Attendees of Uni-Select’s first North American convention at Wynn Las Vegas learned from business leaders in other industries how providing fantastic service and a unique experience will position their businesses leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

Uni-Select President Richard Roy set the tone for the convention, which takes place this week, by telling the independent jobbers and shop owners in attendance, "We intend to become the supplier of choice for the automotive aftermarket."

"It’s not necessarily an easy world out there. It’s up to us to capture the opportunities out there," he said. "Without creating value for the customers, we’re not successful."

Keynote speaker TaylorMade CEO Mark King explained how his company gained enormous market share — by changing the way it does business.

King related how he invited John Hamm, a business adviser, author and entrepreneur to TaylorMade’s offices to learn just how to do it.

"What he said to me changed things forever," King said. "He said you’re going to have to do three things: You’re going to have to evolve the way your leaders lead the company. You’re going to have to change the way your employees interact in their jobs. And, you’re going to have to evolve the culture of your company if you want to sustain success."

"This is what he said," King noted. "For 100 years in business in North America, we’ve used a command-and-control leadership model. It’s not bad. It’s the way we’ve run businesses. Someone’s at the top — they’re the leadership team — they create the vision of where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and what your role is. He offered up that that model is really going to be challenged as we move forward because as leaders, leadership becomes obsolete through the speed of change in the marketplace. Leaders who hang onto that will fail."

King said he asked Hamm how to change the model. "He said, ‘you need to distribute the leadership,’" King added. "You need to push the responsibility for making the company successful off your shoulders and onto as many people as want to get involved."

"Regardless of your industry — if you’re the leader — your No. 1 job is to move the business from where it is today, to where it is in the future," King said. "And hopefully, you’re successful. It’s only becoming more challenging than before. "

Attendees had a chance to listen to other business leaders during morning sessions. A breakout session titled “Leadership for Growth,” was lead by former head of training and development for the Hard Rock Café, Jim Knight.

Knight said all businesses need to "shift from being product-focused to being customer-obsessed.

"You want people talking about you and you want them coming back," he said. "Millennials want unpredictability. They want something to happen to them that’s individualized."

One company that’s changed the way everyone thinks of service? Starbucks.

They’ve turned what was a simple cup of coffee into an experience that includes exotic names, baristas who write your name on the coffee cup and address you with it, to ergonomic chairs that make you want to stay longer in their stores, Knight said.

Creating this kind of experience for customers means hiring the right people, he said. "Hire rock stars, not lipsynchers, to amp up the band," Knight said. "It’s no longer enough to have experience and tenure in your position. Employees should be in the memory-making business."

And, avoid three dreaded four-letter words in service: fine, good, okay, he added.

Attendees of the conference had a chance to make more connections on the trade show floor. See a slideshow from the trade show floor by clicking here.