Tell Washington That Tariffs are Bad for Boating

Boat dealers and manufacturers are beginning to feel the impact of the worldwide trade conflict. As the Trump administration continues to levy tariffs on materials, products and components vital to the recreational boating industry, the ripple effects have reached the retail level in the form of additional surcharges, delays, and even cancelled orders. In a recent Op-Ed in the Washington Examiner, Correct Craft CEO Bill Yeargin addressed how these bad trade policies are negatively affecting marine businesses,

“The last few years have been great for our industry. And, thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, our outlook was even better.

Today, I am less optimistic. We have found ourselves in the crosshairs of a trade war, one that will drown out the effects of tax reform and risk our industry’s promising future, taking American workers and consumers down with it.”

There is no doubt that this escalating trade conflict is threatening the recreational boat industry, we need your help to tell Congress and the administration to end these tariffs!

Visit Boating United and tell Congress and the Administration that the trade war threatens the economic strength of the recreational boating industry.

 

If you have any questions about legislative issues, or something happening in your state, please contact Will Higgins.

Are You On Board With BoatPAC?

BoatPAC is the recreational boating industry’s political action committee. It works by bringing all industry segments together to support candidates running for Congress who will represent and protect the interests of the recreational boating industry on Capitol Hill. But we need your help. Each year, we update our compliance records to ensure that we have a prior approval form signed by our members, which authorizes BoatPAC to communicate with or solicit you and your executive and administrative employees. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) requires that we have this form on file in order to send you BoatPAC related communications. Please know that BoatPAC will be respectful of your corporate policies when partnering with you on all communications.

Please help us update our records by signing the online BoatPAC Prior Approval form today.

We encourage you to learn more about BoatPAC by visiting www.BoatPAC.org.

 

If you have any questions about legislative issues, or something happening in your state, please contact Will Higgins.

Take the time to understand your customers

A couple months ago I bought my first brand-new motorcycle. In the process, I visited five different dealerships and had five vastly different experiences. The reason I bought from the fifth? The salesperson got me.

My first interaction with Bryce was through a quote request form on the dealership’s website. He responded quickly, giving me an out-the-door price down to the penny, and he asked where I’d be coming from to check out the bike he had on the floor. I told him I’d be coming from my office over lunch, and he was enthusiastic with a reply of “That would be awesome! I’ll see ya then.”

I walked in and immediately saw the bike I had inquired about, and soon I heard, “Liz?” Not only was Bryce nearby, ready to help any customer, but he was ready to help me, remembering my name and which bike I was coming in to look at.

He didn’t have all the answers – like when I asked the difference between the 2017 model and a pre-owned 2015 I was considering at another dealership – but he had the right answers, and he understood what I was looking for and what I needed as a newer rider. He assisted me in ordering my lowering kit; he helped me navigate financing. He was patient with me when I changed my mind after leaving the dealership and decided to go with the ABS model versus the non-ABS that we had spent most of our time talking about. He wasn’t judgmental that I was a new rider, a female, or a millennial.

Bryce took the time to learn about what I wanted and why, and he didn’t sit around rattling off features and benefits that were unimportant to me.

When we as customers are looking to make a significant purchase – a motorcycle, a boat, a house, anything that requires a decent investment – we want to trust that the person who is selling the product has our best interests in mind.

Are you making those connections with your customers? Do you “get” them? That’s the type of experience they’re looking for when they walk in your door.

Dealer to Dealer: August

What is the most impactful lesson you learned about consumers during this selling season?

“That everything I thought before about consumers is still true…when people feel like they have money and economy is good, whether they really can afford it or cannot, they wish to spend money and spend it less frugally.” – Ray Fernandez, Bridge Marina

“Today’s customers sure know where to find us when it comes to – close to – DEMANDING immediate gratification when it comes to service but, when asked about their recent parts/accessory purchases, have all kinds of reasons/excuses why we seem to have been forgotten. We do our best to compete with the Amazons of the world but today’s mobile purchase habits are getting stronger by the minute.” – Ken Grabowski, Custom Marine, Inc.

“We have learned the following about consumers during this selling season:

  • Many don’t want to own they want to rent boats
  • People do have money to spend
  • Many consumers we are finding are looking for more family time
  • We are finding our old customers are getting old, retiring and getting out of boating
  • Finding a lot of consumers are very rate/payment conscious

  • Consumers are not buying at the shows, they are very educated on the product before they even get to the showroom” – Carlton Philips, Prince William Marine Sales

Each month, MRAA connects with dealership management on a timely and relevant topic and publishing their insights at MRAA.com. Tell us what you have to say about this month’s question by commenting below and participating in the conversation. Also, watch for next month’s question.

