Bradford Marine Joins My-Villages Innovation Partners

Hobe Sound, Fla. – March 6, 2014 – My-Villages, a leading provider of marine mobile technology, is proud to announce that Bradford Marine, a premier name with shipyard and brokerage facilities in Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas, is the first brokerage in the nation to arm customers with mobile technology designed to simplify boat ownership.

Bradford Marine will use The Boat Village, a mobile platform that simplifies communication and collaboration, to make it easier for owners to coordinate service and maintain their vessels.

Bradford Marine will make The Boat Village Premium service available to all of their customers, allowing them to create a digital profile for the vessel and all of its equipment, including a custom maintenance plan based on manufacturer recommendations. Also, with The Boat Village, owners can receive reminders when maintenance is due and coordinate service online.

A leader in yacht service since 1966, Bradford Marine is already using My-Villages’ DockMaster suite of marine software, and the addition of The Boat Village will enable the company to enhance and simplify communication with customers.

“Bradford Marine has been an industry leader for decades and we are thrilled they chose The Boat Village for their customers,” said Kevin Hutchinson, founder and CEO of My-Villages. “From advanced lift and dry-dock equipment to the way they have expanded their business, this company is forward-looking, and their interest in The Boat Village takes their desire to innovate customer service and engagement one more step.”

Paul Engle, Bradford Marine’s President, said, “This product allows boat owners and captains to use the latest technology to maintain and care for their boats.”

The Boat Village Premium Service, an application that works on any smartphone, tablet or computer, functions like an electronic medical record and care coordination platform. The Boat Village keeps an inventory of all onboard equipment, which is personalized with electronic manuals and automated maintenance reminders. With the touch of a button, owners can send an online service request and communicate with their technicians. Service professionals can answer questions, provide updates on work in progress and help owners update their service history record by marking tasks complete, and it all gets done in the same application. Records are preserved electronically and the boat’s service history, usage trends, trip logs and other useful information are readily available.

Bradford Marine joins a growing list of major marine firms who have signed on as Boat Village Innovation Partners, companies committed to leveraging technology to improve how they connect, communicate and collaborate with customers. They include The Hinckley Company and Regal as well as service yards like Whiticar Boat Works, Saunders, Maine Yacht Center, Front Street Shipyard and Marine Professionals Incorporated (MPI).

Additional Innovation Partners will be signed in coming months. To inquire, visit www.my-villages.com.

About My-Villages

My-Villages is a technology company dedicated to helping people better maintain and operate the things they own. The company improves communication and coordination between product owners, manufacturers and industry service professionals, using mobile technology to simplify life for consumers and help businesses engage customers more effectively. Learn more at www.my-villages.com.

Lighthouse Media Solutions launches National Sales Initiative

Mike Alleva, Vice President of Marketing & Client Strategy for Lighthouse Media Solutions is promoted to National Accounts Manager and will be expanding Lighthouse’s reach throughout the U.S.

We are proud to announce that Mike Alleva, our VP of Marketing & Client Strategy, has now taken on the additional responsibility of National Accounts Manager. Mike will be responsible for hiring and managing field reps throughout the U.S. If you would like further information about this opportunity, please give Mike Alleva a call at 757.377.7336 or email him at malleva(at)lhmediasolutions(dot)com.

Mike Alleva said, “I am very excited about this opportunity to help my company grow. We provide solutions that can benefit every business in every market. Having field reps throughout the country will increase our exposure and get us in front of more businesses. We are unique because not only do offer digital marketing solutions, we also offer award winning publications as well as host a television series, New England Boating. This opportunity will help us bring the success we have had in New England to the entire country.

Lighthouse Media Solutions is Content Marketing and Publishing company that specializes in producing and developing across traditional and digital platforms. Lighthouse currently owns and publishes the following high-end glossy magazines: Southern New England Home, Southern New England Weddings, Home Remodeling, Golf & Leisure Cape Cod, Southern New England Living, and New England Boating. Lighthouse also owns and produces New England Boating TV , a comprehensive television show on the New England Sports Network (NESN); which is focused around the destinations and journeys accessible to the New England Boater. Finally, Lighthouse provides a wide range of marketing services to include but not limited to: eMail marketing, website and mobile application development, video and radio production, Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO and SEM/PPC), Social Media Management and Consulting, Branding and Graphic Design.

