Imagine your dealership is fully staffed. Not only do you have enough people to do all of the work, but whenever you do have an opening, high-quality applications come flooding in, with the right candidates ready to start right away.
Okay, that might be wishful thinking. Especially in 2022. But it shouldn’t be too far off from your vision. We work in a fun industry. Our customers are enthusiasts, and we sell recreational vehicles that bring joy to people’s lives.
However, the workplace culture at some dealerships keeps them from turning this vision into reality. If an applicant comes into your dealership and feels unwelcome, will they want to return?
Ponder a minute about your culture and what it says to a potential employee. A few things to think about:
What is the vibe a candidate will get when they walk through your door? Are they greeted and welcomed? Or ignored? Will they see smiles or frowns among your staff?
What will they learn from your dealership while they wait for their interview? Will they overhear positive or negative conversations?
What will they notice about your facility? Is it bright, well-organized? Does it celebrate the boating lifestyle (even if you don’t have boats in stock)? Or is it run down, dirty and messy?
What will your staff say when the candidate asks the question, “What is the culture like here?”
These attributes go beyond pay and benefits to give talent a unique look into your business that can make a big impact on their acceptance of your job offer.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of March 9, 2022, there were 11.3 million job openings in the country. We’ve all seen and heard the stories. Everyone — and we mean everyone — is hiring right now. As a result, job seekers have their pick of opportunities.
The best candidates want to work for a business with a strong culture that supports their employees’ work/life balance, wellbeing and professional growth. They seek a place where they know their voice will be heard, and they’ll have a chance to make a difference.
If you’re unsure about the culture within your dealership, survey your staff and ask. You’ll learn a lot about your team’s experience working for your dealership, which you can use in your recruiting efforts. In addition, you’ll probably improve that experience for your employees by showing them that you care and you want to listen.
There are many ways to go about surveying. Certified Dealers rely on MRAA to conduct their surveys and guide them through the process of applying the data to drive positive change. The program’s annual Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS) process allows dealers to better understand how their employees feel about the customer relations, employee satisfaction, leadership, management and reputation of the business. This survey is completely anonymous, allowing employees to be honest about what’s it’s like to work at the dealership. It asks employees 32 ranking questions about their experience at work and offers them 3 open-ended questions to share their thoughts.
To learn more about Certification the program’s ESS process, reach out to Liz Keener at lizk@mraa.com.
It’s important for every business owner to truly understand the culture of their workplace and to improve upon it in order to attract the best new hires. Once you get a grasp on your culture and began to make meaningful change, you’ll be able to better recruit and retain the strongest performers.
As you ramp up your hiring efforts to prepare for the 2022 boating season, here are tips and resources MRAA have developed to help you answer some of the common questions you ask us:
How many people do I need to hire and in which roles?
With the changes in consumer shopping behavior and expectations, the limited availability of new boat inventory, the potential for a surge in service business related to the boats you sold last year, the rise in gas prices and inflation, and the conflict in the Ukraine, you may be wondering what demands will be placed on your team in 2022 and how to staff accordingly.
While MRAA doesn’t have a crystal ball, we do recommend you review your dealership organizational chart, or if you don’t have one, develop it. To help, here is the MRAA Mini-Guide to the Org Chart. You might also want to watch (or rewatch) the MRAA e-learning course, Too Much ____ + Not Enough _____ = Service Stress to learn about hiring for the expeditor and coordinator roles as an alternative to trying to find skilled, experienced marine technicians to hire.
Do you have a compensation range in mind for each of those roles that is competitive in today’s market?
If you’re not sure, look at job ads for similar positions in your local area. You also can review the results of MRAA’s 2017 Compensation Study, available here. Stay tuned for the results of MRAA’s 2022 Compensation Study, to be released in May 2022.
Have the job descriptions been updated for changes in your dealership?
That might include changes in your organizational chart, changes in your processes or changes in the results you expect this person to deliver. Learn about including key result areas (KRAs) in your job descriptions and other ways to improve them in our free guide, Job Descriptions that Amp Up Productivity. Download it here.
Have you created an advertisement to promote the job opening?
Experts in recruitment often encourage companies to stay away from copying the job description and using it as their job advertisement. Rather, they recommend telling a story about the opportunity to work for your dealership. Pick up more job advertisement tips in this recent blog.
Is the ad written to appeal to the candidate you aim to hire?
When you advertise a job, you’re trying to sell your ideal candidate on coming to work for your dealership. Imagine who that candidate is and what they may be seeking. In your ad, be honest and sincere about the key benefits of the job and your culture — and about the qualities and experience you’re looking for in an employee.
Where do you plan to post the ad?
Be sure to share it internally and externally. Your employees will often know people with similar interests and values. In fact, some dealerships even encourage those referrals with a cash reward if they’re hired and stay for a certain amount of time.
What interview questions will you ask candidates?
At MRAA, we develop a hiring team for each position, each of whom uses a different group of questions during the interview process. Many of those questions were influenced by books like: “Topgrading,” “Up Your Business,” and “The Ideal Team Player” and then customized for the position.
