Every so often, we witness major fundamental shifts in the way an industry operates. Look no further than the music industry evolving to digital delivery; peer-to-peer home sharing changing the hospitality industry; or clothing and grocery delivery altering the retail experience.

While change is hard for those in the industry enduring the evolution, as time passes, those shifts are generally understood as positive developments. They advance their respective industries to keep pace with the needs and desires of consumers, of society and of the larger economy.

Today, our industry is experiencing a shift unlike any we’ve ever seen before. On the outside for us boat dealers, it feels like a shift away from boat ownership to non-ownership. It can feel like the bottom is falling out from under us.

The data doesn’t lie: Even the leading categories in our industry are idling along at 78 percent of their pre-recession peak. Meanwhile, boat clubs, rental operations or fractional ownership are popping up everywhere, offering easier, less costly access to boating. We are enduring a seismic shift.

The problem our dealers are faced with, however, has less to do with consumers’ lack of a desire to own than it does with the failure on our part to deliver what consumers are really looking for in a boat: A memorable boating experience.

You see, as an industry, we have become far too transactional. We order the boat. We find a buyer. We sell the boat. And we move on to the next one. Most of the time, we’re moving on to the next one before the previous boat is sold. But we’re feeling successful because our turns are up, our inventory expense is down, our sales are tracking at or above last year, and our CSI scores are respectable.

The problem is our perception. You see, no consumer shows up at our dealerships because they want to own a boat. They show up because they want a boating experience. The boat is simply the means to engaging in that experience. It’s a slight but incredibly important shift in perspective. The boat is the platform. Boating is the experience. Fishing is the experience. Wake surfing is the experience. And so forth. Boat ownership allows them to do those things on their own terms.

It seems obvious, I know, but unfortunately, our focus on the transaction makes us lose sight of this reality. And “business as usual” suggests we’ll sacrifice the experience in order to make the sale.

So, I’m authoring this blog today to start the conversation on how you can shift from “business as usual” to something more experiential. Something that will create customers for life and give you a competitive advantage that no product, service or transaction could ever offer you.

This is the first in a series of blogs on the power of experiences. We here at MRAA believe that this is so critical to the success of your business — no matter if its sales, service, rental, clubs, fractionals or otherwise — that we want to invest the time in underscoring its importance. We want YOU to lead that fundamental shift.