MRAA partners with Jeffrey Gitomer to launch Virtual Training System

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has partnered with sales, customer loyalty and personal development guru Jeffrey Gitomer to launch the MRAA Interactive Virtual Training System.

 

Boasting 297 modules, 29 in-depth webinars, 5 introductory modules, 4 bonus modules and a new Power Lesson uploaded every week, the MRAA Interactive Virtual Training System is an online training portal that Gitomer and the MRAA are making available to MRAA members at the click of a button. The depth and breadth of content has been designed to support the training needs of even the most dedicated teams and is relevant and applicable to every dealership, no matter the size or level of sophistication.

 

“Through this partnership, MRAA members can access the most comprehensive virtual training tool the marine industry has ever seen,” says Gitomer. “Not only does this system offer dealers the ability to sharpen their team’s skills 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days per year, but in it, I tackle topics that your entire staff can put to use to improve your results, whether they answer the phones, stand behind the service desk or walk the showroom selling boats.”

 

To maintain high levels of performance throughout the year, dealers need training resources that can fit into their staff’s work flow. The MRAA Interactive Virtual Training System meets that criteria. It can be quickly and easily accessed via tablet, smart phone or computer. And many of these modules are five minutes or less in length, which makes it easy for dealers to keep their team in top form year-round.

 

“It can be incredibly difficult to find the time to train, especially during the busy season,” say Liz Walz, MRAA Director of Education. “This system solves that problem by offering hard-hitting, practical advice on how to sell more and develop stronger customer relationships in small, bite-size chunks. Now, you can create a culture of training that brings your entire team together and transforms your marine business into a sales and customer service powerhouse.”    

 

This easy-to-navigate portal provides a Training Center, featuring hundreds of modules; Power Lessons that are updated every week; a Report Card, which allows you to track your progress; My Favorites, where you can bookmark sessions; and MRAA Training Recommendations, a guide to eight key topics that are key to marine dealer success. They include information on how to Get Motivated, Generate More Prospects, Set Yourself Apart, Get Away from Price, Ask the Right Questions, Overcome Barriers and Objections, Earn the Sale (aka Closing), and Keep Customers Coming Back.  

 

As an added bonus to the system, companies that subscribe can access powerful management tools that allow managers to track their employees’ training progress, view their test scores and even assign modules to help team members overcome their weaknesses.

 

“Let’s not forget the most important part,” adds Walz. “Your team isn’t going to invest much effort into their training unless they believe it will allow them to achieve better results. MRAA has partnered with Jeffrey Gitomer because we understand the challenges marine businesses like yours face every day, and we’re confident that your team will be able to put his real-world advice, strategies and ideas into place the minute they finish each module.”  

 

To learn more, inquire about pricing and subscribe today, visit www.mraa.com/virtualtraining or contact Liz Walz at liz@mraa.com or 315-692-4533.

 

 

About Marine Retailers Association of the Americas

At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, 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. The 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

MDCE 2014 issues Call for Presentations

ORLANDO – Organizers of the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo are seeking educational session proposals from potential speakers for the 2014 MDCE, which will be held Nov. 16-19 in Orlando, Fla. The deadline to submit a proposal is March 14.

Presentations should be directed at an audience of marine dealership professionals, from dealership principals and general managers to employees and managers of such departments as sales, marketing, service, parts, accessories, F&I, boat clubs, boat rentals and marina operations.

MDCE organizers are looking for presentations on advanced, intermediate and fundamental business topics. The information to be presented should be timely, informative and educational, offering concrete takeaways the audience can bring back to their business to accelerate future success.

If you have an idea for an educational seminar that would make a meaningful contribution to MDCE 2014 and the presentations skills to entertain and engage our audience, we want to hear from you. To submit a presentation proposal, please visit www.mraa.com/?page=MDCE_Presentations and fill out the form. Have a question? Don’t hesitate to call or email Liz Walz at liz@mraa.com or 315-692-4533.

The 2013 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo attracted more than 600 dealership employees, a record number for the event. Add in exhibitors, sponsors and their staff, and the total attendance at the event was more than 1,100 people, also a new record.

