Shopping online has become common practice for consumers. With 79 percent of smartphone users making a purchase online within the last 6 months, it’s important for dealers selling high-consideration products such as boats, to start considering how they can improve their websites to increase engagement. In the boating industry, it’s not about offering a “buy now” solution since most customers still want in-person engagement with the product before a big purchase. Your dealership’s website optimization strategy should be hyper-focused on elevating the inventory shopping experience and capturing as much pre-sales information as possible, so the deal can hit the ground running once customers enter the showroom floor.

Due to high demand, customers are expecting more from retailers as they look to purchase their boats. Also, inventory is beginning to normalize which could also be an indicator of leads/opportunities starting to soften. In a study conducted in April 2022, Rollick analyzed website data for 17 boat and RV brands and found that year-over-year website traffic is down 18 percent. While not a massive decline, the trend line suggests that boat brands and dealers need to start developing a strategy to make the online shopping process easier, so your next sales opportunity doesn’t go to a competitor due to lack of engagement. The online boat shopping experience must be exceptional, which means thinking beyond traditional lead forms. Today’s modern consumer wants to know all their options up front, and they want them readily available at their fingertips.

If you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, you can see their frustrations. They are accustomed to living in a world with Alexa, who can answer any question at the drop of a hat, and of course Amazon, where purchases are delivered within 24 hours. These expectations are hard to live up to, especially when selling high-consideration products, which require a significant amount of upfront information from the customer.

Before visiting a dealership, customers want to understand their financing options, trade-in value, dealer fees, and qualifying incentives, so they feel comfortable reserving the unit and placing a deposit for the purchase. Historically, these transactional activities required customers to come in the dealership and sit through the sales process. The good news is that modern digital retailing solutions can save boat dealers time by allowing their customers to build and excel the deal online, creating a better (and faster) sales experience when customers enter the showroom floor.

How to Enhance the Online Shopping Experience
Step one for any boat dealer is to build trust with their customers. Every part of the sales process is geared towards ensuring the customer feels comfortable and confident in the dealer’s ability to provide the best product and price available, even if it’s a digital transaction on their website. This can be tricky when a customer has to make assumptions about your dealership and your products based on your online presence and reviews.

For this reason, you want your online presence to be professional, transparent, and building trust in the sales process. One way to do this is to collect as much information as possible about your customers while letting them drive the transaction from the comfort of their homes. This means thinking differently about your lead acquisition strategy by leveraging a digital retailing solution and capturing information such as pre-qualification status, monthly payment and financing options, trade-in value, and the unit of interest. Collecting this data in the initial stages of the digital shopping process can tell the salesperson a lot about the customer, so it’s essential to provide potential buyers with the right digital shopping tools to help qualify and guide the sales conversation. The idea is to simulate the same experience shoppers are used to on popular e-commerce sites like Amazon or Chewy. Moving the needle for the recreation industry is a reality for boat dealers with digital retailing solutions.

Tips for Getting Started with Digital Retailing
Adopting new technology and implementing enhanced sales processes can be challenging, but we have you covered with these five tips:

Tip 1: Let Go of Some Control
First, you have to let go of some control in the upfront pre-sales process. The goal is to help your customers feel in control of the entire buying experience, so let them engage with your inventory and develop the deal on their terms. Increased customer interaction on your website vs. in-store will likely result in a better purchase experience.

Tip 2. Think Beyond Traditional Lead Forms
Traditional lead forms are dead. Now, the focus has shifted towards a better way to acquire information, so customers feel in control and dealers have the data they need to close the deal without having to “sell.” Driving traffic to static landing pages with a call to action of “give me your name, email address, and phone number” will only get you 10 percent of the way in the sales process. Using a single-point digital retailing tool will allow your sales team to close deals faster because all pre-sales information is captured upfront, and the unit can also be reserved with a deposit in the same transaction. Rollick data shows that dealers who fully embrace a digital retailing experience on their websites are seeing a 50 percent* increase in close rates and leads that pass pre-qualification close at 2.4x* compared to traditional website leads.

