Earlier this month, more than 250 representatives of the recreational boating industry met in Washington DC to discuss the industry’s most important policy issues with members of the US House of Representatives and Senate. The American Boating Congress (ABC), the marine industry’s premier political and legislative event produced by the National Marine Manufacturers Association and […]

As natural leader with the drive for continuous improvement, Adrian Spiker, of Deep Creek Marina, continues to learn and improve the marina he owns and operates in in McHenry, MD. Q: How did you get started in the boating industry? Spiker: My mother had a 10% interest in a marina here on Deep Creek Lake […]

A question from the MRAA Employee Satisfaction Survey that often receives low scores is: “I am compensated fairly for the work I perform.” You’re probably not surprised by this. But did you know that dealerships that hold regularly scheduled performance reviews tend to have higher scores on this question because they address this issue in […]

Imagine walking into a room full of friends who share your best interests and are confident that you are invested in their best interests. What does that feel like? I liken it to walking into a room full of trust, learning and support. That is the feeling I had when I walked into the Sunset […]

The workforce challenges we face can be debilitating. One day, we hire a rockstar to fill that critically important position, and all is right in the universe. The next day, we’re blindsided by the loss of a key employee, and we find ourselves reaching for the Tums. When will it end? The honest truth is […]

What is the most important to your organization- mission, core values, or vision? How do you instill that key element into your company’s culture? “Core values come first. I’m not sure you can set a vision or create a mission statement you can follow without having a code of ethics in place as a guide. […]

In the Continuous Certification Q1 course, “Take Your Dealership From Good to Great with CRM,” instructor Sam Dantzler opened our eyes to asking how customers want to be contacted. Since then, I’ve been taking notice how the businesses that I interact with contact me. This week, I needed to get my bike tuned up and […]

It has almost been a week since last Friday’s #trainingdaywithMRAA, and I can’t stop thinking about what Theresa Syer said in her session, “Make Customer Service Your Competitive Advantage.” “According to the IPSIS Mori Study, emotionally engaged customers are 3-times more likely to recommend you to others.” Whoa. We all know that the moment a […]

Experiences are greater than material products. I’ve been hearing this mantra from many directions lately. For example, Instagram is using influencers and ads to capture the experience you will get from engaging with the product – to capture the feelings and emotions tied to using their product. Going to a conference has changed; it used […]