One of the main draws of the event for dealers are its tracks of educational content. The 2014 Marine Dealer Conference and Expo will offer a fresh line-up of educational sessions, providing the new ideas, best practices and deep insight dealership professionals need to excel in a changing marketplace. To download an overview of the 2013 educational agenda or learn more about the 2014 event, visit www.mraa.com/event/MDCE_.

About MDCE

The Marine Dealer Conference & Expo is the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ annual conference and member meeting. As the marine industry’s only dealer-specific educational conference, the MDCE features an in-depth line-up of educational topics, a full-featured expo hall, and a series of fixed networking opportunities, all of which are designed to help marine dealers connect with and learn from others who can foster their success. The MDCE is co-produced by the MRAA and Boating Industry, and it offers pre-conference workshops, two keynote presentations, three tracks of educational content, and more than 20 sessions in all. It will be held Nov. 16-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Click here to learn more.

Certified Dealership Program participation up 33 percent

MIAMI – The recently revamped Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program has made great strides since its soft launch in November of last year, and has already seen a 33-percent increase in the number of participating dealers, according to Sonja Moseley, Director of Certification and Benefits at the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, who administers the program on behalf of the Grow Boating Initiative.

In a presentation at the Miami International Boat Show’s Industry Breakfast, Moseley shared insights into the changes that the MICD Program has undergone, as well as the momentum it has gained within the industry. In November, Moseley introduced the changes to the program at the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo and garnered renewed interest from a number of dealers.

“We listened to the industry,” Moseley explained, “and tailored the new program to the needs of the dealers and other industry constituents. It has been exciting to guide this evolution toward a program that is more cost- and time-effective, more value-minded, and more accessible to more dealers than ever before. ”

The MICD program has focused its recent changes on improving accessibility, cost and value. The revamped program allows dealers to move through three tiers of Certification en route to the pinnacle of the program, the Five Star MICD status. Not only does this format allow dealers to work at their own pace, it also provides for an entry point of less than $600 and breaks up the investment in a pay-as-you-go format.

The original premise of the MICD program, and the goal of the program today, is to assist dealers in their efforts to provide the best possible boating experience for their customers. The new, tiered format provides dealerships of all sizes a direct opportunity to improve their operations in a way that is proven to deliver a consistent, quality experience for today’s boat buyers.

“The new format opens the door to many dealerships who simply did not have the capacity in the past,” says Joe Lewis, general manager of Mt. Dora Boating Center, a one-location Certified Dealership, and Chairman of the Grow Boating board of directors. “It has been an outstanding evolution for the program because sometimes those smaller operations miss out on opportunities for professional growth due to limited staff and funds.”

At just $575 for the first tier of Certification, the cost for a dealer to get into the Certification program is 80-percent less than the previous cost structure required. What’s more is that the new program has eliminated the contribution that Grow Boating used to make toward helping dealers get Certified, and that money has been redirected to a marketing program that will increase exposure for Certified Dealers.

For dealerships that want to go straight to the top, the program offers a Fast Track option for $2,465, which combines three steps into one and saves the dealer a total of $375. Additionally, recertification requirements have been reduced to an every-other-year format, saving dealers half the time and cost of maintaining their status.

“These changes have helped us tell a great story about this program and have led us to an impressive increase in program participation,” Moseley explains, “but we’re very much looking forward to formally launching this program in the coming months because we are literally just getting started with our efforts to make Dealer Certification the useful tool that it was designed to be.”

Update on Ethanol

The anti-ethanol DC coalition, Smarter Fuel Future, which MRAA is a member, generated over 10,000 comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of its recent proposal to maintain 2013 blend volumes for corn-based ethanol. The marine industry contributed over 1,800 of those comments. During January, the coalition led a campaign that was strongly supported by MRAA, to support the EPA’s effort to cap the 2014 renewable fuel standard at 2013 levels. MRAA thanks the mass support marine retailers have given to this issue.

The campaign also generated many media hits with interest in building inform with the public about the harmful effects of corn-based ethanol on small engines used in boats, off-road vehicles, snow blowers, lawn mowers, and gasoline powered tools. FOX Business News reported the AAA has issued a warning to Americans that the efforts of the ethanol industry and the EPA to increase the blend level to E15 in cars can damage engines. Ten auto manufacturers have announced warranties would be voided if E15 is used in newer cars. To see the FOX news story click here.

