With the launch of NADA University courses in Australia, dealerships have the chance to be a part of an education revolution – using the world’s best resources tailored to the Australian business environment. It’s an opportunity not to be missed.

Australian new car dealers now have the opportunity to take their business, and their staff, to a whole new level of performance.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) has announced that preparations for the delivery of NADA University courses are now complete and the programs will commence in February 2015.

The three NADA University courses that will initially be available, and which offer participants certification of achievement, are Service Department Operations Management; Sales Operation Management I and Sales Operation Management II, and each have been specially tailored to the Australian market and represent the most advanced and comprehensive training packages available to the industry in this country. There will be nowhere else in Australia where Dealers can improve their skills and knowledge in dealership management to such a degree.

The launch of the course programs is the culmination of many months of work by AADA executives, representatives of NADA, and the accredited course provider in Australia, the MTA Institute of Technology (MIT).

’NADA University is another step in the AADA’s plan to offer Dealers the greatest chance at business success,’ said AADA CEO Patrick Tessier.

‘This is a very positive move for the industry.’

The deal to bring the NADA courses to Australia was formalised at a signing ceremony at the AADA National Dealer Convention in July.

The NADA representative was Jim Phillips, the Director of Custom Education Delivery at NADA Dealer Academy, who has been deeply involved in developing the courses for the Australian market.

During September, Mr Phillips was a guest of MTA Institute of Technology, working with the Australian training consultants who will be delivering the courses here. The four consultants, „ all highly-experienced, NADA-accredited, industry professionals, will provide the courses in different regions of the country.

The team worked first on the Service Operations Management course.

‘The courses we are running in Australia are modified versions of our courses,’ said Mr Phillips. ‘But there were very few changes in the core of our content that we had to adapt to the Australian market. The core competencies are very similar. For instance, at the NADA Academy, the Service Operations Course is a five-day course but we have developed a three-day course here. It is an intense course – a “How to” on how to run service operations – and we have left out nothing.

We talk about receivables, collecting money, financial statements, sales, gross, expense, forecasting, staffing, pay plans, and then, at the end, we take everything we have taught and apply the potential remedies to a case study.

What we’re trying to get is “critical thinking” and that means applying the knowledge. It’s not just a case of  “Here’s how to do it”, it’s “Think about what you would do to fix this”. And if you can think about what you would do to fix the case study, then you can think about how you can fix your own service department at your own dealership.

There’s no one who will leave this course without applying something to their own dealership. If you take the courses, you will get better.’

The intensive Operations course will, said Mr Phillips, inspire Dealerships to recognise opportunities for business development.

‘A participant will not only see where they can do more, but they will be shown how they can do more,’ he said.

‘There are a lot of people who say “Well, I know I can do more, but I just don’t know how.” This course identifies opportunity and shows you how to retain customers, how to satisfy customers and how to get everybody in on it.

We will hurl ideas at you, and they come a mile a minute. It’s not like you’ll have a couple of ideas – you’ll be thinking about which one you want to implement first because there will be so many.’

The NADA courses are some of the most respected in the world and in the US they provide the automotive and truck industry with the most comprehensive source of education and training, including invaluable skills in dealership management and profit building. „

Through developments such as its university, NADA enjoys a membership rate of more than 90 percent from almost 16,000 new car and truck Dealers, with 32,500 domestic and international franchises.

Australia will be the first English-speaking region outside of the United States where the courses will be delivered. It is a development that is exciting both to AADA and to NADA.

‘We have licensed our content in different languages but, until now, all courses taught in English have been taught by a NADA instructor,’ said Mr Phillips.

‘This is the first time that we have licensed our content out to instructors in English. It’s relatively monumental for NADA. It may not seem so but it’s a first. NADA has had a special relationship with the AADA for a long time and I think the relationship we have with the leadership of AADA, and the people associated with AADA, gives NADA comfort in doing this.’

For the AADA too, bringing the courses to Australia is an exciting development – the partnership with NADA is a key development for the Association.

‘This is what an Association should be doing – bringing to its members systems and programs that are designed at improving profitability and the skills of staff that choose to work in the car industry,’ said Mr Tessier.

‘NADA University is another step in the AADA’s plan to offer Dealers the greatest chance at business success.

Bringing NADA University to Australia will become just one of many exciting collaborative efforts between the two Associations.’

For more information about NADA University and the courses now available, go to www.aada.asn.au or email courses@aada.asn.au