MRAA Adds Three Partner Members in Boatmate Trailers, Rightboat, teamMarine

MINNEAPOLIS, July 31, 2024 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces the addition of Boatmate Trailers LLC, Rightboat LDT, and teamMarine as its newest Partner Members.

MRAA Welcomes New Partner Members

Marine manufacturers, suppliers and service providers, through Partner Membership, commit to aligning their brands with the programs and opportunities that MRAA offers in its efforts to fuel the success of the marine industry. Support from Partners allows the Association to expand its offerings and create a positive, long-term impact on MRAA members’ business.

  • Boatmate Trailers LLC (Maryville, Tenn.) manufactures custom boat trailers designed for various types of watercrafts, focusing on quality and durability to enhance the towing and launching experience.
  • Rightboat LDT (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is an online marketplace where users can buy and sell a wide variety of new and used boats, including power boats, sailing boats, catamarans and yachts.
  • teamMarine (Naples, Fla.) provides CRM solutions specifically designed for the boating industry to enhance sales, service and customer management for boat dealerships.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Boatmate Trailers, Rightboat, and TeamMarine as Partner Members of the MRAA,” says Allison Gruhn, VP of Business Development. “Their dedication to innovation and quality in their respective areas significantly contributes to our mission of supporting marine retailers.”

Dealer members are encouraged to explore the list of companies that actively support the MRAA across four partnership levels. View the complete list.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.

2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards Honor MRAA Certified Dealerships

MINNEAPOLIS, July 31 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces that 126 unique Certified Dealerships, have been honored by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) as recipients of the 2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Awards.  

2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards Honors MRAA Certified Dealerships

“Congratulations to this year’s CSI Award winners,” says Stevie Cook, MRAA Certification Specialist. “Measuring customer satisfaction is critical for a dealer’s success, as it rewards their team for dedicated work and helps them approach every customer with purpose and genuine care.”

The 2023 CSI Awards honor 1,000 boat dealers for customer satisfaction excellence in sales and 759 boat dealers for excellence in continued service. It was the eighth straight year NMMA has used dealer satisfaction data collected through the Marine Industry CSI program to recognize boat dealers that actively  quantify customer satisfaction and choose continuous improvement to provide excellence customer care.

“Delivering an outstanding ownership experience and a creating a lifelong boater not only requires an excellent product, but an extraordinary journey from sales through continued service at the dealership,” said Robert Newsome, NMMA Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations in a release. “Congratulations to the 2023 CSI Award boat dealer recipients for helping to ensure today’s boaters are on the water for decades to come.”

The 2023 CSI Award dealer recipients achieved an independently measured standard of excellence of 90% or higher in customer satisfaction over the past program year. Data is collected as part of a survey of customers who purchased a new boat between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. For this reporting period, the program surveyed more than 175,000 customers.

2023 Marine industry CSI Awards Stevie Cook headshot
Stevie Cook

“Using a customizable blueprint for success, Certified Dealers provide an outstanding experience for their customers and maintain a visionary mindset focused on continuous improvement,” adds Cook. “From customer relations management to facility and website upkeep to performance planning and employee satisfaction, our Certified Dealers not only adhere to the Marine Industry Consumer Commitment but also devote their time to installing processes and best practices to create customer loyalty and a world-class  retail experience.”

The complete list of 2023 CSI Awards recipients honored for their improved customer satisfaction levels is located at www.boatsatisfaction.com.

For more information about the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index program, contact Jennifer Palmer at Rollick, Inc. at csisupport@rollick.io or 888-204-8209.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.

National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

Stillwater, Minnesota – July 30, 2024 – The National Marine Trades Council (NMTC), hosted by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), wrapped up its annual conference Thursday, held at the charming Hotel Crosby in Stillwater, Minnesota. The meeting, which took place from July 22 to July 25, brings together industry leaders, association representatives, and key stakeholders for a series of insightful discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities.

NMTC Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

The conference featured sessions on workforce development, industry advocacy efforts, boat show strategies and best practices, and other association-focused roundtable discussions. The two-plus day event also included workforce-focused presentations from Mercury and Yamaha, industry marketing updates from Discover Boating and artificial intelligence insights from the MRAA.

