If you are going to spend time on the floor of the NADA Convention in San Francisco, one of the items on your shopping list may be a new advertising agency. NADA is one of your best chances to meet some of the nations best automotive advertising companies and find the one that best fits your needs. Here are some tips to help you make the right decision:

·- Find a company that understands your dealership. Give that agency as much input as you can about your store. How many cars do you sell? What is unique about your market? Who is your competition?

·- Ask who will handle your account. Sit down with him or her at the show, and determine if you have chemistry. If you cannot work with this person, the account relationship will fail and you will be back on the floor next year in New Orleans, looking for a new ad agency all over again.

·- Communicate everything you can about your dealership. In order for an agency to be effective, they need to know your business.

·- Find out the specific strengths of a potential agency. If an agency specializes in newspaper and the paper in your market is ineffective, then this agency is not for you. On the other hand, if you are a big TV advertiser and the agency specializes in TV, then you may have found your agency.

·- Be prepared to let go and give the agency a chance to do what they do best. If you still plan to stay involved and dictate to your new agency, the end results will suffer. You do not tell your accountant how to file a tax return or your attorney how to practice law, so why do you feel you need to be an ad-man? You are hiring professionals-let them do their job.

·- Consider your time zones. If you are in Hawaii and an agency you are considering is in New York, you are looking at a six-hour time difference. That means, when five pm rolls around and you have an idea, it will be 11 pm in the agencys home market. This is an extreme example, but do not forget to ask potential agencies if they have clients in your time zone and if they are prepared to act according to your schedule.

·- Ask about fees. The agency should earn around 15 to 20 percent of your total budget, unless you spend in excess of a million dollars a year. At that point, the fee should be commensurate with the amount of work required. Try to cut a deal that includes production and other agency fees. Do not view this as an expense, but as a necessity to improve your business.

Spend time with each of the agencies on the NADA floor- sleep on it- then go back and see them a second time. This will be one of the biggest decisions you make this year, make sure it is the right one.

Tom Letizia is the president of Letizia Ad Team-Automotive marketing division, a full-service advertising agency specializing in automotive. He can be reached at 702-870-2362.