4 Ways to Advance Your Business

• Help build careers and strengthen your dealership with continuing marine-industry education

As a dealership owner or general manager, we know you want to put your business in a position to win. You want your employees to have long careers and remain loyal to your store(s) while also needing your business to stay efficient and profitable. To help your team and strengthen your business, you must find resources to grow and improve together. The problem is that your team is so busy in your day-to-day roles that it’s impossible to find the time to explore continuing education.

We believe when you invest in your people and your business, you create success. And your success leads to better results for the entire marine industry. We also understand finding more time in your already busy day is a challenge in and of itself. However, to reach new levels in business, you have to be willing to push through your challenges and seek continuous improvement with additional time, effort and education.

That is why we built the robust MRAA Certified Dealership program. We partnered with the American Boat and Yacht Council to create Service Management Certification. This fall, you have four ways to empower your crew and benefit your business. So stop worrying about your next move and take action today to correct your inefficiencies, nurture skills and advance your business.

Service Management Certification
You need your Service Manager to be a problem-solver and decision-maker, especially if you have multiple technicians on staff. When your daily operations get muddled up in inefficient processes and poor communication, employee morale suffers, customer experience is hindered and your business can struggle. More service issues arrive when a manager lacks financial oversight and control over workflow. Even vendors will start to notice delays and miscommunication.

Whether you have one of these issues or many, you can overcome them by helping your Service Manager(s) develop the confidence and skills to remove poor practices and ineffective behaviors and replace them with proven best practices.

The Service Management Certification Program, developed by the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and MRAA, empowers your team to manage challenges, enhance communication and leadership skills and take action. Investing in this certification strengthens your service department, providing long-term stability and growth for your dealership.

Program participants gain the training and tools to fine-tune their results at a time when dealerships need it most. The next training opportunity begins This September! Don’t miss the chance to fortify your service department and dealership, getting them both on track for greater profitability and success.

Enroll today to begin your journey to becoming Service Management Certified!

    Certification Unleashed

    MRAA Dealership Certification
    The last four years in the boating industry has felt like an exciting but precarious rollercoaster ride filled with peaks and valleys. It’s exhilarating in one turn, but the next turn brings disbelief or alarm. Feeling like you have a lack of control is not rewarding. We get it. The MRAA designed the influential Certified Dealership program helps you streamline your operations, improve processes and create adaptability, regardless of the turns in the market ahead of you.

    From enhancing customer experience at every touchpoint to enriching your employees’ expertise to boosting your overall profitability, Dealer Certification puts you on an elite level. Your commitment to winning begins today!

    Whether you are considering certification for the first time or looking to renew your commitment, the “Certification Unleashed” webinar with Bob McCann, MRAA Lead Certification Consultant, is designed to provide you with both information and actionable tips to help you navigate MRAA Dealership Certification with confidence. In this interactive webinar and exclusive Q&A session, Bob will let you explore more of this business-altering program. He will answer your burning questions at 10 a.m. (CDT), Wednesday, Sept. 25, about the MRAA Dealership Certification program and share insights on how certification is the step you’ve always needed to take, especially heading into 2025.

    MRAA Educational Foundation Opens Call for 2024 Award Applications

    MRAA Educational Foundation Scholarships
    You want all your co-workers to be models of consistency in that they are as reliable as they are predictable. But what if you could help them maintain their consistent performance and advance in a way that fosters their career growth and improves the dealership you both represent?

    You seek to grow your role in the business in a two-fold effort to prolong your career and help it succeed. We understand it’s hard to find time to focus on career development with your demanding schedule and in your busy season. You are good at your craft. However, like a trapeze artist, you eventually have to try new things or leave the safety of the net to advance your skills and put on a better show for your customers (audience).

    The 2024 MRAA Educational Foundation Scholarships develop talented marine-industry professionals by expanding their abilities through training. Through education, they evolve into future managers and leaders. It is crucial to apply or nominate a marine industry professional and future leader for the 2024 Duane Spader Leadership Development Scholarship and the 2024 Kevin Lodder Scholarship for business management.

    Career advancement, a catalyst for change, is an integral part of workforce development. Don’t miss out on your chance to grow your career or help a co-worker improve. Nominate or apply for these career-changing scholarships. The Educational Foundation contributes to marine industry growth through workforce development. Learn more.

    MRAA reveals Dealer Week 2024 Theme

    Marine Industry Education
    Please close your eyes and picture your dealership perfectly, without blemishes, errors, workforce issues, or complaining customers. Now open your eyes and think about the areas in your business that could improve if you just had a way to help your departments learn and grow together. Now, imagine a place where you go as a team, to gain timely education and industry-specific tactics to help you aim for your perfect state.

    I understand your skepticism. Before you say, “This place doesn’t exist,” let me introduce you to Dealer Week 2024. From sales to service to marketing and even your own leadership, MRAA’s conference helps you become the dealership you want to be and need to be for your staff, family and the boating community you serve.

    Dealer Week, a boating-specific gathering focused on dealership growth, is an on-site event you can’t miss. From expert advice to implementable solutions and unmatched networking opportunities with vendors and dealership peers, the annual event will help you drive performance in today’s market and help you install the process to make your earlier vision a reality.

    Save on Early Bird registration, which runs to Monday, Sept. 30. Register today, and join us Dec. 8-11, in Orlando, Fla.

    Achieve More!
    While doing all four of these options will help your entire business improve, we understand if that could feel overwhelming for you on both a team bandwidth and financial scale. However, by choosing to do at least one of these this year, you will set up your team to achieve more and improve your customer relations, which, in turn, will help advance your business.


    Have questions about MRAA Membership, signing up for training for your team or other membership-related questions, contact: Sherri Cuvala, MRAA Director of Membership at sherri@mraa.com; 763-333-2420.