Tip 3: Rethink Your Follow-Up Strategy
For most dealers and sales teams, digital retailing may feel a bit uncomfortable at first since traditional lead forms have been the primary source of customer data for boat dealers for the last 20+ years. The key is to be patient, give the customer some time to build their deal, then follow up with specific questions or next steps related to their boat purchase. For example, your first outreach to customers shouldn’t be focused on product discovery or financial questions, as you will already have all the pre-sale information at your fingertips when leveraging digital retailing.

Tip 4: Use The Data to Your Sales Advantage
With digital retailing solutions, you can expect to see up to an 87 percent* increase in lead submissions. You may be thinking to yourself “I don’t need more leads – I need more transaction-ready customers.” This is where the power of digital retailing comes in to play. Providing potential customers with more digital shopping tools will increase interest and engagement in the shopping process, resulting in more leads. For dealers, you will have a wholistic view of customers, their interest, and the various activities they took on your website in one lead vs. multiple leads from different forms. The data collected in digital retailing opportunities will help your sales team prioritize follow-ups and aid in the process of developing customized nurture content (via email, text, and phone) to close the deal.

Tip 5: Communicate with Customers in their Medium of Choice
To make the buying process as seamless as possible, ask your customers upfront how they want the flow of communication to go. For example, they may not want to come into the dealership right away, so don’t force them into your showroom for a face-to-face meeting. Offer up alternatives methods of communication, such as text or video chat to make the prospect feel as comfortable as possible.

To Sum It Up
Gathering information about financing, trade-ins, and realistic pricing in a digital transaction benefit both the customer and the dealer. This helps customers feel in control and confident about their purchase while also creating a seamless sales experience. Armed with this data upfront, the odds of your digital shoppers converting are significantly higher, and a sales rep can reach out with all the information they need to complete the sale. As a boat dealer, your online presence and capacity to deliver a seamless digital retailing experience online are your two most powerful tools to edge ahead of the competition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Riley is the Director of Marketing for Rollick, which is an MRAA Education Champion. The company’s mission is to provide a seamless customer experience from pre-purchase through re-purchase by helping dealers, manufacturers and F&I companies connect with their customers through an ecosystem of marketing and technology solutions. They want to change Rollick is changing the way the boating market thinks about retailing in a digital age by making the shopping experience fun, easy and lucrative for our customers. Learn more at gorollick.com/company.

By Bob McCann, Lead Certification Consultant, MRAA

Customer satisfaction in our industry is defined as a measure of how a boat builder’s product and a dealer’s service perform compared to customer’s expectations. It has long been the method to measure the effectiveness of the Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program (MICD). I propose that employee satisfaction is the most important factor leading to customer satisfaction and how MICD helps dealers start with improving the employee experience.

Employees are the driving factor behind customer satisfaction. Employee interactions at the dealership set the tone for a positive or negative customer experience. When the team isn’t happy, their interactions with customers can, and almost always will, reflect that, and, in turn, suffer. Over the course of time, this can have serious repercussions for a dealership.

The place where this becomes the most critical at most dealerships is when employees are directly interacting with customers, such as the front-end service folks. Historically overworked and under resourced, employees in these jobs are tasked with spending their entire day interacting with customers. They’re the ones getting yelled at when they have to inform a customer that their boat won’t be ready for the weekend. It can be a thankless job, and it’s only made worse when the employees are treated [and feel] like pawns in a chess game.

This is where Dealership Certification can help. Dealers must put the same effort into taking care of their employees as they do in taking care of their customers. If even a fraction of your customer experience effort or budget was spent on employee satisfaction, there would be a huge return on investment.

