MRAA Launches ‘The Boat Biz’ Podcast

• New podcast aimed at highlighting insights, opportunities and actionable content for the marine industry

MINNEAPOLIS, September 13, 2022 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has launched an all-new podcast, titled “The Boat Biz,” focused on delivering insights, discussing opportunities and providing actionable content for the marine industry to act on.

MRAA launches The Boat Biz podcast with President Matt Gruhn
MRAA “The Boat Biz” podcast will include conversations with guests within the boating industry and MRAA President Matt Gruhn.

The Boat Biz podcast, which now has four episodes live, features guests from around the marine industry to provide insights from every corner of the complex business of selling and servicing boats. It is available through such popular platforms as Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon and Audible and Anchor.fm, and will soon be available on other mediums.

“We realize that in order for our industry to be successful, we need to provide up-to-date insights both to our dealers and about our dealers to the industry,” explains Matt Gruhn, MRAA President and host of The Boat Biz Podcast. “This podcast format allows us the opportunity to talk about the important topics that the boating industry needs to know about, through the wisdom of each episode’s special guests.”

The inaugural episode of The Boat Biz featured an in-depth conversation with Liz Walz, MRAA’s Vice President of Education, as she helped explain the wealth of educational programs that MRAA makes available to the marine industry. Episode 2 featured Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg from boat builder Chaparral and Robalo. And Episodes 3 and 4 were recorded on-location at the National Marine Lenders Association conference, featuring Wells Fargo Distribution Finance’s Chad Lyon, as well as President of the NMLA board and Senior Vice President at Medallion Bank, John Haymond.

Matt Gruhn, Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg of Chaparral Robalo Boats caught up at the company's recent dealer meeting.
The MRAA’s Matt Gruhn, Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg of Chaparral Robalo Boats caught up at the company’s recent dealer meeting.

“These first four episodes demonstrate the variety of experts we’ll be featuring,” Gruhn explains, “in our effort to help dealers and industry insiders keep a pulse on the key factors driving the boat business. Our next series of episodes will feature boat dealers, as well, and what they’re doing to find for success in today’s market and plan for success in the year ahead.”

The concept for this all-new podcast surfaced during the MRAA’s strategic planning session, which collected insights and direction from boat builder and supplier partners, in addition to the dealers on MRAA’s board of directors, representation from MRAA’s Young Leaders Advisory Council, special dealer guests, and the MRAA staff. This three-year plan prioritized the sharing of insights from the MRAA and the many industry leaders the association interfaces with on a regular basis.

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.

Tokowicz, MRAA Advocacy Efforts Highlighted in ‘Boating Industry’ Magazine

As part of Boating Industry magazine’s report on sustainability within the marine industry, Associate Editor Jamie Stafford spoke with MRAA Government Relations Manager Chad Tokowicz.

Chad Tokowicz
Chad Tokowicz, MRAA Government Relations Manager

Under the header “Retailers” on page 24 of the August / September issue of the magazine, Chad shared the MRAA’s advocacy efforts and its approach to sustainability, conservation and legislative efforts. Chad, who resides in Washington D.C., attends many important meetings, connects and events as well as authors letters to address some of the marine industry’s most significant legislative topics and concerns.

One quote from Chad, read: “Everyone has a role to play in conservation! Just by going out fishing, boating, or hunting, you can do your part in conservation. In the U.S., we are very lucky to have a unique conservation system that allows folks to support State and Federal agencies that do this work by simply purchasing a fishing or hunting license or a fishing rod or buying fuel for your boat.”

Tokowicz has also built a dedicated page on MRAA.com that keeps boat dealers and marina operators in the loop as to advocacy letters and testimonials. You can find that here. He also updates MRAA members monthly with his contributions to the MRAA’s “The Dealer Advocate” newsletter.

He’ll also be attending MRAA’s annual Dealer Week Conference & Expo Dec. 5-8, in Austin, Texas. Attending dealers will have a chance to connect with him face to face to share their concerns with him about proposed legislation or issues within their state, region and at the national level. You can always reach out to Chad via email if you are unable to connect with him in person to share your voice.

Discover Boating’s Social Influencer Partners Engage, Inspire Through Storytelling

Discover Boating, powered by NMMA and MRAA, has been amplifying the storytelling power of social content creators throughout summer to engage the next generation of boaters and inspire young, diverse audiences to experience life on the water.

