• How Providing a Summer Season Hotline Will Improve Your Customers’ Boat Ownership Experience
As our team was building the June MRAA Spotlight page about keeping your customers boating, Barletta, an MRAA Strategic Partner, announced that it was improving its Holiday Hotline by transitioning it into a Summer Season Helpline.
This initiative is an inspiring example of how marine businesses can innovate in their approach to customer support, customer experience and boater retention – one from which we all can learn.
As you and your team know well, summer has many big boating weekends. Two significant holidays in the States, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, will see millions of boaters – both experienced and first-timers – celebrating with their family and friends on the water. During these peak events for many boat owners, a customer support hotline like this becomes a valuable tool that enhances customer experience in three essential ways: consumer engagement, operational support and educational insights. Additionally, it builds trust through helpful outreach and access to technical expertise.
To improve boater happiness and customer retention, both manufacturers and dealers need customers to use their vessels, interact with other boaters and experience the boating lifestyle. Troy Becktel, VP of Customer Experience for Barletta Pontoon Boats, says, “Our job is to help get families on the water and keep them on the water.”
It’s about dealers being there for the customers and the manufacturer understanding the value of delivering an all-hands on deck approach to preserve the ownership experience for its extended boating family, according to Haradine.
The “everyone contributes” mentality delivers support all seven days of the week for a total of around 38 hours a week, running from Memorial Day to Labor Day in the U.S. If customers have trouble on the water during these times, and their dealer is unavailable, Barletta’s team of in-house trained Barletta technicians is available to assist.
Dates for Barletta Summer Helpline
- Months: Friday, May 26 to Monday, Sept. 4
- Times: Monday-Friday, 4:01 to 9 p.m. (EST); Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (EST)
- Phone number: 574-848-3025
Barletta’s mission is to help customers troubleshoot any issues that may arise to ensure they stay on the water and enjoy the boating experience. While the technicians will provide voice support, they won’t be able to fix the boat over the phone. That’s why the manufacturer also offers online tools like its Document Center for manuals, operating instructions and more, as well as a library of helpful resources and articles for troubleshooting. Some titles include: “How to Fix Depth and Speed Reading on a Boat,” “Why Won’t my Pontoon Boat Start? (5 Troubleshooting Tips),” and “Bilge Pump 101” to name only a few. As a dealer, you can make your customers aware of this beneficial collection of supportive products, too, and provide this helpline as another level of reassurance.
This is a great example of a boat manufacturer being a champion for its family – boat owners and the Barletta dealer network alike – because it understands the value and role customer experience plays in boater retention. Keeping your current customers engaged, well taken care of and creating on-the-water memories is crucial for continuing their ongoing voyage with the dealership and the brand while contributing to the future of boating.
So what can you and your team learn from Barletta’s example? It comes back to the three ways this hotline enhances customer experience: consumer engagement, operational support and educational insights.
There are numerous ways your dealership can amp up the engagement, operational support and education you offer customers to level up their boat ownership experience and improve customer loyalty. From sharing existing educational videos from industry partners (Discover Boating, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and SeaTow) – or making your own – to holding on-water events to rotating “tech on call” assignments to staff your own dealership hotline, you can create opportunities to connect with your customers to serve as a knowledgeable resource and guide during their ownership.
Stay tuned for more new ideas and best practices throughout the month through MRAA’s June Spotlight on how to keep your customers boating.