By David Spader, Spader Business Management

If you’ve ever walked into a particularly successful business, you can almost feel it in the air. The people, the environment, the general atmosphere of the place seem to be working in harmony, and that’s because truly successful companies know how to intentionally develop a winning culture. The trouble is, very few people know how to build that culture; and after the economic downturn and personnel cuts, it’s incredibly important that dealers begin thinking about (re)building their culture, especially since it is one of the best predictors of sustained profitability.

That very topic will be a cornerstone presentation of the Powering Profits track of the 2010 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo (scheduled for Nov. 14-17 in Orlando, Fla.), when David Spader will discuss how the culture of your business can lead to success … or failure.

“The last few years have been a challenge,” Spader explains. “We have found that dealers with strong cultures are weathering the economic storm better than those with weaker cultures. Once you know what culture indicators to look for it is possible to predict whether a dealership’s profitability is above average more than 75% of the time without ever seeing their financials. Culture is that important. Now is a great time to rebuild your culture and position it for sustained success. Many great dealerships and companies rise from the ashes of an economic downturn with a renewed sense of purpose and mission that can be a very powerful motivator.”

Attendees will learn about the three phases of a proven process to align your people with your values. A brief assessment will help identify areas where your culture is strong and where you can further strengthen it. Spader will also discuss business culture and why it is important; the single biggest threat to a company’s culture; the three indicators of a high-performance culture; the best practices of companies with strong cultures; and the most common mistakes people make.

To learn more about “(Re)Building Your Culture,” make plans to attend the 2010 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, to be held in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 14-17. With three concurrent educational tracks and more than 20 individual educational sessions, this event has been designed to help dealers return to the growth phase they knew prior to the economic downturn.

Spader’s “(Re)Building Your Culture” is part of the Powering Profits track, the newest track at MDCE, geared specifically toward dealer principals. It’s preceded by a panel on how dealers could have been better prepared for the economic recession and a session on how to adopt best practices. Afterward, the track continues with presentations on the best new ideas from marine dealers, fact-driven dealer management and pay plans that work.

Other MDCE offerings include the Sales & Marketing track, which is perfect for sales managers and marketing managers and includes topics such as how to make more money by discounting less and charging more, high-impact, low-cost marketing tactics, the keys to succeeding as a 24/7 marine dealer, converting online leads into sales profits, immediate results using search engine marketing, and closing sales in a difficult economy. The Service Department track will be held concurrently, with a focus on how to be a successful service advisor, solving your most troubling service problems, Web strategies for service profits, operational excellence and financial management for service managers and more. The event will also feature a general session and two keynote sessions, as well.

“We’ve covered all the bases with the education this year, making quality content, specific to service managers, sales managers, marketing managers and dealership principals alike, available in an unprecedented format,” explains Matt Gruhn, publisher of Boating Industry magazine, which partners with the Marine Retailers Association of America to produce the MDCE. “This will, without question, be the best line-up of education this event has ever produced.”