From Instagram to TikTok – where the brand’s target audiences consume their social media content – Discover Boating has appeared in the feeds of millions of users, generating nearly 20 million impressions and more than one million interactions (likes, comments, shares, sticker taps, etc.), an indication that the personal boating experiences that influencers share are resonating with their followers.

Discover Boating Influencer Ambreen Tariq (Brownpeoplecamping) fishing from boat.

Discover Boating’s influencer partners include a diverse mix of partners from all different backgrounds (age, ethnicity, location, marital status, etc.) and generated a variety of content in terms of activities, boat types and bodies of water (watersports, fishing, cruising, sailing). Not only do these partnerships help drive consumer awareness and consideration of recreational boating, but they also help increase website traffic by including an easy call-to-action that links to DiscoverBoating.com. Additionally, Discover Boating’s Instagram channel gained more than 900 new followers in just three months, and the spikes in followers correlate with the dates when influencers posted, which signals success in sparking interest among new audiences.

Recent posts: 

• @AmberTorrealba (1.7 million TikTok followers) 

• @LukeGulbranson (192K IG followers)

• @kellyinthecity (113K IG followers) 

• @madelyneonthemove (105K IG followers)

• @daynabolden (35K TikTok followers)

• @BrownPeopleCamping (32K IG followers)

If you have questions regarding Discover Boating’s influencer partnership program, please contact NMMA’s Maggie Maskery at mmaskery@nmma.org.

Four New Partner Members Join the MRAA in August

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced four additions to the list of MRAA Partner Members as supporting organizations.

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

MRAA’s four new Partner Members offer a wide range of products and services, from financial organizations and distributorships to consulting and service contracts. These four organizations commit their mission to supporting the marine industry by parting with the MRAA.

“These new Partner Members help fulfill MRAA’s mission of serving the marine industry and our members.” says Allison Gruhn, Vice President of Business Development. “MRAA is proud to have the support and trust from these additional partners.”

Visit https://mraa.com/partners/ to view the entire list of companies who actively support the MRAA across four levels of partnership.

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.

Rollick and 700Credit Launch Partnership to Benefit Recreation Dealers 

• Dealers can now seamlessly leverage 700Credit’s 

prequalification solution within Rollick’s digital retailing tool 

 AUSTIN, Texas and FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan – August 23, 2022 — Rollick, the leading relationship technology platform for the Marine, Powersports, and RV industries, announced today that it now offers integration with 700Credit, a leading provider of credit reports, compliance and soft pull products. The integration enables consumers to prequalify for dealer financing via their 700Credit relationship while using the Rollick-powered digital retailing tool on dealer and GoRollick Marketplace websites. Known as RollickDR, the all-in-one “smart” lead generation tool adds deeper buyer context, speed, and efficiency to the sales process for consumers, dealerships, and lenders. 

rollick

700credit works with more than 3,500 dealers in the recreation category. Many of these dealers overlap with Rollick’s network and have been asking for this integration since Rollick launched RollickDR last summer. Prequalified customers through RollickDR have proven to close 230% higher than a standard “Get a Quote” lead. Accordingly, Rollick seeks to make its tool accessible to all dealers, recognizing that many have already embraced 700Credit’s prequalification solution to understand a prospective customer’s creditworthiness before they arrive at the dealership. 

“We’re excited to provide this integration so that dealers can now enhance the power of the RollickDR tool” said Ken Hill Managing Director of 700Credit. “Dealers will appreciate the seamless experience we’ve created, and potential buyers will quickly understand if they qualify for dealer financing and receive a more accurate payment estimate earlier in the sales process that is based on their actual FICO® credit score. Dealers also benefit by being able to view the consumers FICO® score and credit report at the top of the sales funnel.” 

700 Credit

In addition to finance prequalification, RollickDR includes several other modules designed to engage shoppers based on where they’re at in the buying process and how much information they are willing to give to the dealer prior to visiting the store. Other modules include the ability to view special offers and available incentives, reserve a unit with a deposit via Rollick’s embedded payment partners such as Kenect, estimate a trade-in value, schedule an appointment, estimate monthly payments and request a price quote. 

“With more than 20 percent of Rollick dealer clients already using 700Credit, we are happy to make it simple for them to get more use out of their prequalification partner via our integration,” said Jason Nierman, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Rollick. “We’re also excited by the opportunity to expose our dealer clients not already using 700Credit to their platform, as well as give their dealer clients not already working with Rollick the opportunity to improve their close rates by over 50 percent through our RollickDR solution. This is part of an overall effort to streamline and improve the buying experience for everyone — with the dealer as the centerpiece.” 

