The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has added a new benefit for association members through its MRAA Rewards Program. MRAA members are now entitled to discounts on both initial brand setup and model year and monthly update fees for Marine Dealer Technologies’ Digitial Showroom Manager, an interactive, cloud-based tool accessible via the internet that dealerships can use to configure custom retail quotes, control margins, complete sales and customer financing agreements and monitor inventory in a simple, timely and professional manner, all while never leaving the customer’s side.
MRAA members are eligible to save $100 off the initial Digital Showroom Manager brand setup price of $599 per brand and another $100 off the $349-per-brand model year update fees. Additionally, association members that sign up to use the service and carry more than one brand at their dealerships will receive a 10-percent discount on the monthly support fee of $79 per brand. MDT’s Digital Showroom Manager software program can accommodate all boat brands, including loose outboards, PWCs and ATVs.
The Digital Showroom Manager discounts are exclusive to MRAA members through the MRAA Rewards Program, which includes more than 30 tangible benefits that members can take advantage of for their $300 annual investment in MRAA membership.
“One of our big goals at MRAA is to help our members increase professionalism and performance in the markeplace,” explains MRAA president Matt Gruhn. “Partnering with MDT to bring dealers significant savings on the Digital Showroom Manager was an ideal way to assist them with simplifying their margin control and inventory management processes, both of which increase profits and boost the dealership’s bottom line. This type of benefit is at the core of how MRAA seeks to help its members thrive and prosper in the industry.”
MDT’s Digital Showroom Manager is designed to assist dealership salespeople by improving their professionalism and sales techniques through the use of tablets, desktop computers and smartphone technology. Dealers are immediately able to showcase their brands to customers via an interactive platform (on an iPad or Android tablet, for example), without ever having to walk away from the customer to grab additional information about a particular brand or boat model.
Online brochures, model specifications, MSRP pricing, order forms, custom printable quotes, retail financing information, and retail window stickers are all just a few clicks away in the Digital Showroom Manager. Through the system, dealers have the ability to search in-stock inventory for a similar unit that a particular customer is interested in purchasing. Digiatal Showroom Manager also offers its own Lead Management System that tracks quotes and allows for the input of outside leads. Each lead can be set to remind sales team members to follow up on sepcific dates by sending that person an e-mail reminder.
“Before a tool like this, dealers had to excuse themselves while helping a customer to sneak away and grab a bulky, cumbersome dealer manual to get the same info that we can now provide with just a few quick computer data entries,” explains MDT president Kris Thayer. “No more hand-written purchase agreements or credit applications; it’s all automated through the Digital Showroom Manager.”
Thayer is a marine industry veteran who, along with family members, has owned and operated Thayer Marine Inc. out of Jackson, Mich. for the past 28 years. They started MDT in 2007 and developed Digital Showroom Manager in 2011 because they found the “old way” of doing business on the sales floor inefficient and time consuming.
“It actually was embarassing,” Thayer admits. “It could take hours to get customers all the information they asked for, not to mention the awkwardness of working deals on a calculator right in front of them every time they wanted to add or subtract an option.
“This tool was developed by dealers, for dealers. Digital Showroom Manager gives dealers the advantage of always being prepared to answer a buyer’s questions regarding price and available options, including taxes, tag fees, dealer-added equipment, freight, and rigging, as well as payment options available on the products they sell. And all this information is available at the dealers’ fingertips, through a few simple keystrokes.”
Digital Showroom Manager officially launched to the dealer public in 2012, after a year’s worth of testing in Thayer’s own dealership. And when it comes to effectively controlling margins, the numbers speak for themselves.
“In the last two and a half years, I have seen a gross margin increase of 4 percent at Thayer Marine,” Thayer maintains. “That’s a six-figure jump in profits.”
To learn more about MRAA membership or to join, contact MRAA membership coordinator Hannah Muerhoff at 763-333-2420 or hannah@mraa.com.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the companies that interact with the boater in their community must thrive. Those businesses determine the boater’s experience and are the leading factor in the industry’s success. MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those businesses, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit About Marine Dealer Technologies
Marine Dealer Technologies was created by a group of dealership owners with nearly 30 years experience searching for solutions to everyday dilemmas related to professional sales techniques and inventory management. Unable to find the perfect, customizable solution they were after, the founders of MDT decided to create their own. MDT’s suite of digital products provide marine dealerships across North America with the tools they need to increase margins, improve presentation skills and heighten professionalism among staff. MDT is committed to providing the marine industry with the most affordable, productive and innovative solutions available in the marketplace today. For more information, visit MarineDealerTechnologies.com.
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