One of the easiest ways to enhance employee satisfaction is to ask for and welcome their feedback. Your staff has great awareness into your customers’ needs. After all, they’re the ones who are directly interacting with customers and hearing their criticisms and compliments firsthand. Employees can be your biggest asset when it comes to customer satisfaction, so it’s vital to let them share their insights. We’ve learned that the Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS) process is by far the dealer’s favorite part of MICD. This part of the program not only aids you in gaining feedback from your employees, but also helps you implement the necessary changes to make your dealership a better place to work.

A large part of employee satisfaction revolves around understanding what employees need and want, and gaining awareness into what will work well and what won’t. By learning about employee’s desires, owners and managers can make necessary changes to the dealership. Not everything needs to revolve around your employees’ demands, but there are many places where change can be enacted at a minimal cost and effort.

It is also a good time to shift your mindset, moving from thinking employees just work for you, to acknowledging that they’re valuable contributors to a dealership’s success. Employees need to understand how important their role is and how their work fits into the bigger picture. They need to feel like their voices are being heard and that they have respect from the owners and managers. Most importantly, they should arrive at the dealership each day knowing that their work is appreciated by both the customers and the dealer.

There’s a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Happy employees equal happy customers, and unhappy employees lead to unhappy customers. That’s the simple way of looking at it, but the Marine Industry Certification program, with its tools and processes, helps dealers improve their employee experience in order to elevate the customer experience.

When we can effectively answer a question in the mind of a prospective boat buyer, we build a layer of trust that boosts the customer’s experience — AND we take a step closer to selling them a boat.

This idea probably isn’t new to you. Especially if you’ve been in the room for one of Marcus Sheridan’s Dealer Week presentations or read his book, “They Ask, You Answer.”

Let’s focus in one particular question that is especially important these days with the recent climb in boat prices, inflation and interest rates:

“What can I afford to buy?”

Many dealerships don’t conclusively answer this question for prospective boat buyers until fairly late in the sales process. As a result, some folks end up disappointed when they find out they can’t buy the boat they’ve been researching and dreaming of. They may even abandon the boat shopping process. Or perhaps they never reach out to you to begin with because they don’t think they can afford a boat that is actually within their means.

Other customers may pro-actively get themselves an answer by talking to their local bank or credit union, which may result in the dealership losing the lead, the revenue opportunity that consumer financing represents or both.

However, you can offer the consumer an answer to that question before they even think to ask it — and even before you’ve recorded that consumer as a lead — thanks to the online pre-qualification programs available to dealers.

Pre-qualification is defined as: “a soft-pull, web-based solution which places a soft inquiry on the consumer’s file, that does not require a consumer’s SSN or DOB — only name and address,” according to MRAA Education Champion 700Credit.

So, how does this improve the customer’s experience?

• It can build trust in your dealership as their expert guide to the boating lifestyle ‚Äì often before you’ve met or spoken to your prospect. They get the message that you understand what’s on their mind, and you have the information they want and need at your fingertips.
• It allows you to deliver more accurate quotes and proposals.
• It can help you and them to narrow in on the units that both allow them to live their best boating life and fit their budget.
• It saves them (and you) time when they visit the dealership.
• It helps them feel secure, as pre-qualification doesn’t require sensitive personal information.

Of course, at the same time that a pre-qualification program improves the customer experience, it benefits you and your sales team too.

Pre-qualification can drive a dramatic improvement in lead conversion — as high as 300 to 400 percent, according to 700Credit, while also shortening the sales process.

This is one of many ways that you can improve the customer’s experience — and your dealership’s results — at the same time.

Learn more about “How to Build a Pre-Qualification Program” by downloading the free mini-guide developed in partnership between 700Credit and MRAA, available here.

This boating season it is going to be imperative to pay attention at the pump, as a new emergency rule will allow E15, a harmful fuel for boat engines, to be sold throughout the summer. E15, or gasoline that uses a 15 percent ethanol blend, is a widespread, common fuel type that can be harmful for recreational boat engines and should be avoided at all costs.

