While dealers across North America scramble to sell boats with little-to-no inventory in stock, manufacturers are scrambling to catch up on production.   At most boat builders, the incoming orders are far exceeding the ability to produce.   At a 100-boat-per-week builder, for example, they are currently receiving 300 new boat orders per week. “It’s […]

In 2019, 79 percent of U.S. Americans had a social media profile and that number has only continued to grow since. As a result, everyone from politicians to teenagers use the most popular social media sites daily. Search practically any business on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and you will find a page where the business […]

F&I has earned a bad reputation, thanks, largely, to the way it was handled for far too long in the automotive industry. The recreational industry can and should refresh the way people think about F&I. For purchasers of recreational vehicles – boats, RVs, ATVs, off-road, Powersports – F&I should not, cannot, be a pressure-filled, must […]

If you’re like most dealers, you can simply shake your head in amazement over what happened in 2020. A fast start, a sudden stop, and an unparalleled, dizzying re-acceleration to the business of selling boats.   The pressing question now appears to be: What does 2021 have in store?   There’s so much to consider […]

The Marine Retailers Association has announced a new benefit for members designed to assess their personal and business wealth to bring them closer to their most meaningful financial goals. The “Second Opinion Service” benefit is provided by with The Stanek Group at Morgan Stanley. Many of you have built up successful dealerships and concentrated on […]

New visitors to Boat Trader, YachtWorld and boats.com up more than +50% in July Leads flourished across U.S. with over +200% YoY growth in nearly all regions Boats Group’s soldboats.com database shows boat sales increased +30% YoY Data from July for Boat Trader, YachtWorld and boats.com show traffic (+49% YoY) and leads (+193% YoY) continue […]

As your dealership begins turning up the dial on customer experience efforts, you’re likely looking at several options to better serve your customers and prospects. You may be considering steps, such as adding a customer experience representative, outsourcing some of your follow-up efforts, integrating more digital retail into your processes, and more to improve the […]

When your customer received their boat, hopefully you were able to give them an in-depth orientation and demo at delivery. But, as many of us know, one hour or a couple hours of training do not make for an expert boater. Now is the time to think about how you can offer additional training opportunities […]

Customer experience is one of the three pillars of the

Attracting new buyers is essential in the effort to get more people on the water and keep them there. Despite all the economic impacts and health concerns, 2020 seems to be banner year for first-time boat buyers and the new-to-the-marine industry types. We all welcome the growth. And by growth, we’re talking about boat sales, […]