700Credit’s consumer prequalification is a web-based lead generation solution that does not require a consumer’s SSN or DOB and has no effect on their credit file. Prequalifying a customer enables dealers to structure the right deal to get the consumer a payment they can afford sooner in the sales process. Together, Rollick and 700Credit drive more qualified sales leads from the web to dealer showrooms. 

For more information, visit https://www.700credit.com/rollick. 

About Rollick, Inc. 

Rollick connects manufacturers, dealers, and finance and insurance providers with in-market consumers in the Powersports, RV, and Marine industries to deliver a seamless customer journey. Rollick’s OEM solutions include new customer acquisition, enterprise lead management, customer experience/loyalty, and marketing automation. In addition, the company has rapidly built its GoRollick.com outdoor recreational vehicle buying marketplace to include a nationwide network of dealers, over 100 manufacturers, and an affinity partner network with access to over 250 million high-quality customers including policyholders of major insurance providers, employees at more than 2,000 top U.S. companies, members of the military, veterans and first responders. For more information, visit Rollick. 

About 700Credit 

700Credit is the automotive industry’s leading provider of credit reports, compliance and soft pull products. The company’s product and service offerings include credit reports, prescreen and pre-qualification platforms, compliance training, OFAC compliance, Red Flag solutions, MLA, Synthetic Fraud Detection, Identity Verification, score disclosure notices, adverse action notices and more. 700Credit’s goal is to provide its clients with the highest quality data in a compliant framework in the most efficient manner possible. For more information about 700Credit, visit www.700credit.com. 

Discover Boating + VICE TV Launch Documentary to Inspire NexGen Boaters

One of Discover Boating’s strategic media partnerships as part of its 2022 national marketing campaign is with VICE TV, aimed at further amplifying the joy of boating among the industry’s growth and emerging target audiences. As a leading network among 18-34 year olds, VICE TV reaches 65 million homes, helping Discover Boating invite the next generation to experience life on the water.

Running on VICE TV are two of Discover Boating’s videos—‘Anthem’ and ‘Hooked’—as well as a custom short documentary connection to fishing aboard a personal watercraft. 

“VICE brand partnerships and video productions resonate in youth culture because they tell stories through the lens of connection, culture and identity,” said Kevin Williams, NMMA’s vice president of marketing. “With more than three-quarters of our target audience looking for brands who engage with their audience through that very lens, partnering with VICE helps us build a connection between Discover Boating and what ‘see you out here’ can mean to the next generation of boaters through a familiar, authentic and human-centric voice across platforms and formats.”

Additional Discover Boating strategic media partnerships this summer include ESPN and Ebony Media.

For more information on Discover Boating’s media partnerships, please contact NMMA VP of Marketing, Kevin Williams at kwilliams@nmma.org.

Discover Boating, Strategic Partner Ebony Media Host Event to Engage NexGen Boat Buyers

As Discover Boating works to engage the next generation of boaters, the brand has established a number of strategic partners including Ebony Media, one of the most highly trafficked platforms and respected media within the African American community as well as the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA), a nationally recognized leader in legal education and professional development for lawyers and professionals in the entertainment, sports, and related industries whose members represent top talent, networks and brands. The partnership with Ebony is helping Discover Boating connect with a key segment within our industry’s growth and emerging target audiences and has provided an opportunity to elevate and extend our industry’s voice and reach more potential boat buyers.

One of the key activations of the partnership was an event in Oak Bluffs Marina on Martha’s Vineyard the week of August 15 where influential and affluent guests from across the African American community joined Discover Boating and Ebony to experience life on the water. From cruising to networking and book signing events—all related to boating—guests spent quality time onboard enjoying the boating lifestyle and learning about Discover Boating.

Notable attendees included Uptown magazine, Shallow Waters author Anita Kopacz and numerous entertainment and brand executive influencers.

NMMA Vice President of Marketing Kevin Williams (center) attended the Discover Boating / Ebony Media boating event.

To learn more about Discover Boating’s strategic media partnerships, contact NMMA Vice President of Marketing, Kevin Williams at kwilliams@nmma.org.

New FTC Auto Rule: What Does It Mean for My Business?

