• Industry-wide Webinar to Share Research, Creative and Insights on Using Campaign to Reach Anglers and Boaters in Your State
Women represent an important emerging audience for the fishing and boating industry. To grow this demographic, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and Ipsos conducted research among active, lapsed and non-angler women to understand active female anglers’ mindsets and drivers, and what challenges exist to increasing participation.
RBFF, and MRAA Partner Member, has taken findings from the research to create a brand new marketing campaign that launched May 1, for Take Me Fishing™ focused on reaching women.
On Wed., May 31, you can join the RBFF to hear from Rachel Piacenza, RBFF Senior Director of Marketing, and Joanna Lario, Senior Manager of Digital Content, about the brand new “Find Your Best Self” campaign!
TOPICS COVERED:
• Summary of the research
• How the research influenced a new campaign
• Overview of the campaign including information on timing, channels, social media and integrated partnerships
• Examples of new creative
• How you can use the campaign to reach anglers/boaters in your state.
• Marketing campaign fueled by extensive research revealing women who fish are happier and healthier
ALEXANDRIA, VA (May 2, 2023) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) this week launched the Take Me Fishing™ “Find Your Best Self on the Water” campaign to create awareness of fishing and boating among diverse new audiences and motivate participation. The national integrated marketing campaign, rooted in extensive research, helps women uncover the life-changing benefits of fishing and boating.
“Women are the gateway to the greatest growth in fishing and boating participation,” said RBFF SVP of Marketing & Communications, Stephanie Vatalaro. “The opportunity is clear. Research shows women do most of the family activity planning and drive 85 percent of consumer spending decisions. Most kids fish with Moms more than with Dads and brands who put women front and center in their advertising are held in higher regard by both women and men.”
The business opportunity is also clear. A 2022 Southwick Associates study found the average female angler in the U.S. spends $962 annually on sport fishing gear and services. A 10 percent increase in women’s fishing participation could provide an additional $1 billion in revenue to the sportfishing industry.
The “Find Your Best Self” campaign is based on research conducted by IPSOS in 2022 that revealed women who fish are happier and healthier. Conceived and developed by a women-led team, the campaign depicts female anglers experiencing the benefits of fishing and boating first-hand. The campaign includes 60- and 30-second ads, public service announcements, print, digital, and social media extensions, integrated media partnerships, influencer partnerships, and earned media activations.
“Campaign testing showed the new ads motivated both women and men to go fishing, so we’re excited to see how both audiences interact with the campaign this Summer,” said RBFF Sr. Director of Marketing, Rachel Piacenza. “Find Your Best Self on the Water strives to accurately and inclusively depict women in fishing, ideally inspiring more females to feel comfortable trying this life-enhancing activity.”
Despite record levels of female participation in fishing, the activity still has a long way to go toward welcoming women. Research shows that 43 percent of female anglers do not feel respected by the fishing community and 1 in 4 female anglers believe negative stereotypes exist about women’s ability to fish.
Lack of representation is intimidating and prohibitive for at least one in every four female anglers, and women of color tend to agree even more with this statement.
RBFF‘s 2023 consumer-facing marketing campaign aims to confront these barriers and inspire every woman in this nation to challenge themselves to try something new to help them find their best self while supporting a more inclusive fishing and boating community.
RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase recreational angling and boating participation, thereby protecting, and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. To help recruit, retain, and reactivate participants, RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ campaign to build awareness of boating, fishing, and conservation and educate people about the benefits of participation.
The campaign websites feature how-to-videos and an interactive state-by-state map that allows visitors to find local boating and fishing spots, helping boaters and anglers of all ages and experience levels learn, plan, and equip for a successful day on the water.
RBFF also offers its industry stakeholders many tools, including a Fishing License & Boat Registration Plugin to connect their customers with the information they need in just one click and an embeddable Places to Fish & Boat Map to help their customers discover places to fish and boat near them.