“The NMTC’s most significant value is the opportunity it offers all of our industry’s state and national marine trades associations to come together and learn from one another,” said Randall Lyons, 2024 Conference Chair and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. “As association leaders, we play a unique role in supporting and fostering the growth of our industry and the thousands of businesses within it. This event allows us to share insights and ideas from across the industry, helping us all deliver better results for our industry.”

Attendees enjoyed exploring Stillwater, a unique river town with a rich boating history, on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The event itself also featured several networking opportunities, such as the dinner cruise on the St. Croix River, fostering further camaraderie among participants and sponsors.

The NMTC is already gearing up for the 2025 conference, with exciting plans and initiatives on the horizon. We are pleased to announce that Lori Wheeler, Vice President of Marine Industries Association of South Florida, will serve as the chair for next year’s conference.

NMTC Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

“As the chair of next year’s NMTC conference, I am excited to continue building on the momentum we’ve created. We look forward to another year of collaboration, innovation, and growth within the marine trades community,” said Lori Wheeler. “All of us who participated this year extends our heartfelt gratitude to Randall Lyons for his leadership and dedication as the chair of this year’s conference. His leadership and efforts were instrumental in making this event a resounding success.”

A special thank you to this year’s sponsors: Discover Boating, Informa Markets, Mercury, Yamaha, Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, American Boat & Yacht Council, Ad Strategies, Marine Industries Association of South Florida, Marine Trades Association of New Jersey, Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, Boating Ontario, BoatU.S., Michigan Boating Industries Association, and Ohio Marine Trades Association.

For more information, please contact:
Randall Lyons – randall@boatma.com or Lori Wheeler – lori@miasf.org
National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) 

About NMTC
The National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) is an informal group of marine trade associations, dedicated to promoting and supporting the marine trades industry through advocacy, education, and collaboration. Our annual conference brings together industry leaders to share knowledge, address challenges, and shape the future of marine trades.

21 Dealership Insights into What’s Working Today

• Your fellow dealers share effective strategies for conserving cash, managing inventory, connecting with customers and more

As a dealership owner or manager, it would be easy to view the glass of marine retailing today as half empty, particularly when compared to the spike in demand during the pandemic.

Case in point, one dealer recently wrote: “Nothing is really working. We can’t give away some new boats at cost,” as part of their response to the June MRAA/Baird/Trade Only Marine Retailer Pulse Report, a member-only resource available now for download.

21 Dealership Insights

With 49 percent of respondents reporting retail declines in June, that dealer is certainly not alone in facing some serious challenges. However, we know from experience that while it takes real focus and energy to adopt a proactive mindset and view the glass as half full, it can make a real difference in dealership performance.

One dealer who displayed this kind of positive, solutions-based approach wrote: “Year to date, our sales are down. We’re not deep in the red. However, our focus is on implementing optimal strategies to enhance our daily operations, ensuring we remain agile during this challenging phase in our industry.”

In fact, many respondents to the survey shared what they are doing to take advantage of opportunities and use creative strategies in areas like managing their spending, moving inventory and growing their customer relationships. Here are 21 examples.

