At the MRAA, our job is to help our members become more successful, so we’re constantly trying to better understand their pain points. In recent years, we frequently hear from dealers that their biggest struggles are “workforce challenges” – often in the form of a lack of qualified technicians. With a shortage of readily available […]

Step One: Evalute As a marine retailer, you know that digital marketing is one of the fastest changing areas of your business. You have heard that your website is now your business’ “virtual storefront.” So with that understanding, it is key that your website not only provides its users with great content, BUT it also […]

How has boat show season impacted your outlook for the prime selling season and remainder of the year ahead? I found the show season to be good, but not stellar. The major price increase due to tariffs in Canada has caused sticker shock to potential boat buyers. High end product is selling, whereas mid-range product […]

If you are north of the Mason Dixon, like the MRAA headquarters, it is hard to imagine a day that the sun is shining and you can be outdoors with out navigating piles (and piles) of snow. But, as it does each year, winter leaves and springtime starts. For many of you, springtime is hectic. […]

Bob Bense, of Superior Boat Repair & Sales, was the 100th individual to register for Dealer Week! With the help of his wife, Kathy, the couple compiled a list of 50 reasons why they continue to support the MRAA and, now, Dealer Week. We signed up for the Dealer Week because the MRAA team continues […]

Good thing I knew what I wanted… Because the sales person I worked with to get my new compact SUV didn’t know much about the product or the sales process. Here is my experience when buying a new vehicle recently. Be warned, this could be happening at your dealership. In the end of last year, […]

Did you do something different at your boat show(s) this year? How did it turn out? We created a different layout from our normal. We brought more pleasure boats and less fishing boats. We also put are higher dollar boats out front and center. Not toward the back. This seem to get more traction than […]

In my last blog, I wrote about the premise of Brad Staat’s book, Never Stop Learning. Because the knowledge we need to successfully run our businesses keeps changing, he argues, we need to keep learning. We now operate in a learning economy, not a knowledge economy. If we need to be continuously learning, then it’s […]

Educate. [ej-oo-keyt] verb. to provide with information in order to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction for a particular calling or practice in a particular area for a particular purpose. When we were kids, we thought we had it figured out. First, you go to school to get educated. Then, you graduate and […]

What did your dealership accomplish in 2018 that you’re most proud of? In light of a record sales year, receiving several top industry awards, and signing on a variety of marquis brands, I think I’m most proud of the strides we made with our personnel. We’re now over 100 employees strong and in 2018 we […]