Think about your workplace for a few minutes, and imagine a stressful day – we all have them now and again. Think for a second about when that stress bubbles up, who at work do you run to? Who do you vent to? From whom do you seek the most honest advice?
Bob McCann
On the flip side, when you have a successful sale, conquer a difficult meeting or achieve a milestone in your career, who at work do you celebrate with first? Is it the same person as you sought when you were down?
If that person didn’t work with you any longer, would it dramatically impact your work day, your career, how you take on wins and mourn losses? If there is one person you’re imaging now, or even a couple close confidants, you’ve uncovered a best friend at work.
Employee Satisfaction Survey The Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS), which MRAA fields to all Certified Dealers on an annual basis, proves to be one of the valuable components of the Certified Dealership program. It provides insights into the culture, the work environment, the leadership and the employee morale at hundreds of dealerships each year. In fact, we have collected more than 20,000 individual responses since MRAA began running the survey in 2014.
Of all the value that the ESS delivers, it asks one question that has proven quite controversial over the years: Do you have a best friend at work?
Candidly, even as the Lead Certification Consultant, I, myself, have been challenged with the idea of this question being asked. Why? Because my best friend doesn’t work with me! So, this question has been a dilemma for me because while I had personal feelings related to it, the dealerships themselves — who typically see the lowest scores of their entire survey representing this question — have debated the question for years. In fact, we just got another complaint about it on Tuesday.
Gallup Rationale The truth of the matter is that MRAA used Gallup’s list of employee engagement questions to formulate the majority of the ESS. (Gallup, a global workplace analytics company, by the way, states on its “About Us” page that “We know more about the will of employees, customers, students and citizens than anyone in the world. We know what matters most to them at work and in life and how those priorities change over time. And we use that knowledge to create transformation.”)
Gallup’s rationale (which our team at MRAA subscribes to) for including this question “Do you have a best friend at work?” is simply because their research of hundreds of thousands of people shows that having a best friend at work is key to high levels of employee engagement and job success. Positive scores for having a best friend at work are strongly linked to stronger business outcomes, including profitability, safety and retention.
According to Gallup, employees who have a best friend at work are significantly more likely to:
Engage customers and internal partners
Get more done in less time
Support a safe workplace with fewer accidents and reliability concerns
Innovate and share ideas
Have fun while at work
Who doesn’t want to work at this place?!
So those data points are great and pretty convincing, but it was something different that convinced me that this was the right question.
The survey does not ask, “Do you work with your best friend?” It’s not talking about that one person who you consider your absolute best friend. It’s worded to say, “a best friend.” In other words, do you work with someone you would enjoy hanging out with after hours, at a happy hour or some other event. I, like most dealers who dislike this question, was thinking of one person! One best friend.
I realized I have best friend-type friends beyond my one-and-only best friend. Friends that you can trust, someone you share the positives with or who can make you laugh when you’re having a rough day at work. You may have a very supportive partner at home, but a colleague at work will have an even better understanding of the world you work in with more insider knowledge, to understand your viewpoint.
Friends & Best Friends Unless you work entirely on your own, chances are that you work with at least some other people. Given that we typically spend a huge portion of our time at work, perhaps it’s more important than ever to have friends at work. Would you spend time outside of work with these people? Would you have them over for dinner, or take them out on your boat? Perhaps you do have a “best friend” at work.
One last thing: As Gallup points out, pretty much everyone says they have “a friend” at work, but the word “best” in the sentence – again, the main issue for most dealers – is a differentiator. It’s a determining factor in the highest levels of engagement. Anyone can have a friend at work, someone they’re cordial with, maybe they sit down at a lunch table together with, but a best friend is that person whom they can confidently confide in, share their biggest frustrations with, but also the person they’d hate to abandon for a new opportunity. It’s the person who keeps them happy on a slow day and keeps them on track in the face of burnout. It’s the person who makes coming into work fun, and not just well … work.
