MRAA Blog

22 Tips to Tackle High Rates & Finance More Deals

Higher interest rates are putting a damper on customers’ interest in financing their boat purchases. In a recent MRAA Pulse Report Survey, about 8 out of 10 dealers cited high interest rates as the biggest obstacle to customer financing. Low lender approval rates came in second, followed by “perceived values of trade-ins” and “other.” There’s […]

Best Friend at Work

By Bob McCann, MRAA Lead MICD Program Consultant Think about your workplace for a few minutes, and imagine a stressful day – we all have them now and again. Think for a second about when that stress bubbles up, who at work do you run to? Who do you vent to? From whom do you […]

Begin with ‘GOOD’ to Become Great!

Have you ever uttered the word “good” when something goes wrong at your dealership? Chances are you’ve said a different word, perhaps one with a negative or “bad” connotation. Jocko Willink, author and retired Navy Seal officer, has shared on his podcast his philosophical approach to responding with “good” when problems crop up. How comfortable […]

How to Hire Ideal Team Players

I’ll start with an obvious statement that I think every dealership reading this will agree with: Hiring is hard. OK, are we on the same page? If you don’t agree with that statement: 1) Skip this blog. 2) Please contact me, I’d like to hire you as an expert speaker for Dealer Week 2023! For […]

MRAA, MTAs Seek Monitoring Technology to Counter Right Whale Rule

With the support of 17 state and national marine trades associations, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas submitted a letter to members of the House and Senate Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) to stall proposed changes to the onerous Right Whale Rule. MRAA and its MTA colleagues asked Committee members […]

Installing an Onboarding Process to Help Employees Find Success

Recently you’ve probably heard about the terms “quiet quitting” and “voluntary turnover” while researching hiring and onboarding for your dealership. One reason for these terms and their rise can be attributed to reduced employee engagement and less satisfaction within the workplace. And a lack of training — a problem that often begins as soon as […]

The Fortune is in the Follow-Up

By Bob McCann, Lead Certification Consultant Let’s say you’re in the market for a new SUV – a big investment these days. You’re torn between two models from two different dealerships. They seem similar from the looks, performance, price and test drive. The salesperson at one dealership has called to check on you since your […]