  1. Seek new and innovative products to separate you from the masses and get customers through the doors and on the water to see and demo the vessels.
  2. Know your selling season history and match your boat ordering to limit surpluses during your slow season and match your peak selling times.
  3. Evaluate and control your dollar spending to retain enough earnings to remain comfortable.
  4. Service adjustments: Have enough techs to process customer boats rapidly.
  5. Right-size your sales team. Some dealers have replaced “order takers” in sales with new sales staff who enjoy selling and have a fresh approach and attitude.
  6. Find your social media star and “go-to” channel. Let your sales team post your dealership content on their personal feeds, like TikTok or Instagram. Video is still king and can help create inventory awareness, showcase sales and bring foot traffic to your business.
  7. Sell boat repowers to help move the needle and keep the customer engaged. Some of these even include manufacturer incentives. One dealer held a promotion, without OEM support, offering a 25-percent discount off MSRP for trading in old two-stroke engines of 40 HP or higher.
  8. Strengthen your customer follow-up!
  9. Take full advantage of OEM promotions.
  10. Host events that engage and create opportunities for customers to use their boats.
  11. Work with your brands to avoid cookie-cutter product overload and help dial-in inventory that works for your dealership and region. You need to order what sells and what your customers want!
  12. Explore every possible floorplan lender and plan closely to determine if you need to change or shift certain inventory to a different lender, even if for the short-term.
  13. Consider offering major discounts to cash-buying customers with desirable pre-owned boats, enticing them to upgrade. Some dealers have focused more on pre-owned vessels and less on new boats. This strategy has paid off and lets them fill small holes in their lineup with new units of a particular size (less than 20-foot runabouts) rather than blanket coverage of every size and shape.
  14. Take customers on test drives. Be easy to work with — kindness makes a difference.
  15. Establish a rental system to engage first-time boaters and non-owners, offering your support while building a stronger relationship and creating a pathway for ownership.
  16. Consider creating on-water guided tours to create a steady stream of new visitors, many new to boating. You open the door to future tours, further engagement and possibly ownership.
  17. Educate your service customers about service plans and costs upfront. Share with them the benefits of buying new(er) vessels and engines vs. older boats with aged powerplants.
  18. Sell thyself. Stick to your mission, vision and core values. Go above and beyond at every touchpoint while showcasing extreme levels of transparency.  
  19. Consider staying open during holiday weekends to provide service help for customers.
  20. Explore opportunities for expansion through dealership acquisition. Some dealers can be buyers and gain market share, while others are ready to sell.
  21. Prep every boat you touch, new or used, as though it is going out the door soon! You will help your sales team in the delivery process and improve the customer experience.

While there is a wide range of strategies that are working for your peers, they share one thing in common: They all involve focusing on what you can control to create a business that outperforms the competition.

Want more proven solutions and best practices? Join us for an expanded education lineup at Dealer Week 2024. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.

MRAA, ASA Partner to Launch Education Hub within MRAATraining.com

ORLANDO, July 23 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) announced a partnership to create an Education Hub for ASA member organizations. Unveiled at ASA’s International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) show in Orlando, Fla., the new custom training hub will be housed within MRAA’s Learning Management System, MRAATraining.com.

MRAA, ASA Partner to Launch Education Hub within MRAATraining.com

“Like recreational boat dealers, these peers in our industry need to showcase the angling lifestyle every single day with every consumer touchpoint,” said Liz Keener, MRAA Director of Dealer Development. “Partnering with the ASA to produce an educational library will help fishing and outdoor retailers enhance their skills to improve sales and ownership experiences with their customers, elevating both the recreational boating and fishing industries.”

The MRAA and the ASA will team up to curate education in the form of courses, resources and programs on topics of interest to sportfishing retailers. ASA Members will gain access to the ASA Education Hub that will include 60-plus sales, marketing and leadership courses, ICAST Lunch & Learn content from 2023 and 2024, advocacy information and more.

The collaboration contains additional deliverables, including: new education in the form of blogs, live webinars, resources and two MRAA staff members to support educational programming at ICAST and the Sportfishing Summit.

“One of the core pillars of ASA’s mission is education,” said Mary Beth Long, ASA Vice President of Communications. “We make it a priority to keep our members abreast of the latest business, government affairs and economic trends as well as access to sportfishing industry experts. Our new partnership with MRAA helps us to provide more robust offerings such as a larger library of sales, marketing and leadership content and on-demand educational opportunities.”

With the synergies between MRAA and ASA’s target audiences, it will be efficient for MRAA to develop, for ASA, a substantial education program using the same approach that has helped MRAA achieve world-class Net Promoter Scores for its educational programs and annual Dealer Week Conference and Expo.

To learn more about the ASA, ICAST and the ASA Education Hub, contact John Stillwagon, ASA Director of Communications, Content & Digital Marketing, (jstillwagon@asafishing.org), or Liz Keener (lizk@mraa.com) at the MRAA.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.

About the American Sportfishing Association
The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the interests of the sportfishing and boating industries as well as the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry and anglers a unified voice when emerging laws and policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself. ASA invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous, as well as safeguard and promote the enduring economic, conservation and social values of sportfishing in America. ASA also gives America’s 55 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that affect their ability to sustainably fish on our nation’s waterways through Keep America Fishing, our national angler advocacy campaign. America’s anglers generate more than $50 billion in retail sales with a $148 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for 945,000 people.