Great Dealerships to Work For As part of the ESS process, dealers not only have their staff take the survey, but they also sit down with their team after receiving the results to celebrate the wins and work as a team on what they can improve. As “Do you have a best friend at work?” is commonly one of the three lowest performing questions, I remind dealers that the survey is a conversation starter because it provides insight to everyone’s opinion on what’s going well and what could be better. If many employees don’t have a best friend at work, maybe what they’re missing is time to get to know each other, and by accommodating that time into the year, you’ll have more best friends at work the next time the survey is run.
As you may or may not know, MRAA uses the ESS scores to rate “Great Dealerships to Work For.” Asking this question, with the word “best” in it helps MRAA differentiate between dealerships with highly engaged employees and the dealerships with less-engaged employees. We all want to be the best at something, and this question, along with the others in the ESS, allows Certified Dealers to truly build the best environment to attract and retain staff.
Members of the recreational fishing and conservation community focus on next steps to conserve the Bay as purse seine sector celebrates toothless memorandum of understanding
FORT MONROE, VA, May 3, 2023 – A recently signed agreement to address the impacts of industrial menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay falls short of limiting real damage inflicted by the fishery on recreational fishing and broader ecosystem health, based on a collective initial assessment by a coalition of sport-fishing and conservation groups.
On April 20, commercial purse seiners announced a voluntary agreement with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to avoid fishing in a small portion of the Chesapeake Bay, purportedly to avoid net spills near populated areas. However, the non-binding agreement is centered on the narrow goal of limiting and responding to future spill incidents, in which dead menhaden and other fish species released from nets foul area beaches, and does not address all areas within the Bay.
States that purse seiners will not fish within a half-mile of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, nor within one mile of the lower Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach regions.
States that purse seiners will not fish inside Bay waters on holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, nor on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Outlines how the VMRC and purse seiners will develop a fish spill response protocol.
What the MOU does not do:
Establish any buffer in the northern portion of the Bay.
Prevent net spills outside the most populous areas of the Bay shoreline.
Create enforceable regulations of the reduction fishery.
Reduce the amount of menhaden removed from the Bay, which currently amounts to more than 100 million pounds of fish each year.
The agreement does not address the concerns of Virginians regarding user conflicts and fish spills that have plagued the Bay for years.
Steve Atkinson Virginia Saltwater Sportsfishing Association President
“The menhaden MOU is a positive step, but it falls short in several ways,” says Steve Atkinson, president of the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association. “The buffer of one nautical mile does not extend to the Rappahannock River area, which is a popular spot for recreational fishing. The agreement also fails to address longstanding concerns about overharvest in the Bay.”
In December 2022, hundreds of Virginians attended a VMRC meeting to comment on a proposal by the Youngkin Administration that would have established regulations negotiated over months of stakeholder engagement. At that meeting, the VMRC agreed to instead pursue the non-binding memorandum of understanding with industrial menhaden harvester Omega Protein, which became final last week.
“While the memorandum of understanding covers a similar set of issues as the regulations put before VMRC last December, there is one big difference— enforceability,” says Mike Leonard, vice president of government affairs for the American Sportfishing Association. “Whether or not Omega Protein abides by the agreement, and we hope they do, there is still much more work to be done to lessen the harm that reduction fishing is causing to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.”
Throughout 2022, reduction fishing boats caused multiple Eastern Shore fish spills, resulting in the waste of an estimated 12,000 pounds of red drum bycatch and beach closures on major holidays, including Independence Day weekend. As recently as 2019, Omega willfully exceeded its 51,000-metric-ton catch limit in the Bay, inspiring tens of thousands of anglers, dozens of business and organizations, and nine East Coast governors to request that the Secretary of Commerce get involved.
Whit Fosburgh Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership President
“This memorandum of understanding with a foreign-owned, industrial-scale fishing operation in the Chesapeake Bay does little to address conservation of menhaden as a vital forage fish for striped bass and other sportfish,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “While it is our sincere hope that the Commonwealth of Virginia will work to minimize user conflicts and fish spills in the Bay, this non-binding framework relies on the state’s ability to trust cosigners to abide by the rules. The reduction fishery hasn’t earned this trust.”
