PPG fall conference presents vision of the future

So said PPG's Randy Dewing, senior manager, MVP Business Solutions, in his opening remarks to more than 300 enthusiastic attendees at the recent PPG MVP Business Solutions Conference, held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Titled "Visionary Leadership: A Call to Action," the three- day event offered speakers, seminars and discussion groups focusing on how collision shop owners and managers can enhance their leadership skills and play a visionary role in fostering a high-performance culture in the rapidly changing collision industry.

"We continue to work on interdependent success, partnering with our customers to work on business performance required to be the competitive leaders in their markets," says Jim Berkey, director, MVP Business Solutions. "Our conferences are an opportunity to bring a strong mix of passionate, successful people together to continue the learning process."

Keynote speaker Scott Klososky, internationally renowned thought leader and technology visionary, centered on the conference theme and emphasized that while making good technical decisions is important, acting on those decisions is absolutely essential. "Those who are reactive will end up being taught by their proactive competitors," said Klososky. He added that a long-term vision is necessary: looking ahead five years to determine what investments will need to be made in people, products and processes.

Klososky, who has the imagination of a futurist combined with practical "in the trenches" experience, discussed how technology and forward thinking can help business leaders seize their "unfair share of business." Most critical, he pointed out, is the need to have a process in place to address change and implement your strategy for success. Klososky went on to outline a step-by-step "visionary leadership" process to help lead a company into the

A representative of the Disney Institute, Austin Brock, spoke on the topic of leading through turbulent times. Brock presented the strategies and tactics a leader can implement to ensure a company stays on course to success. She pointed out leaders need to have a vision and must effectively communicate it to their organization. In so doing, they need to shift the organizational culture to focus on behaviors and results to support that shift with genuinely open, two- way communication. Brock also offered process strategies for turbulent scenarios and for the difficulties caused and posed by the changing nature of competition.

Richard Flint, also a keynote speaker and regarded as one of the top personal development coaches in the country, delivered a dynamic presentation, "Recharging the Human Spirit," in which he dramatically demonstrated how to motivate personnel, re-build morale and re-energize a company to function at its highest levels.

Norm Angrove, senior manager, Value Programs and John Martin, manager performance learning, PPG Value Added Programs, gave a seminar discussing marketing in the 21st century covering the technological and online opportunities available today and how social media and other techniques can help collision shops hasten their success. They stressed the growing importance of this aspect of marketing as new generations of employees and customers - all more tuned in to the online world - enter the marketplace.

Attendees also heard MVP Business Solutions Managers David Knapp and Mike Gunnells deliver an introduction to hands-on, problem-solving methodologies which have been successfully used at the OEM level and may be applied to the collision industry. Conference participants were able to join in a number of breakout discussion sessions and other seminars designed to help them develop and implement improved business models as well as motivate employees and prepare for change.

"The conference was sensational," said Nick Hindy, partner in Anthony's Autobody, Shrewsbury, New Jersey. "The speakers provided us with a wealth of knowledge, everything from business strategies to marketing with social media and understanding what that's all about. I feel like we were getting a complete education that can really help us."

The conference is one component of an all-inclusive range of MVP value-added programs and services, intended to keep PPG customers positioned to face today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities. The next PPG MVP Business Solutions Conference, themed "Journey to Excellence," will be held at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, California, Sunday through Tuesday, March 27-29, 2011.

For more information about PPG MVP Business Solutions and the next MVP conference, visit www.ppgmvp.com.