April 29, the Environmental Protection Agency formally issued an emergency fuel waiver that allows E15 gasoline to be sold throughout the summer, our boating season. Typically, in roughly two-thirds of the country, E15 cannot be sold from terminals starting May 1, and at retail stations starting June 1. E15 sales are usually halted over the summer as it is a more volatile type of fuel and can contribute to increased smog and air pollution.

Yet, even with these impacts to air quality and recreational vessels, the Biden administration has extended E15 sales in efforts to counteract the impact on the global and domestic energy markets ushered in by the war in Ukraine. Surprisingly, this is not the first time that E15 sales have been extended in the summer. In 2019, former president Donald Trump, allowed for a summertime expansion of E15 in efforts to boost American energy independence and support farmers.

Despite the rationale behind the extension, the threat to the recreational boating industry, your customers, and MRAA members is the same. Put simply, E15 is bad for boat engines.

Not only are you prohibited by Federal law to use E15 in your vessel, but also E15 is proven to cause damage to boat engines. A test done by Mercury Marine, under contract of the U.S. Department of Energy, found that all of the engines tested showed signs of elevated piston and exhaust temperatures, and according to Jeff Wasil, the engineering manager of emissions testing at BRP, this can be fatal for boat engines.

“Since marine engines can run for extended periods of time at wide-open throttle, any increase in exhaust gas temperature will cause issues,” Wasil noted. Not only does E15 cause issues while running the engine, it can also have negative effects on engine components if left in the engine, fuel tanks and fuel lines for an extended period, as ethanol is a harsh solvent.

The threat posed by E15 is supported by a recent survey done by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, American Motorcyclist Association and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute that highlights a need for increased education and updated labeling. The survey found that only about 18 percent of consumers believe that the current E15 label used at gas pumps is effective in showing that E15 is hazardous to certain engine types. Furthermore, 77.5 percent of respondents cited red as the best color of label to convey a warning, which is currently in contrast with the current label color. Now, with more new boaters on the water than ever before, it is imperative we educate boaters about the dangers E15 poses and how to spot it.

Consider using the below email template to educate your customers on the dangers of E15 this season and encourage them to avoid filling up at gas stations if at all possible.

The MRAA is also working with the NMMA and the Association of Marina Industries to reintroduce H.R. 1024 Consumer Protection and Fuel Transparency Act of 2019. This bill, originally introduced by Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA-8), would:

• Define E15 as gasoline containing 15% ethanol;
• Direct the EPA to revise labeling requirements for fuel pumps that dispense E15;
• Direct the EPA to implement a public education campaign concerning the risks associated with improper use of E15.

The need for this legislation is further highlighted by the aforementioned survey and current lack of awareness and education among boat owners.

If you have any questions about E15, details about the emergency rule or wish to support the legislation, please reach out to Chad Tokowicz, Government Relations Manager at the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas at Chad@mraa.com

E15 Warning Email Template (below):


Email Subject Line: Be on the lookout for E15 fuel this boating season!

Dear [insert dealership name] Customer,

I hope all is well with you and that you are getting excited for the boating season. I just wanted to reach out today and warn you that, due to an emergency fuel waiver issued by the federal government, E15 Fuel will be available throughout the boating season this year. E15 fuel, which is sold at regular gas stations, is extremely harmful for marine engines and should never be used in your boat. If you are trailering your vessel and filling up at a gas station, be certain you are not using E15 fuel. While it is required by law to be labeled, if you have any doubt, ask the station attendant.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions regarding E15 and how to properly fuel your boat. I look forward to seeing you and hope you have a wonderful boating season.

Sincerely,

[Insert Name]

In each monthly Pulse Report survey sent to dealers, one question we ask is, “What’s working?” We also ask the flip side, “What’s not working?” This month, with the MRAA’s Spotlight focus on the pre-owned boat market, we also added two questions to gauge their approach to the used boat market in terms of sales and resources. Below I’ll summarize what we learned.