  • In an effort to improve the customer experience and root out deceptive business practices, the Federal Trade Commission proposes sweeping changes to dealership operations across the country. If passed, the way you do business will change forever.
  • Rule Changes Apply to Boats, Cars, Motorcycles and RVs

By a 4-1 vote June 23, the FTC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking which if passed, will change the way you interact with your customers forever. The regulation, dubbed the “Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule” would apply to cars, boats, motorcycles, and RVs, and is primarily aimed at removing deception and other unfair business practices from the motor vehicle market. The FTC put forth this regulation as they have taken more than 50 enforcement actions related to automobiles in the last 10 years and have also received more than 100,000 consumer complaints annually, over the past three years, related to the car buying experience.

Contents of the Rule

At face value the proposed rule increases disclosure requirements and necessitates dealers make known all costs and sale conditions upfront. Furthermore, it will also prohibit dealers from making deceptive advertising claims or misrepresentations about the cost of the vehicle, cost of add-on products and services, and the financing terms. Dealers would also be prohibited from selling add-ons that offer no additional benefit to the consumer, like “nitrogen filled” tires. The rule would also increase recordkeeping requirements and mandate that dealers keep detailed records of their compliance with these new processes for two years.

Prohibited Misrepresentations – Increased Transparency

At the core of the proposed rule is removing deceptive practices from the marketplace primarily with regards to financing, advertising, and add-ons. The FTC is attempting to increase transparency during the buying process and increase competition between dealers. This section would not only bar the dealer from being deceptive toward the customer, but also prohibit dealers from misrepresenting any “material information on or about a consumers application for financing.”

Disclosures – Offering Price and More

The proposed rule also requires dealers to make key disclosures in a clear and conspicuous manner. For example, upon customer inquiry, a dealer must be able to disclose the full cash price for which a dealer will sell or finance the motor vehicle to any consumer, excluding only government charges. These disclosure requirements would also apply to financing information as well, for example, a dealer must inform consumers that a lower monthly payment will increase the total amount the consumer will pay, if true. The rule would also require the dealer to create an “Add-On List” which discloses “on any website, online service or mobile application … a list of all optional add-ons and the price of each add on.”

Add-On — No ‘Junk Fees’

The FTC is also focused on stopping dealers from charging consumers for “junk fees,” and the rule strictly prohibits dealers selling items to the consumer that provide no benefit. Under the rule, dealers would be required to disclose, and offer to close the transaction, for the cash price without optional add-ons — itemizing the Offering Price, any discounts, rebates, or trade in valuation, and required government charges. If the buyer declines to purchase, they must sign the form as proof that the dealer has provided the required Offering Price to consumers before including optional add-ons in a sales transaction. 

Recordkeeping –Two-year Requirement

Dealers would be required to create and retain records showing compliance, including advertisements, price lists, customer correspondence, financing documentation, LTV calculations for all sales of GAP coverage and customer complaints.

Next Steps and What to Expect

The Proposed Rule is currently open for public comment until September 12. The MRAA, along with several other trade associations including the RV Dealers Association, have submitted a request to extend the comment deadline by an additional 120 days.

Regardless of if the extension is granted, the MRAA and our state MTA partners will be submitting comments. Furthermore, the MRAA is going to deploy a Boating United action alert and we will encourage all our MRAA members to engage.

If you have any questions pertaining to this proposed rule or would like to provide insights as to how this will impact your business, please contact Chad Tokowicz, Government Relations Manager, at Chad@mraa.com.

Service Menus Update

A Service Menu is a great tool to send out with annual maintenance or winter storage agreements in order to streamline the check-in process and increase winter work.

There is a template on the MRAA website that would be a great start to creating your own.  Customize it for your products, area of the country and current pricing. 

It is laid out in three columns on pages one and two. 

Side 1 Select what level of Annual Maintenance, Storage and Detail Packages they want, each with three or four upgrade selections.

Side 2 Offers upgrades with Other Maintenance, Special Projects and More.

Customize your own Menu by clicking on the “Master List” worksheet at the bottom of the Excel Workbook.  Start by changing the Hourly Labor Rate in the yellow box at the top.  All the pricing of the items throughout the Menu are automatically adjusted with this one change.  This Sample Menu was done in 2013 at $120/hour.  I hope your hourly rate is much higher than that now.  Going rates are $159 to $199/hour and some are up to $225.  Adjust the descriptions and hours for each service according to your own shop’s offerings.  The goal is to create packages of services to make it easier for the customer to decide.

Once the Master List is finished, create your own packages by pulling in the line number from Column “B” in the Master List into one of the three columns on the left side of page one or two of the Menu.  That will create a template from which to do a .pdf print out that can be emailed with annual maintenance or winter storage contracts.