Member Spotlight: Joe Lewis

Q: You have been in the boating world for some time, what is the most interesting decision you’ve made while in the boating business.

Lewis: To stay in the business! (Kidding). The most interesting was to get into the business as a full service marina/dealership instead of a land-based dealership. It cost more up front, but it’s paid dividends over the years.

Q: Your family works along side you in the dealership. Do you have certain family values you carry over into your business?

Lewis: At the risk of sounding a bit cliché’, yes.  We try to treat all our customers like family, but not like your brother or sister!

We’re are also a marina so we see our customers a lot more than the average dealership. Our goal is to make all those customer experiences as easy, as fun and enjoyable as possible.  Not sure you’d call them family values, but whenever issues arise that get in the way, we treat people the way we’d expect to be helped if we found ourselves under the same circumstances.

That’s one of the dividends I was talking about in my first answer. We’re able to build relationships because we see them much more than the sales or service experience once or twice a year.  We’re able to connect with our customers, boating and local communities more often.  Each time we deliver a positive experience our stock goes up and we achieve a level of trust that’s hard for the competition to beat.

Q: As the MRAA Board of Director’s Chairman, what do you see for the future of the association?

Lewis: A very bright and exciting time ahead.  Over the last decade MRAA has become a trusted and valuable resource for marine retailers interested in improving their businesses.  Since forever sales and product information has been readily available from manufacturers.  But information about how to structure and operate a successful dealership business has been hard to come by. MRAA has stepped in and is providing these resources in a “BIG” way.

Look for us to continue to expand these offerings as we begin to work on big picture issues like work force development.  Plus we’ll be making an announcement soon about something we believe will have an enormous impact on the success of our dealers and our industry.

Q: In addition to being the MRAA Chairman, you are also the Chair of Discover Boating. What is one thing you hope to see the industry get behind in regards to attracting more people to boating?

Lewis: I’d love to see dealerships with access to the water rent boats.  The First Time Boat Buyer research DB did two years ago revealed an incredible amount of information about who our FTBB’s are and what motivates them to buy a boat. We learned about the five “D’s”(Develop, Desire, Dream, Decide & Do), stages they experienced in their journey to boat ownership. The most important, that moment when Desire to own occurred, was during a boating experience.  The more we can do to get people on the water for the “AH HA” moment to occur the better.  Boat rentals is just one way that we’ve seen some success at our dealership.

Q: Let’s finish this interview on a lighter note! What are 5 things that people may not know about you?

Lewis:

  1. Just celebrated my 26th anniversary with my wife Susan.
  2. We’re expecting to meet our first grandchild any day; Connor will be Julia’s first baby.
  3. I’m a model railroader and collect HO model trains.
  4. Enjoy scuba diving with my son Jay, wreck & cave diving especially.
  5. I’ll be reaching retirement age in two years.  People tell me I look much older!

Their Loss, Our Gain

My 13-year-old son, Nathan, and I spent an hour yesterday in a car dealership, signing the papers on a new vehicle. Nathan is passionate (obsessed is probably a better word for it) about anything that has a steering wheel, from the boat and the lawn tractor to his go-cart and the family cars.

While my lease didn’t expire until October, Nathan began researching new vehicles last Christmas break, and he hasn’t let up. If we had it my way, we would have waited to turn in our lease until the day it was due – and probably would have saved a few thousand dollars. But that would have meant enduring another three months of debate with a 13-year-old over the benefits of this feature vs. feature and this model vs. that one.

So, Nathan accompanied me to the dealership, partly out of his passion to be in a business full of cars, and partly so I would choose a vehicle that met his standards. As I was signing the papers, I shared with the salesman that Nathan has considered a career in car sales. He has a natural way with people. He loves to be behind the wheel. And all his time researching cars online has made him an encyclopedia of specifications and options.

I’m thinking that this guy has the opportunity to give my son the encouragement to chase his dream, to get paid to pursue his passion. He has the power to not only influence him to follow in his footsteps, but also to change my kid’s life.

Or not. The salesman – a 60-something who has been selling cars since he was 19 – rolls his eyes and says: “Go to college, kid!”

Opportunity lost. Experience ruined.

 As dealers, it’s our job to focus on the customer experience. A big part of their experience is determined by whether they’re interacting with people who love what they do for a living. Your employees’ passion can not only attract people to want to buy from you and to engage at a higher level in boating (or driving), but it also can inspire people to want to work alongside you. Or not.

