Sales have slowed and are struggling to recover. Customers seem to be hiding from dealers. Banks appear scared of lending. Inventory is back to normal, or worse even higher. Almost everyone has a trade-in vessel where they owe a lot more than it is worth. As a dealer principal, sales manager, or other leader in your dealership with a positive mindset, it may be the right time to go on the offensive and try something new. Like a pop-up boat show!

In your search to find a new way to engage customers and to get your sales leads and deals back, you may be searching for the right event. Instead of waiting and wondering, create your own pop-up boat show and attract the customers who seem so hard to find.

Last fall, a group of three dealers teamed up to have a local boat show on short notice in a location not known for hosting boat shows. It worked fantastically.  

That instinctive show turned out to be a hit in the community and a great selling event for the dealers. It gave them a chance to work closely with each other and to develop comradery and trust that will serve them well in developing similar opportunities.

If you’ve learned anything from this already challenging year, it’s that you need to make a difference and influence the success of your dealership. A self-created show may just make all the difference.     

This isn’t simple. It will take effort to find a good location. You must talk with other dealers who are a good fit to join forces. And you must develop an agreed-upon plan.

It’s helpful to start with some questions about holding a possible “pop-up” boat show.

1. Are there marinas, boat yards, entire lakes, or other non-dealership related boating destinations within a reasonable distance from you that are not adjacent to or within plus or minus 20 minutes of a dealership?
2. Is there an outlet mall, park, business with a large parking lot, or even an antique boat museum near those locations or at those locations you found in question one? 
3. Are there other dealers that have complimentary inventory and/or manufacturers that you would like to work with to have a small boat show? 
4. When is the best time of year to have a show based on your needs, weather and when other shows occur?

The three dealers mentioned above found a state park, near a state-owned marina and a privately owned marina that had no dealerships. In addition, that state park rented them a  huge, mowed field that was visible from the main road. As the boat-show puzzle pieces came together, the trio decided they had found a pop-up show location.

The team that put on the event was very pleasantly surprised by the turn out and the sales that took place at their pop-up boats show. In fact, it rained two of the three days they had the show open. Yet, they were amazed to see customers drive in, put up their umbrella(s) and walk across the field to look at and buy boats.

Taking the show to the customers is one solution to finding buyers in this challenging market. Creativity, flexibility and cooperation between separate dealerships that consider themselves peers and friends can lead to a successful event even in difficult times.   

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Have a question? Reach out to Bernie DeGraw, MRAA Senior Education Developer.