How will you make a final decision about who to hire?
In the MRAA course, “Attract and Retain Techs” by Valerie Ziebron, she recommends you know the answers you want to hear from the interview questions you ask. That way, you’ll be more likely to make decisions based on the candidate’s fit with dealership goals and expectations for the position rather than the candidate’s interview skills. The best candidates aren’t always the best at being interviewed. MRAA Silver and Gold Members can access this course — part of the recently launched Training N Tactics (TNT) Series — and its resource-packed workbook for free when they log into MRAATraining.com.
What will you do if you don’t find a qualified candidate for the role?
One alternative to filling an open position through a traditional job posting is apprenticeship. It is a strategy with proven results for many dealers and their apprentices. To learn more about success with this strategy, check out our Guide to Apprenticeship here.
If you do find a qualified candidate who accepts your offer, how will you prepare them for success?
Some dealerships have onboarding schedules that last several months, others only the first day or week. Regardless of where your business falls on that spectrum, a few fundamentals you may want to put into place include:
An Employee Handbook: If you don’t have one or want to improve yours, MRAA Members can check out our sample handbook for ideas, which includes more than 100 dealership policy templates. Learn more here.
An Onboarding Plan: During a Dealer Case Study at Dealer Week 2020, Alpin Haus shared several workforce best practices, including a handout with a Sample Boat Product Specialist Hiring Process, Training Process and Schedule. MRAA Silver and Gold Members can access the course by logging into MRAATraining.com.
Finding qualified candidates to fill your dealership’s open positions isn’t easy … especially right now. The labor shortage — not just in the recreational boating business, but in almost every industry — means that any decent candidate has their pick of jobs to choose from.
So, how do you set yourself apart and increase your chances of being selected as the employer of choice?
Well, for one, you can avoid these common recruiting and hiring mistakes.
1. A reactive approach to hiring: If you don’t begin thinking about how to attract potential job candidates until you have an open position in your dealership, you’re taking a reactive approach to hiring. By doing so, your ability to quickly and successfully fill that open position — and any jobs that become available in the future — is greatly reduced.
No matter how big or small your dealership is, as an employer, it is critical these days to take a pro-active approach to your workforce. In other words, you must always be recruiting.
Experts are forecasting that the factors causing this labor shortage aren’t going away any time soon. In addition, employees are changing jobs more frequently. Chances are, as a dealership owner or manager, you’ll need to dedicate more time and effort than you have in the past to successfully recruit and hire.
Those that develop strong recruiting and hiring processes will find themselves with a serious competitive advantage.
Here are a few ways you can be proactive:
Devote a section of your dealership website to information about you as an employer. Be sure to highlight the unique reasons your business is a great place to work, not just compared to other boat dealerships, but also to similar jobs in other industries, like car dealerships, restaurants, factories, hotels and resorts.
Create an employee referral program where your team is rewarded when their friends or family are successfully hired by the dealership.
Be on the look-out for people with the behaviors, values and skills you’re looking for when you’re out and about in your local community, and don’t hesitate to share your business card with them. Best Practice: Some dealership owners have developed special business cards specifically for the purposes of recruiting.
Form mutually beneficial relationships with local organizations, schools and programs that may be able to help you attract prospective employees.
2. Failing to identify who you’re trying to attract: Before you begin promoting an open position in your dealership, consider the qualities and abilities you’re looking for in a candidate for that specific position. Then, envision the person or people who might be a good fit. By doing so, you’ll be able to write and post your job advertisements to appeal to the specific candidates you’re looking for.
Want some examples? Register to attend MRAA’s free recruiting & hiring webinar on April 7th at noon eastern (or if you’re reading this after April 7th, log into MRAATraining.com to find and watch the recording). In it, we’ll identify how to identify who you’re trying to attract for three common dealership hiring scenarios and how to use this information to increase your chances of hiring success.
3. Excluding a valuable group or groups of candidates: If someone asked you whether you’d rather have one or two people apply for a position vs. 10 or 20, you’d probably say 10 or 20, right? After all, part of the reason we advertise for a job is to receive a pool of candidates from which we can select the best fit.
But despite this desire to attract as many candidates as possible, we often make the mistake of excluding or discouraging people we want to attract when we put together a job advertisement.
Some of this comes from a sense of idealism. If we could pick the perfect candidate, we’d like them to have exactly these skills or this many years of experience or that degree.
In reality, there are plenty of candidates who don’t fit in that box, but who do have what it takes to be successful in our open position.
For example, perhaps they didn’t graduate from a marine technician training program, but they do have proficiency working on snowblowers, farm equipment or military vehicles. Perhaps they don’t have experience in the marine industry as a service writer, but they do have excellent customer service skills and great attention to detail. Perhaps they don’t have a business degree, but they do have leadership experience and an understanding of small business finance from running their family’s furniture store.
Take the time to review a draft of your job advertisement with this in mind. How can you remove language or requirements that may limit the size of the pool of candidates you attract?
4. Focusing on the short-term instead of the long-term: We’ve all done it. There’s an opening in our company. Not having someone in that role is causing our team to feel stress, put in long hours and even take shortcuts in an attempt to get it all done.