What’s Working?
This month’s report (MRAA Member link) showed that 86 percent of survey participants described their pre-owned inventory as too low. However many responses conveyed the demand still out there, with sort of a “if you build it, they will come” approach to boats. “Just having boats creates business” and “If you have the product, you can sell it” were two responses that indicated demand is still strong for both new and used. This statement reinforced what’s working: “Anything new or used in stock and ready to sell.”

What’s Not Working?
It’s rather clear from the high percentage of participants who said their pre-owned inventory was too low that just getting enough boats (new and used) has been a challenge in and of itself. Additionally, pre-owned boat values have jumped recently and at least one respondent wasn’t shy about calling out this trending hurdle to boat sales. “Inflated values on pre-owned boats are pushing people to sell their boats privately before trading.” We know this is an issue and spoke with Lenny Sims of J.D. Power (N.A.D.A.) about it.

Sales Ratios and Marketing
The vast majority of survey respondents revealed that they typically operate on a 1:1 ratio of pre-owned boats to new units sold. The second highest response was for the 5:1 ratio! (see chart at left) However, one dealers admitted to selling “15 new boats to every used boat.” While that may seem like the complete opposite ends of the spectrum for responses, many of MRAA’s sales experts say your ratio should favor pre-owned.

AND, to be clear, every one of these industry pros, and us at the MRAA, is a big proponent of new boats. In fact, Sam Dantzler and Tony Gonzalez of Garage Composites have shared numerous times that your pre-owned sales ratio should be growing. In fact, Sam even addressed that 5:1 ratio in his pre-owned article here, when you adjust for market conditions. And Tony shared in his MRAAtraining.com video “How to Seek and Sell More Pre-Owned Units Profitably” (MRAA Silver and Gold Members) that only 25 percent of total boat sales are pre-owned despite that number continuing to grow due to global supply chain disruptions. Additionally, Bob Armington of Buckeye Sports Center in Ohio — who is featured in the May TNT course “Buying and Selling More Pre-Owned Boats,” which originally debuted at Dealer Week 2021 in Austin, Texas — revealed that his store plans to operate at a 3:1 ratio. He also confessed that he didn’t give much thought pre-owned boats, especially trade-ins. But after becoming pro-active in his approach and changing his mind set about used boats, reached a high-water mark of 4:1 ratio (used to new) at one point in 2021.

Nearly 70 percent of our Pulse Report respondents said they’ve allocated more budget and/or resources to enhance their pre-owned inventory, so it’s clear they also see a strong need to add more pre-owned vessels to improve their inventory levels. Some have created boat-buying messaging socially, online and in ads. Others have contacted their current list of customers to see if they’re ready to trade-in, trade-up or sell, even though they may seem perfectly happy with their current boat. Again, pro-active efforts can pay off!

Outside Drivers Influence Decision Making
Not only has the high demand for boats in general and higher pre-owned pricing made it more challenging to find used vessels, but the current economy with inflation rates soaring, fuel prices climbing, turmoil in the stock market, and war overseas have also all contributed to consumers approaching or viewing boat buying differently. This shows in smaller boat show attendance and a more cautious approach to boat buying, especially when customers factor in pre-ordering for new boats, supply chain issues and production delays. On top of the economic and political hitches, another recent obstacle specifically named by survey participants was the cold, windy and wet (read: extended) spring weather.

While many of these things listed within this blog could read as like a top 10 list of boat ownership deterrents, it is not meant to. That’s why we made the pre-owned boat market our focused topic for May. It’s also why the MRAA has been building and sharing resources like our Pre-Owned Boat Market Article Series, showcasing proven processes and formulas for more success and, on Wednesday, May 25, is hosting a webinar with an actual dealer who has shifted his approach to pre-owned. And the MRAA Certified Pre-Owned Boat Program is designed to not only improve your bottom line, but also give both you and your customer peace of mind and confidence in boat buying and selling. With determined effort and the proper processes in place, your team can enhance your pre-owned inventory as a way to diversify your business and provide some short- and long-term stability.