MRAA Reveals Dealer Week 2024 Theme

MINNEAPOLIS, July 23 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) has announced the theme of “Outperform” for its annual Dealer Week Conference and Expo, held December 8-11 in Orlando, Fla.

MRAA reveals Dealer Week 2024 Theme

Economic winds have not been as favorable to boating as a whole in 2024 as they were in recent years. Nor are they projected to be in 2025. However, not everyone has been equally affected by macroeconomic trends. Certain dealers and brands have outperformed the market and show strong sales. At Dealer Week 2024, marine retailers will learn best practices and attain tools from industry experts to help them outperform the trends, the competition and even their own expectations.

“When we were developing this year’s Dealer Week, we knew there were real economic headwinds affecting the boating market, but we were also hearing from some top dealers that they and their brands had been able to outperform the trends,” said Mike Davin, VP of Industry Relations at MRAA. “Our goal is to give everyone who comes to Dealer Week the tools to do that, and if you look at the lineup of speakers that was just released you’ll see some of the ways our experts think retailers actually have an opportunity right now to take advantage of the current market. For that reason, this is a year that we believe every boat dealer will want to be at Dealer Week to set themselves up for success in 2025.”

MRAA has added dedicated Marketing pathway in 2024. The new track will highlight ways that top dealerships are outperforming the market. Topics will include practical ways to leverage AI, how to craft a marketing budget that will turbocharged sales and how to utilize community-based marketing to greatly increase your reach.

Returning educational tracks include the newly renamed Sales & F&I pathway, which will focus on how to close sales and anticipate and overcome objections. The Leadership pathway will offer insights and takeaways for how to get your entire team moving in the same direction, united around a common goal. Finally, the Service & Parts pathway will provide specific examples of how to drive performance both in-season and in the (too-often-overlooked) offseason.

“The Dealer Week educational line-up has been developed specifically to give dealership teams the combination of education and tools they need to outperform the market ahead of us in 2025,” says Liz Walz, Vice President of Education. “Those marine professionals who join us in Orlando are dedicated to not just navigating the pitfalls ahead, but also finding new opportunities. By applying what they learn at the event, they’ll be ready to stand out from the rest, grow market share and set their dealership up to emerge stronger than before.”

Dealers have no control over the larger economy or market downturns, so Dealer Week will help attendees focus on what they can control, identify opportunities for growth and understand how successful businesses have surpassed expectations despite the prevailing headwinds.

Dealer Week 2024 early bird registration is available through the end of September. Industry companies looking to boost their competitive edge can still reserve exhibitor booth space for boating’s only event focused on dealer growth.

About Dealer Week
For more than 50 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world-class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week exists to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. The MRAA envisions a brighter future for marine retail, and Dealer Week is the preeminent means for bringing that vision to life. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.

Sea Tow Foundation Invites Submissions for 2024 National Boating Safety Awards

Southold, NY (July 22, 2024) – The Sea Tow Foundation, in partnership with its esteemed
Boating Safety Advisory Council, is excited to announce that submissions for the 2024
National Boating Safety Awards are now open. These awards will be presented at the
International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) on October 2, 2024 at 4 pm in
the Tech Talk Theater on the Exhibit Floor.

Sea Tow Foundation Invites Submissions for 2024 National Boating Safety Awards

“The Sea Tow Foundation is committed to elevating boating safety to new heights,” said Gail R. Kulp, Executive Director of the Sea Tow Foundation. “The National Boating Safety
Awards are pivotal to our mission, spotlighting the groundbreaking innovations and unwavering commitments of industry leaders. These awards recognize that safe boating practices are not merely recommendations – they are essential to our collective well-being on the water.”
The 2024 awards will spotlight outstanding safety initiatives across various sectors of the
boating industry. Any business that is or represents a for-profit entity within the boating
industry is welcome to apply in one of the following award categories:
● Marine Manufacturer (Boat or Engine)
● Gear/Equipment/Accessories Manufacturer
● Media Outlet
● Retailer/Distributor with up to 3 Locations
● Retailer/Distributor with 4 or more Locations
● Social Media Influencer
● Marine Trade Association
● Community Boating/Boating Education Program (for profit)
● PR/Marketing/Advertising Consultant or Agency
● Other type of group not listed above – this could apply to charter companies, boat
clubs, insurance companies or any other group that does not fit in another category

