Warfield, senior product manager for SocialCRM, described details of how our shop marketing service integrates with Manager SE to help with reputation marketing, social media and customer reviews. He also shared information about new marketing trends and how to capitalize on shop management data to further grow the business.
A session on Saturday demonstrated how the integration of ProDemand repair information software with Manager SE helps streamline estimates and repairs. We also had some special guests on hand from Bolt-On Technology and X-Charge to demonstrate their products that integrate with Manager SE to enhance the user experience, increase efficiency and deliver deeper business insights.
Thanks to everyone who came and made this one of the most energetic and interactive workshops we’ve ever held. And if you missed it, don’t worry – we’ll be holding another one in October in the northeast. Stay tuned to Mitchell1.com and managerforum.net for details.