When it comes to careers, boating actually has a BIG advantage over other industries. Whether you’re selling or servicing boats, you get the chance to bring people together on the water with their friends, their family and the natural world to have fun and to escape from the stress of life on land.

If your dealership hires employees who believe in the incredible value of what you provide to your customers and train them to apply that enthusiasm to delivering a great customer experience, we can not only attract and retain more customers, but also spark more interest in working in our businesses and our industry. If other industries fail to do the same, their loss, our gain.

MRAA Urges Army Corp to Address Invasive Species Threat in the Great Lakes

MRAA, along with several other recreational boating and conservation partners, signed a joint letter to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, R.D. James, requesting expedited consideration of the Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) at Brandon Road Lock and Dam – an important measure to prevent the spread of Asian carp to the Great Lakes region. The letter is one of the first actions taken by the recently formed Boating and Fishing Aquatic Invasive Species Coalition, which is comprised of stakeholder organizations from around the country to present a united front on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) policies at the federal level.

The letter states that, “Recreational boating and angling is embedded within the Great Lakes history and economy. In 2015, the Great Lakes region accounted for 26.5% of all registered boats throughout the country, accounting for more than 3.1 million registered recreational boats. In the Great Lakes region, the recreational boating industry contributes $36.4 billion to the economy, provides nearly 195,000 jobs and supports more than 7,150 businesses. The fishing industry in the Great Lakes is also a robust economic driver with 1.95 million anglers, adding $5.6 billion annually to the Great Lakes regional economy and nearly 45,000 jobs.

“As you know, Asian carp were discovered last year just nine miles from Lake Michigan. If they were to infiltrate into the Great Lakes, it could be devastating for the region’s citizens and economy.

“Our organizations believe that the TSP at Brandon Road Lock and Dam is the most feasible current option for protecting the Great Lakes region from Asian carp. However, we are concerned with the current USACE timeline outlined in the TSP, specifically the February 2019 Senior Leadership Panel and inclusion in the August 2019 Chief’s Report. This timeline would delay Congressional approval and authorization until 2020 and 2021 respectively. Our organizations respectfully urge you to conduct the Senior Leader’s Panel this coming fall, so that the TSP process can continue quickly.”

To read the full letter, click here.

DOI Releases Video On Improving America’s Recreation Infrastructure

It’s time to get serious about the maintenance backlog in America’s Great Outdoors.  That’s the message of a striking new video from the Department of the Interior.  The video was premiered at a Capitol Hill event hosted by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and featuring Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Angus King (I-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Warner (D-VA) July 31. To see the full video, click here.

America’s public lands and waters host nearly 900 million recreation visits every year, providing significant economic benefits to communities across the country.  But major problems still remain.  The combined deferred maintenance and repair backlog of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service – which amounts to $18.62 billion and includes trails, campgrounds, roads, visitor centers, bathrooms, staff housing, water systems, thousands of historic buildings and more – hampers access to, and enjoyment of America’s public lands and waters by visitors everywhere.

“Last year, more than 300 million people visited America’s national parks.  Unfortunately, many roads and bridges, visitor centers, historic buildings, trails and campgrounds in our parks need critical repairs and upgrades to meet the needs of today’s visitors,” says the video.  “The national parks are special places of wonder.  We must meet the challenge of preserving them for our children and grandchildren.”

Public-private partnerships hold the potential to augment public financing of maintenance and repair projects.  Federal land management agencies should submit request for proposals to the public to operate, maintain, improve, or fund outdoor recreation assets with insufficient funding before they’re forced to close, unless there is an imminent health or safety threat. This would provide opportunities for current businesses, non-profit organizations, volunteers, concessioners, and other governmental and private entities to weigh in on increasing access and improving infrastructure on public lands and waters.

To learn more about how public-private partnerships can help overcome the maintenance backlog and improve visitor experiences, click here. To learn more about the United State Senate’s “Restore Out Parks Act,” click here. To learn more about action in the U.S. House of Representatives, click here.

Tell Congress to Restore The Everglades

Restoring the Everglades’ historic water flows is a huge task that requires sustained forward progress on numerous projects. 

One such project is the new Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. The reservoir plan was recently submitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Congress for approval. This must happen in 2018 if we expect real progress to be made and avoid a costly two-year delay before construction can begin.

This month, the full Senate is expected to vote on this year’s Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). This legislation will determine the future of Everglades progress for the next two years. While a “placeholder” for the Reservoir is in the current bill, the Senate must replace it with specific language to actually authorize the project now that the U.S. Army Corps has signed off on it.  

We need your help to tell Congress to authorize the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir in the upcoming 2018 Water Resources Development Act. 

Click Here To Take Action Now!