Clients who utilize a Service Menu, experience significantly increased labor and parts income over the winter season.  If you are not using one now, I hope this one will help you get started.

Parker Business Planning

About the Author: David Parker’s marine career began at 15 when he gained employment with his family’s Parker Boat Company business, a Sea Ray dealership based in Orlando. Over a 17-year span, he rotated through the ranks from lot boy to rigger, mechanic, parts/service manager, posts in sales and sales management, F&I and eventually accounting. This hands-on experience in virtually all aspects of retail operations provided unique insight that has served him well throughout his stellar 50-year career. Visit: www.parkerbusinessplanning.com/

7 Methods to Help Your Team Maximize Its Use of Time to Improve Profits

• Sharks and Minnows: A child’s game of pursuit reminds your dealership to just keep swimming to avoid time robbers in the name of boosting your profits

Do you remember playing tag as a kid?  Someone was “it,” and they ran around trying to tag another person to make someone else a new chaser to be it.  I recently watched some kids at the park playing a version of this called “Sharks and Minnows.” In this game, two kids were called sharks and they were considered it. The sharks role was to call: “fishy, fishy come out and play.” As the other kids or players, the minnows, slowly approached, the sharks yelled: “Shark Attack!” and gave chase. If they tagged another child, that kid became a shark, too! Finally, the last two untagged Minnows switched roles and became the sharks in the next round of play.

7 ideas to reduce the daily "shark attacks" or time suckers at your dealership.

How does this relate to my service department, you ask? Think about the sharks in your department. Are you seemingly chased by the things that call to you daily and rob you of your most valuable resources: efficient use of time and increasing profits? 

Here are 7 ideas to reduce the daily “shark attacks” at your dealership:

  1. Managing the Shop: In some smaller marine dealerships, I have seen shop foreman instead of a service manager. Are they reviewing reports for proper scheduling, technician efficiency and productivity? Who is monitoring warranties? How long are units sitting on your property after the work has been completed, waiting to be cashiered? The longer they sit there, the longer before you get paid. That’s a bite in the swim trunks. Hire and train a good service manager or at minimum, empower and set expectations with your Shop Foreman!
  2. Service Writer Training: Are your service writers properly trained? Are your service writers performing a complete and thorough walk-around in order to upsell parts? “If the customer comes in for a routine repair, what other items do you automatically check and communicate concerns or tips to the customer?” This is a soft-sell technique that increases parts sales and incidentally, builds customer confidence in you.
  3. Service Writer Tools: Do they have the proper tools? Three tools to consider are:

• Checklist. Design checklists by make and model so that service advisors don’t miss a thing.

• Mobile App. The use of Mobile Apps allows you to check in customers quickly, efficiently and sign to approve the work.

•  Service CRM product. A Service CRM tool can allow you to send follow-up communications for current or future work and communication automatically through email or text.

  • Service Writer Pay Plan:  Even though it is their job, very few service writers make a conscious effort to sell parts unless their pay plan is affected by specifically includes it. Track their performance like any salesperson and provide them with incentives for selling.
  • Shop Supplies: Do your techs have a limitless supply of nuts, bolts, cotter pins, fluids, oils and greases in their bays that you simply recoup by charging “shop supplies?” When practical, you should be charging the proper part numbers to the repair order. This helps with inventory levels as well as documenting to the customer everything that went onto their unit and that you are getting paid for it.
  • Technicians:  Are your technicians roaming through the parts department pulling the parts that they need? Those technicians should stay in their bays where they make you and themselves money. All parts requests should be handled by the parts department or by a parts liaison to ensure that they get sold properly to the job. 
  • Warranty Processing: Too often, I see money left on the table because warranties are not processed in a timely manner or refiled. Again, the shark of time (i.e.: I’m too busy!) is swimming around your shop. File warranty work on time! IF the OEM denies it or some part of it, refile and fight for your money. As you become more familiar with the OEMs’ expectations on warranty items, you will find more claims approved and money back in your bank! 

So, the next time you hear; “fishy, fishy come out and play,” you know it wants to eat your time or your profits or both! Don’t take your eyes off the shark, stay calm, keep swimming, and you’ll avoid be caught, letting your team focus on what matters most, maximizing its time to boost your profits.

Lightspeed, an MRAA Strategic Partner

About the Author

Dixie Morrow, CDK Lightspeed Client Training Manager, is a trainer, consultant and manager with Lightspeed, with more than 20 years of experience working alongside marine, RV and powersports dealerships of all sizes.