Last year, more than 10,000 anglers and conservationists from Virginia and up and down the East Coast signed a petition asking Gov. Youngkin to move industrial reduction fishing out of the Chesapeake Bay until science could show that the fishery was not having a negative impact on the ecosystem or the economy. The petition was delivered to Youngkin and the VMRC in October 2022.
Chad Tokowicz MRAA Government Relations Manager
“It is our hope that the signing of this MOU is only the first step toward increased conservation measures for this staple forage fish species,” says Chad Tokowicz, Government Relations Manager for the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas. “With the May openings of Maryland and Virginia’s respective striped bass seasons, it will be obvious the importance menhaden have for this keystone recreational species.”
Anglers remain engaged and anxious to see more meaningful action to safeguard menhaden, sport-fish, and the Bay economy. The conservation community looks forward to working with the Youngkin Administration this September on the implementation of a menhaden study that would fill in gaps in the data about the impact of the reduction fishery on Bay health and sport-fish populations.
Virginia continues to be the only East Coast state allowing reduction fishing of menhaden—a practice where millions of pounds of these forage fish are turned into fishmeal, fish oil, fertilizer, or similar products—in its waters.
Learn more about the recreational fishing community’s push for better management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico.
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.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces the addition of Info-Link Technologies, Inc. and Elco Motor Yachts, LLC as 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 in MRAA members’ business.
Info-Link serves the outdoor recreation industry by providing in-depth information on market insights, customer loyalty and outreach. Meanwhile, Elco Motor Yachts builds safe, powerful, and durable electric motors. These companies commit to their mission of supporting the marine industry by partnering with the MRAA.
“We are all thrilled to have Info-Link and Elco Motor Yachts support our cause by becoming Partner Members,” says Allison Gruhn, MRAAs Vice President of Business Development. “Motor manufacturing and marketing services play different-but-equal roles in contributing to the overall success of the marine industry by serving our dealers.”
Dealer members are encouraged to explore the list of companies that actively support the MRAA across four partnership levels. View the full 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.
• RNO Wins Top International Water Sports Retailer for 2023
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – It’s a winning trifecta for top marine retailer Regal & Nautique of Orlando (RNO). Besides being named the #1 Dealer in North America by Boating Industry Magazine in its Top 100 ranking last November, followed by recognition among the “Great Dealerships to Work for” by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), Regal & Nautique of Orlando has just been named the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA) “Marine Dealer of the Year” for 2023.
From left, Regal Owner/GM Jeff Husby accepts the international award for the Water Sports Industry Association’s “Marine Dealer of the Year” presented by WSIA Executive Director James Krawczyk.
This is the second win for Regal & Nautique for this coveted international award, the first time in 2020. Candidates are nominated by peers; finalists are voted on by active WSIA members; and the winner is chosen by the WSIA staff and a panel of industry experts. Announced at the annual WSIA Leadership Summit in early March in Squaw Creek, CA, the award was formally presented by WSIA Executive Director James Krawczyk to Regal & Nautique of Orlando owner/GM Jeff Husby at RNO’s downtown Orlando retail showroom.
“When I look at the consistent growth and performance record of Jeff Husby and his team at Regal & Nautique of Orlando, it’s no surprise that they were nominated once again by their peers as the WSIA Marine Dealer of the Year,” said WSIA President Robert Oswell. “Regal & Nautique of Orlando continues to set the standard for best practices and culture, and are fully engaged in the core values that push our industry forward.”
Added Husby, “Our entire team at Regal & Nautique of Orlando very much appreciates the distinguished recognition of our dealership by our valued peers and colleagues of the Water Sports Industry Association. This recognition reinforces our long-standing commitment to excellence throughout all levels of our organization, and in serving our customers at the highest level possible.”