Applicants are encouraged to submit their entries for their boating safety efforts conducted
between January 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024. Applicants are welcome to apply for efforts that
have previously earned them an Award, but the applicant will be required to document
enhancements or new additions to the effort and ensure it took place during the given
dates.
There is no cost to enter the awards, and the application process is designed to be quick
and easy, taking less than 10 minutes. Applicants are welcome to enter multiple efforts
under separate entries.
For more information about the National Boating Safety Awards, and to apply, please visit
www.boatingsafety.com/awards. The deadline for submissions is Saturday, September 7, 2024.

About Sea Tow Foundation
The Sea Tow Foundation – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – was started in 2007 by Captain Joe Frohnhoefer, founder of Sea Tow Services International, after he witnessed too many preventable accidents and fatalities on the water. Through its flagship programs which include the Life Jacket Loaner Program, Sober Skipper Campaign, Flare Education, and the National Boating Safety Awards, the Sea Tow Foundation strives towards its vision of a world where boaters are safe and responsible. To learn more, visit boatingsafety.com.

DiscoverBoating.com Traffic Increases Following Successful American Century Championship Activation

Discover Boating marketing efforts were in full swing July 12-14 at the star-studded 2024 American Century Championship (ACC), which draws tens of thousands of fans to Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course each year and more than one million television viewers. As a result of Discover Boating’s TV spots that aired during the tournament as well as through its on-site presence, visual branding, social media and influencer content, Discover Boating saw a significant increase in website traffic last weekend.

discoverboating.com traffic increases with American Century Championship activation
Image supplied by Discover Boating

DiscoverBoating.com Performance Highlights:

  • Compared to the same time period in 2023, there was a 44% increase in homepage views and 31% increase in website visitors (July 12-14).
  • Compared to the weekend of July 5-7, pageviews were up 11% and visitors were up 27%.
  • Compared to the weekend of June 28-30, there was a 10% increase in pageviews and a 46% increase in visitors.

Discover Boating Social Media Performance Highlights:

  • Engagements (likes, comments, shares, etc.) were up 70% compared to the week prior to the tournament.
  • Post link clicks were up 150% from the previous week.
  • Net audience growth across social platforms was up 138% from the previous week.

As part of Discover Boating’s strategy to engage new audiences and reach the next generation of boaters, Discover Boating partnered with ACC and NBC Sports to bring the fun of boating to this iconic event, where the enthusiasm for on-water action matches the excitement on the green.

Discover Boating’s new See You Out Here campaign spots, including “Voices” and “Beyond the Diamond” aired on NBC as well as the Golf Channel during live coverage of the event and throughout its scheduled programming. The spots included a call-to-action at the end encouraging viewers to visit DiscoverBoating.com, which likely helped drive additional traffic to the website.

Discover Boating remained active on social media and shared real-time content from the tournament throughout the weekend, posting 14 times on each of its channels including Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok. Influencer partners helped generate additional buzz and drove followers to DiscoverBoating.com through their Instagram reels here and here.

For more information about Discover Boating’s partnership with American Century Championship, contact NMMA’s Kevin Williams at kwilliams@nmma.org.

Dealer Week 2024 Registration Opens

• Early bird pricing launched for three-day, educational marine industry event in Orlando, Florida, helping dealers OUTPERFORM and stand out

MINNEAPOLIS, July 17 – Many marine dealerships across North America view the industry as declining because of hampered marine retail sales and elevated business costs. However, experienced boating leaders understand that a soft market also affords as many opportunities as conceivable pitfalls. Those dedicated businesses devoted to right-sizing their business know that, through process refinement and strategic investing, they can rise above marketplace issues and gain market share by earning their customers’ trust.

