Why Association-Dealer Relationships Should Start Before There’s a Fire With Zach Doran

August 27

23 mins

Episode Description

Zach Doran believes dealer relationships are built long before there’s a problem to solve.

As president of the Ohio Auto Dealers Association, he’s pushing the organization beyond traditional advocacy and member services by creating more reasons for dealers to engage, connect, and see the value of the association before they ever need to call with their “hair on fire.”

That approach shows up in some unconventional ways. OADA has brought younger dealers to Washington, D.C., hosted wake-surfing days, built Concert for a Cause, and created new opportunities for members to connect outside the moments when something has already gone wrong.

Zach also takes Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier inside one of OADA’s smartest communication plays: a quarterly publication that collects the charitable and civic work Ohio dealerships are already doing, then puts those stories directly in front of dealers and elected officials across the state. What started with the association hunting down most of the stories has grown into dealers actively submitting their own work because they want to be included.

Along the way, they get into Zach’s unexpected path to leading OADA, succeeding his father, the entrepreneurial energy of car dealers, and what it takes to make an event with more than 4,000 people and over $100,000 raised for charity feel like the beginning instead of the finish line.

YOU’LL HEAR ABOUT

Why Zach wants dealer engagement to happen before there’s a problem
How Concert for a Cause brought together dealers, vendors, employees, and more than 4,000 attendees
Why OADA started bringing younger dealers to Washington, D.C.
What Zach learned after entering the association world during the dealership bankruptcies and economic downturn
How OADA turns dealership community service into a recurring advocacy tool
Why dealer competitiveness actually helps generate more community stories
How Zach thinks about representing dealers with both energy and credibility

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

2:13 Concert for a Cause raises more than $100K

4:21 Why Columbus dealers rallied around the event

7:24 Zach’s unexpected path into the association world

10:57 Rising to the occasion when dealers are counting on you

12:49 Engage dealers before their “hair is on fire”

16:40 Turning dealership community work into a bigger story

19:01 Putting dealer impact directly in front of elected officials

LINKS

Zach Doran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-doran-a320a791/

Ohio Auto Dealers Association: https://www.oada.com/aws/OADA/pt/sp/home_page