Other impressive kudos received by RNO during the 2022 calendar year include recognition by the National Marine Manufacturers Association for TOP CSI service and sales awards for all new boat brands it represents; PCM Engines “Overall Dealer Excellence Award;” and “Top 5 Dealer in North America” for Nautique Boats.
For more information about Regal & Nautique of Orlando, visit www.OrlandoBoats.com or call (407) 425-2628.
• Lenny Sims, VP Business Development/Strategy – Specialty Vehicles for J.D. Power and the MRAA Discuss Insights on the 2023 Q1 Marine Market
By Drew Mick, MRAA Data Specialist
Drew Mick
Mick: Last time we spoke, you emphasized how 2022 was showing signs of “a return to the norm.” With what we are seeing in Q1 2023, in your opinion, is that trend continuing?
Sims: I think it’s continuing. One of the things we saw when we talked last time was what I called a “return to the seasonality of things” on the marketplace. This had not taken place in 2019, 2020 or 2021 for the most part. It had that continuous climb. It was affected by seasonality through the rest of 2022, and we’re seeing that seasonality kind of return.
This means the values are doing a slight flattening or climbing due to the spring and the selling season. This is also inclusive of the boat shows. The evaluations are down not as much as some folks would expect, but they also must look back at 2021 and somewhat 2022, that the inflation dollar is also somewhat holding values. All that said, there’s this mixture. It’s all just a big pot of soup that has a lot of influences in it. Some counter act others and some enhance other market moves, but at the end of the day, it is doing trend lines like pre-COVID-19 conditions.
Throughout Q1, MRAA had a theory that the higher trend we were seeing in certain items had to do with a better than anticipated boat show season. Is there anything in your market insights report that lends credence to our theory? Does it go against our theory?
If there’s anything to read here about the boat show season, it is the seasonality. To dissect it a little further, in previous years a harsh winter has generated a huge attendance at boat shows. That was simply nothing more than people wanting to get out of the house because they had that cabin fever so to speak. They’re thinking “Hey you know what, it’s above 25 degrees this weekend and there’s a boat show going on in town. Let go!” and that correlated to increased attendance. Then the next tier down, there are the people saying, “Compared to last year, we had a lot more leads this year.” Show was up for them. That’s good. You’re gathering consumer information, and you can continue marketing to those people and reach out.
However, at the end of the day, for us it is: how many more sales did you have because of the boat show? You could have less attendance at a boat show, but it is more serious buyers. You sell more boats. When I went to the Houston boat show this year, I put myself in the consumer role there. My perspective, being what it is, is I know there are a lot more boats in inventory. I know the dealers are going to be a lot more susceptible to realistic pricing and doing a little more work to sell that.
I am explaining that because I know a lot of this year attendees (consumers) who went in the last two years, and they couldn’t afford the numbers that were being asked. There was an inventory shortage at the time. I think this year, a lot of folks went with a very positive attitude because the assumption was, after driving by a lot of these lots, they see a lot of boats available than there were a year ago. I think that led to a lot of excitement about going to the show this year to see if pricing had changed any. Availability seems to be more prominent than previously. Whether that occurred and is reflected in the sales, is another thing.
The 2024 model year begins around June. When will we see that reflected in these reports? What do you anticipate happening with that, especially in the “Top researched by year” section?
In the market insights report, the top researched model years by category, you’ll see that the percentage of research by year climb up to about 2021, slightly declined in 2022, and then drops off in 2023. When we say researched, it is researched collectively a few groups: by consumers that come to research used boats on our site, by dealers who are looking up trade-ins, by lenders who are looking at the value to come up with an actual cash value and provide a loan to a dealer, and it is also showing usage and research of traffic by insurance companies. There are other smaller segments, but those are the key ones. What we end up with in our report is a representation of essentially the peak age of used boats being researched is 3 years.
The 2021 boats are the most researched boats for a few reasons. First, if someone bought a 2021 boat new, they aren’t thinking of trading it in for the first year or two. When it gets to be 3 years old, some people are tired of it and want a different one. So that particular peak from two years ago is not unusual at all.