Business leaders and managers must engage in new tactical strategies and education to help them stand out. To help dealerships outperform the market, their competition and their own expectations, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announced today that dealer registration for the 2024 Dealer Week Conference and Expo, to be held Dec. 8-11 in Orlando, Florida, is now open.

Dealer Week 2024 Registration Opens

Applying the theme “OUTPERFORM: Vision. Execution. Results.”, Dealer Week 2024 provides dealers with educational programs, training from industry experts, as well as exclusive access to a brimming expo hall, filled with boating’s prominent manufacturers, suppliers and service providers. Dealer Week attendees can capitalize on the abundant touchpoint opportunities to connect and glean best practices from marine professionals and peers.

“We understand the immediate need to help marine retailers outmaneuver the current market conditions and economic uncertainty. Every department at the dealership has the added pressure to produce on a higher level despite surplus inventory and the ongoing market challenges,” explains Liz Walz, MRAA Vice President of Education. “It’s critical for dealers to adapt their business to create more flexibility to help them take advantage of opportunities to expand their market share, improve customer relationships and truly ride out the storm. The Dealer Week 2024 ‘Outperform’ theme emphasizes the need for vision and execution to deliver the necessary results so dealers can gain traction to emerge even stronger in 2025!”  

Event attendees will gain access to trending strategies, prime training and verified processes from Dealer Week sessions, helping them steel themselves for 2025. For 2024, MRAA has added a fourth educational pathway, so dealers can find training for various team members. Pathways include: Leadership, Sales, Marketing and Service & Parts, where dealers will receive unbeatable tools, tactics and implementable solutions to help them outdo their professional expectations.

More than 125 exhibitors — displaying boats, engines, software solutions, financing and insurance options along with supportive products and services from industry-leading suppliers — have already committed to attending the conference, with more committing to the event weekly. The Dealer Week program also offers several networking chances, including an awards ceremony, luncheons, cocktail receptions and the admired MRAA Industry Celebration, presented by Kicker Marine Audio.

View the list of 2024 Dealer Week Exhibitors here.

Dealer Week 2024 registration is now open. While all dealers can save big by registering during the early bird period, MRAA Members earn the best rates. Early bird pricing runs now through the end of September. See all your registration options.

About Dealer Week
For more than 50 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world-class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week exists to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. The MRAA envisions a brighter future for marine retail, and Dealer Week is the preeminent means for bringing that vision to life. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.

Priority One Financial Services Begins Prequalification for Customers 

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA, July 15, 2024 – Priority One Financial Services, a full-service finance company for marine, RV, trailer and equipment dealers, now gives customers the ability to prequalify for financing with no impact to their credit score.  

Priority One Financial Services prequalification for customers

Using prequalification, Priority One finance managers can view credit reports from leading bureaus and discuss payment options that may be available to customers based on current lender programs. The service is complimentary to Priority One dealer partners and comes with no obligation to the customer and no impact to their credit score.  

“Prequalification gives niche dealers a competitive advantage over big box retailers,” said Nicole Armstrong, Vice President, Priority One. “Customers want questions answered right away – often before they even step foot in the showroom. Using prequalification, a dealer can connect a customer with Priority One early in the buying process so that by the time they walk into the showroom, they have an idea of what they might be able to afford.”  

Dealers can refer a customer to prequalify with Priority One by directing them to the homepage of their Finance Resource Center, through an in-store kiosk, or via text message with Kenect. When a customer completes the prequalification form, a Priority One team member will call to discuss their needs and begin the prequalification process. 

Currently in beta testing with select dealers, prequalification services will be available for all Priority One dealer partners at the end of July. Learn more at p1fs.com/prequalify. 

About Priority One Financial Services, Inc. 
Founded in 1987, Priority One Financial Services, Inc. offers flexible, business-ready finance and insurance solutions for marine, RV, trailer, powersports, park model and equipment dealers. A division of Forest River, a Berkshire Hathaway company, Priority One provides full-service retail financing to customers through industry-leading technology and award-winning service. 

Headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Fla., the five-time Tampa Bay Business Journal “Best Place to Work”honoree also owns and operates Priority One Equipment Finance and Veritas Insurance Group.  

For more, visit p1fs.com. 

Priority One Financial Services is an MRAA Platinum Partner Member.