Along with the health battles, the economic battles and the ensuing emotional battles our society is faced with today, a new frontline battle has emerged for our dealerships: A philosophical battle.   For the past two weeks, there has been a frenzy of activity here at the MRAA and at our sister associations […]

Use my team’s COVID-19 tragedy to help you make decisions for your business. Craig LeBlanc is the Owner and GM of Allen Harbor Marine Service in Harwich Port, Mass. Like many of you, I suppose, the coronavirus seemed like it was a million miles away. It was on the news but surely would soon be […]

For the past decade, salespeople have typically relegated video to the “nice-to-have” category. It’s something they know has potential, but many still haven’t taken the time to invest in it as a legitimate channel to sell a boat. After all, with phone, email, and now texting available to help bridge the communication divide between buyer […]

With everything in the world changing faster than we can wrap our brains around, just as I start to feel like I understand what’s going on – it changes. Keeping up morale and managing stress at a time when we are all maxed out on stress and worry is hard, and here are a few […]

Over the course of the last three weeks, your MRAA team has been in contact with thousands of dealerships, including hundreds of one-to-one phone conversations and hundreds more email conversations. Additionally, we’ve been keeping a pulse on dealership operations as the government imposes more and more “shelter-at-home” orders and businesses scramble for “essential” status to […]

Remember The Great Recession? How out of control things felt at that time? Can we agree that nothing has ever felt as out of control for our businesses as things do today? Forced shutdowns. Unfathomable spike in unemployment filings. The tenuous outlook of cash flow projections. It’s crazy. And that’s to speak nothing about the […]

There’s a lot of confusion in the marketplace right now. Is your dealership open? What are you doing to keep me, as a buyer, safe? Should I buy a boat, book a service appointment, or buy parts or accessories from you right now? The easiest — and most sincere — way to communicate messages to […]

As people start practicing social distancing by getting out on their boats, they’re going to need service. I talked to one dealer in Florida yesterday who said her service business is booming because people want their boats prepped; they need their 100-hour service; and they’re using their boats enough to need some other repairs and […]

People are stressed. People are worried. People are concerned. Now is a great time to showcase the benefits that come with boating. It might be hard to remember this, as we’re all just as stressed as everyone else. But think about all of the ways boating can cure those quarantine ills. Boating is a stress […]

Communicating with customers right now is complicated. From your end, you want to sell more boats, book more service appointments and increase revenue (or at least stop it from slipping too low), so you can pay your staff and keep the lights on. But it’s a sensitive and confusing time in the world, so any […]