To answer your question about the 2024 models, let’s look at 2023. Why is the 2023 year so low? It’s so low because lenders don’t need to use our products for values. For brand new boats they use relationships directly with the dealers they have consumer financing relationships with. Dealers are not looking at 2023 year boats because they have the invoice and the build sheet directly from the manufacturer. Used 2023 values just became available March 1, and that is how it is every year for the new model year. So for 2024, March is when we see those used 2024 models show up here. Before that point, they don’t need us for that.
While nothing seems to be performing as well as 2022, outboard boats are a general stand out (average retails value by category, traffic and views). Is there anything to that other than it just being the popular type?
When you look at outboard motors in the “Views in 2023” section, 44 percent of it is outboard motors. Almost half of the marketplace. Outboards are an interesting category. Will these numbers change a lot because we pull some things out of that category? Possibly, but I would not say a lot. Pontoons, for instance, can be outboards, but we have them as their own category. The outboard category is speed boats of various types, but a huge part of outboards is bass boats. Bass boats is an interesting market. People who are bass fishers, they don’t ebb and flow. They fish and that is year-round. That is what drives and holds up the values of that category. They are solid as a rock and do not fluctuate a whole lot.
Is there anything else in this report, like what’s on the horizon, that you want to highlight?
For my team and me, it is still wait and see. Some of the things that we anticipated are happening. There are other things we anticipate coming that we are watching out for. I hesitate to state that only because it is an opinion or a little less than a projection. It has a lot to do with the inventory levels. Dealers are full of product, and it can be a dangerous position for them. It’s like a game of musical chairs. They don’t want to get stuck when the music stops and not have a seat.
The issues that they are going to have to be concerned about will possibly come from a decision they have already made. It comes from how many 2024 models they took on. Some were conservative with what they took on, some aren’t in a position and the manufacturers give them their allotment of what they are taking. Some have leftovers. It’s a race now. If you’re a dealer and your shipment of 2024 models is coming in July 1, you basically have the time until then to get rid of as much of it as possible. It’s floorspace that may already be taken with 2023 or other models. So dependent on how much discounting goes on, and how much pressure dealers feel to start jettisoning some of their older inventory, that’s going to drive the values down. In some cases, when you drive the 2023 models values down, and the 2024 models come in with this elevated MSRP, consumers might say, “I will just buy the 2023 then, with the way the price has been cut down. Why get the 2024? I’ll take a 2023.”
That’s where they must start balancing things. They can start squishing their retail numbers on the new models if they’re not careful. That’s a discussion I have with dealers that I know. Some don’t want to hear it; others say it makes sense and they have to be careful.
The NMMA announced this week that the 2024 Discover Boating® New England Boat Show®, in partnership with Progressive® Insurance, is moving from its traditional February President’s Day weekend timeframe to January 10–14 in 2024. The move is a result of trade events at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) that would impact move-in and space availability next year; and, incidentally under BCEC’s bylaws, trade shows take precedence.
“We anticipate the move to be temporary and expect the Discover Boating New England Boat Show to return to its February date pattern in 2025,” noted Jon Pritko, Vice President Northeast Shows. “We’ll continue to work with the BCEC and deliver an exciting, comprehensive marketing and PR campaign to spread awareness around the date change, bringing exhibitors and attendees and optimal show experience.”
Contact Pritko with any questions, jpritko@nmma.org. For a comprehensive schedule of Discover Boating boat shows and other boats shows around the country, visit DiscoverBoating.com/boat-shows.
Have you ever uttered the word “good” when something goes wrong at your dealership? Chances are you’ve said a different word, perhaps one with a negative or “bad” connotation. Jocko Willink, author and retired Navy Seal officer, has shared on his podcast his philosophical approach to responding with “good” when problems crop up. How comfortable are you firmly using the word good in the face of disruption at your dealership?