MRAA continues to actively oppose corn-based ethanol in Congress. MRAA has supported several letters written by Congress to the EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the President explaining the adverse effects corn-based ethanol has on marine engines and outboard motors.

MRAA Supports Change in Recreational Boat Definition in Longshore Act

MRAA supports H.R. 3896, a bill introduced on January 16, 2014 by Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, to amend the Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act to provide a definition of recreational vessel that is a better and clearer application of the Longshore Act to marinas and insurance companies providing service work on recreational boats. There are seven co-sponsors so far. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. No action has been scheduled by the Committee.

Several years ago, the boating industry united in supporting a revision to the Longshore Act to eliminate the need for marinas working on recreational boats to carry both state worker’s compensation and federal Longshore insurance on its workers. The Labor Department received 50 comments on definition of recreational boat during its rulemaking stage of that revision bill, but those recommendations were negated by the Department and went with the Title 46 definition, as amended by several other legal sources. Problems arose almost immediately with insurers saying the definition is too complicated and withdrew the sale of insurance. Longshore insurance generally costs about four times as much as worker’s compensation and for recreational marinas both would still be required.

The Labor Department has refused to re-open the Longshore rule saying an act of Congress is needed to make any change.

H.R. 3896 is a simple bill that defines recreational boat as 1.) a vessel being manufactured or operated primarily for pleasure, or 2.) leased, rented, or chartered to another for the latter’s pleasure. In addition, the bill says a vessel will be treated as a recreational vessel if it is a public vessel or a boat owned by the USA, a state, or political subdivision and is not normally engaged in the military or commercial industry.

No action has yet occurred on the bill.

The Taxing Question in Congress

For the past several years, Congress has faced a year-end deadline to pass the tax extenders bill. It has been one of Congress’s bad habits. But it did not happen this year causing several key pro-business tax deductions like the estate tax and allowing business to deduct the cost of equipment purchases in the year of purchase rather than gradually through depreciation.

In practice these temporary tax deductions have become permanent because of the sage of the annual temporary authorizations. Congress will again be looking at tax extenders in the coming weeks. MRAA will again push for the repeal or, at least, passage of last year’s $3.5 million exemption of the estate (death) tax. Last week Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said the Senate will take up tax extenders when the Chair of the Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Montana) departs the Senate for a new post as ambassador to China.

Congress Looks at Several Ways to Increase Revenue for Transportation

A bipartisan effort to find new revenue to fund roads, bridges, and mass transit may hit recreational boating hard. Historically, transportation has been a bipartisan effort in Congress. So far 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats in the House support a plan that would fund loans for infrastructure improvements from bonds that would be sold to companies who want tax break if cash earned abroad is brought back to the USA.

A 10 to 20 cent per-gallon increase in the federal gas tax is also on the table, but many think it would be a short-term fix to the needs of infrastructure. With a federal mandate in place to increase average mileage to 54.5 a gallon by 2025, many believe a higher gas tax is needed. Other possibilities include moving to a system that charges drivers a fee for every mile they travel.

Whatever happens in Congress MRAA thinks boaters may be paying more at the pump when the transportation bill passes Congress. MRAA opposes tax increases on gasoline or other revenue avenues that impact the ability of Americans to enjoy fishing and boating.

Congress Turns to Magnuson-Stevens, the Saltwater Fisheries Management Act

On February 4, 2014 the House Committee on Natural Resources held its first hearing on the re-authorization of the important Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. This legislation guides federal saltwater fisheries management. A discussion draft of the authorization bill had been distributed to interested groups several weeks before the hearing.

MRAA is generally pleased with the discussion draft — it provides increased flexibility in setting fish catch limits and provides more local control of fisheries management, but remains concerned that the discussion draft fails to adequately address the needs of recreational fishing.

The next discussion draft will be distributed to interested groups in March. MRAA’s President Matt Gruhn said, “MRAA applauds the work of the Natural Resources Committee so far with its common sense reforms, but believes the re-authorization of Magnuson-Stevens this year provides an opportunity for Congress to adequately address recreational fishing and its impact on the economies of local communities. We are looking for consistency in the law and regulations that can be provided by a national policy for recreational fishing.”