Jerrod Kelley, MRAA Content Manager
Let’s say one of your technicians just quit. Immediately, your mind shifts to how understaffed this will make your store, and you wonder how will you complete all the repair orders in time with Memorial Day right around the corner. Instead of going into despair and hitting the panic button, according to Willink, it’s better to decipher what has just happened, accept the reality of it and then say “good.” Once you deal with all the possible negatives and pressures this change will undoubtedly create for you and your team, you move on!
Your GOOD statement means you’re now seeking the positives and solutions to address this person’s departure. You don’t say good to deceive yourself or your staff or to keep everything and everyone remaining hunky-dory, as Jocko explains here. You do it because you want to find the good that will come out of this loss of an employee and make something happen. “Good, now we can promote Dave to Service Manager.” “Good, we now have an opportunity to refocus our efforts to improve our service process and efficiency.”
One of our key goals at the MRAA is to drive dealer success through education. With resources such as our monthly MRAA Spotlight pages, Training ‘N’ Tactics online learning, the MRAA Certified Dealer program and MRAA’s annual Dealer Week Conference & Expo, to name four, dealers gain insights, best practices, proven processes and expert advice on improving their business. Continuing education and participative learning help with career advancement, employee engagement and create a self-improvement mindset, all of which contribute to a stronger culture.
I was recently part of a meeting with an MRAA Education Champion that shared an overview of MRAA’s educational offerings and why we do it. One critical aspect that came up during our conversation involved key objectives the MRAA and its partners can address to help drive dealer success.
Goal one of four shared goals in the MRAA 2023-2025 Strategic Plan includes four objectives MRAA is currently focused on, but that can also guide your dealership to greater business achievement. They are:
1. Overcome workforce shortages and challenges
2. Position-specific education and credentialing
3. Improve Repair Event Cycle Times (RECT)
4. Elevate customer experience (CX)
Certainly there are many other pain points out there currently, but these are four strategic focal points and areas of need that, if handled correctly, will help you rise to the top. The four topics are intertwined within your business. It reminds me of science class and the term symbiosis, which is defined as a relationship that’s mutually beneficial for different people or groups.
Let’s first look at your workforce shortages. This involves hiring (or lack thereof), onboarding, engaging, growing and retaining your current employees. Your workforce also relates to No. 2 above, “position-specific education and credentialing,” in that you want your employees to keep learning and training to improve. Because you’ll have educated, confident employees that also understand their potential for career advancement. Additionally, because you invest in their continued learning, you will increase their engagement and improve employee retention.
When you find the best-fit hires for your dealership and help them grow and become a pillar within your corporate culture, you can improve in other ways. For instance, highly engaged, certified service technicians will have the knowledge, accountability, resources and proficiency required to improve your service department’s efficiency. In turn, when they are effective and stick to a process that aims for timeliness and addresses the needs of each unique client, your service department will elevate your customers’ experience.
Put simply, properly trained, satisfied employees are invested in your dealership, produce better results and help create a better CX. And we all know that happier customers quite often become repeat customers and those who give you rave reviews. They display loyalty to your staff and brand, and recommend you to their friends and family members. This helps to improve the satisfaction of your workforce, which directly relates to a happier management team and ownership.
You can clearly see that everyone benefits when you proactively look to improve your situation rather than sit around complaining about it or any other related problems you’re facing. That’s why the MRAA Certified Dealership Program, which will help you become better in many areas, exists; to improve your business. It’s especially valuable if you feel you’ve been grasping at straws trying to overcome all your challenges.
It’s time for you to say “good” when issues arise, because your goal is to be great!
I’ll start with an obvious statement that I think every dealership reading this will agree with:
Hiring is hard.
Author Mike Davin, MRAA Vice President of Business Planning
OK, are we on the same page? If you don’t agree with that statement: 1) Skip this blog. 2) Please contact me, I’d like to hire you as an expert speaker for Dealer Week 2023!
For everyone else, this article is not about how to make hiring easy. Instead, it’s about how to ensure that when you bring someone onto the team, you give yourself (and the new employee) the best chance to be successful. By bringing in the right people, your dealership will experience the pain of hiring less frequently. And in the long run, it is the path to growing and improving your organization’s overall performance.
Like a lot of things in your business, how well and consistently you make good hires comes down to process. This blog will guide you through a well-defined hiring process (used by MRAA) for each new team member you bring on board.
The process should start well before anyone comes in for an interview and involves three steps.
Step 1 is making sure you have the right job description. Keep job descriptions on file for all roles within the organization. (If you’d like a head start, MRAA members can access sample job descriptions in the Workforce section of the Resource Center.)
Rather than copy/pasting when a position comes open, however, review each description to ensure it reflects the current needs of the organization. Instead of focusing on the skills required, emphasize key result areas. These KRAs define the goals you will use to track success in the role, giving candidates a clear picture of expectations and helping ensure that the role is aligned with your overall strategic goals.
Step 2 in the process is to share the job description with the existing team. This gives them a chance to consider whether they know anyone personally or professionally who might be a good candidate for the role. Encourage them to share the posting with their diverse networks to expose the opening to as wide an audience as possible, inside and outside the industry.
Step 3 is when you formally post the job on a variety of job boards. MRAA has seen success with LinkedIn and Indeed, but you should cast a wide net until you have had a chance to evaluate which platforms connect best with applicants in your area.
For each job opening, MRAA assigns a hiring manager and a team of two to three others who will review the candidates. The next steps in the process involve the hiring manager evaluating the resumes that come in and then conducting an initial phone screening of all promising candidates.
It’s important not to skip the final step of the hiring process: Onboarding.
After that, it’s time for the interview, which is key to the success of this process. Here’s an excerpt from MRAA’s interview process guide:
The process for in-person interviews with the MRAA team uses questions from a list of standardized interview questions as the method for determining if the person is a good fit for the role, the culture and the organization. These are not “standard” interview questions, but questions that explore character and real-world behaviors (not canned, rehearsed responses) as well as the “fit” of the individual into the MRAA culture. The questions have been compiled from several sources — books, consultants, experience and otherwise. This document serves as the template for choosing the questions that are most appropriate.
The hiring team divides up a list of specific questions, which are taken from “The Ideal Team Player” by Patrick Lencioni and “Topgrading. How to Hire, Coach and Keep A Players” by Dr. Bradford Smart. As an organization, MRAA has four core values — Authenticity, Accountability, Leadership and Drive — and the questions are selected to provide insight into how the candidates align with those values.
After a candidate speaks to the hiring committee, the committee meets to discuss how well they fit into the job duties and the organization’s values. The goal is to identify candidates that are a good fit for the organization, but also to make certain MRAA is a good fit for the candidate. The hiring manager uses input from the group to make a final decision, and then determines and presents a job offer.
If the candidate accepts, it’s tempting to celebrate, but it’s important not to skip the final step of the hiring process: Onboarding. A good onboarding experience is critical for long-term employee retention. It reinforces many of the earlier steps in the process, ensuring that the new team member understands the KRAs they are responsible for as well as the company’s values.
Here’s the whole process:
Create/update job description for open position
Share job opening / job description with team
Post job opening
Review candidates
Call preferred candidates / phone interview
In-person interviews
Discuss among team members
Discuss and determine hourly vs. salaried, other benefits
Make offer
Onboard
Having a documented process makes hiring easier because it’s clear what steps to take, but it also ensures that jobs aren’t created or filled based on gut feel alone. Skipping steps can lead to a faster hiring process, but adhering to this process (or your customized version for your business) will lead to less turnover and better results.
If you want to work on this process or any others within your dealership, MRAA is happy to help. There are many resources on MRAA.com, or you can sign up for Certification and a consultant will work with you to clean up and document all your processes.
P.S. If you don’t think this process works, I encourage you to check out MRAA.com/staff. All your MRAA staff were hired using this method — and look what a great group it produced! Don’t forget that all those people are working to help boat dealers like you every day, so reach out anytime if you need help. Good luck and happy hiring!
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