So we rush through the interview process, roll the dice and hire someone to fill the job who doesn’t quite check all of our boxes or who we haven’t spent the time to be confident in. We tell ourselves: Someone is better than no-one. But are they?
Fast-forward a few days, weeks or months. Maybe they’re not arriving at work on time or communicating with their co-workers. Maybe they’re causing drama and frustration within your team. Or maybe they stop showing up to work altogether.
Suddenly, the “warm body” strategy doesn’t seem like such a good one. You’ve wasted time, effort and money on someone that could have been prevented if you had taken the time to find the right person at the start.
5. Confusing your job description with your job ad: When a position opens up at your dealership that you want to fill, the first thing on your “to do” list may be to write a job description for it. Or maybe you already have one in hand, in which case, you can review and update it.
Too many times, that job description is then copy and pasted into a job advertisement template, and checked off someone’s list.
While both the job description and the job advertisement are important, they serve different purposes, and to be successful, require a different approach.
When preparing your job advertisement, your goal should be “to attract great candidates, rather than merely list pertinent requirements and qualifications” according to BetterTeam.com.
Here are a few tips they suggest you consider when writing a job advertisement:
Use the job title to share the name of the position plus the top one to three things that you expect will make the job attractive to your target applicants;
The first paragraph to introduce the advertisement should hook the job seeker with three to five details that will make them want to read the rest of the posting.
Tell your company’s story in a way that emphasizes why people love to work there and the perks of the position. Tip: Ask your team to help you with this. They may have suggestions you wouldn’t think of.
Sell the job rather than focusing exclusively on requirements. Be sure to explain all the reasons why someone should apply. That may include your location, culture, lifestyle, hours, salary, benefits, flexibility … whatever makes your business and the position attractive.
Share your first draft with others to get their feedback on how to make it more effective, like you would with any marketing piece.
6. Overlooking your own team: Don’t forget to advertise the open position within your dealership. Not only might your employees have family or friends who are looking for work, but you may be surprised to find someone in a completely different role or department express interest. By training them for this new role, you may be able to boost their loyalty and value to your dealership, while gaining a proven performer in the role who fits your culture.
– National Boating Safety Experts Say the Pandemic Likely Created a Surge in Boater Education and an Unprecedented Shift to Virtual Training
ORLANDO, Fla. – March 16, 2022 – The Water Sports Foundation reports a major surge in boater education enrollment across the nation, marked by new online delivery trends. As the non-profit educational arm of the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA), the Water Sports Foundation attributed the surge to record-setting growth in recreational boating activity and a 35% increase in first-time boat ownership in 2020, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are pleased to report that demand for boater education is on the rise,” said Water Sports Foundation Executive Director Jim Emmons. “With 415,000 first-time boat buyers taking to the waterways and traditional classroom instruction temporarily stymied in 2020 and much of 2021 due to COVID mandates, there was initial concern that new boaters might not have access to critical boating safety education. However, an informal survey of several leading boating safety education providers conducted by the Water Sports Foundation has revealed a positive uptick in instructional enrollment along with emerging trends in online delivery methods.”
Dave Fuller, director of education for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary’s Recreational Boating Safety Programs, oversees the organization’s robust national training program. It includes a mix of traditional, instructor-led classroom modules (which have resumed), along with live instructor-led virtual classes which were launched in the Spring of 2020 in direct response to the pandemic.
“The pandemic focused our attention on quickly providing the means for our local units to resume teaching boating safety during a time that classroom teaching was impossible,” said Fuller. “The need for education is ongoing and remains a critical factor in reducing accidents so boaters can make better decisions and enjoy safer time on the water.”
While live classroom training is back, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary now offers a mix of both live and virtual training options, which Fuller expects will be “the new norm” going forward.
“The temporary approvals from NASBLA (National Association of State Boating Law Administrators) and the states to deliver education by virtual means will become a standard method of education delivery alongside classroom delivery,” Fuller said.
NASBLA is a national nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that develops public policy for recreational boating safety and represents the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and U.S. territories. It provides a variety of resources including training, education standards and more, working through a national network of thousands of professional educators, law enforcement officers and volunteers which affect the lives of more than 76 million American boaters.
According to NASBLA Education Director Mark Chanski, the number of individuals earning boating certificates has been on an upward swing since the pandemic, which was initially problematic in states that required in-person boating education. In response to this dilemma, NASBLA’s executive board approved the use of virtual technology in April 2020 to deliver boating education for a 90- day period to flatten the curve. As the pandemic surged, that emergency authorization was extended on multiple occasions and is currently in effect through December 31, 2022, as new guidelines are proposed. To date, Chanksi says 31 states are allowing the use of virtual technology to deliver boating education to meet their requirements that lead to boating certification.
“During this time, it became clear that the use of virtual technology had many advantages and the NASBLA Executive Board authorized the development of permanent guidelines that will allow virtually taught boating education permanently,” Chanski said.
As a result, boaters today have greater access to boating safety education than ever before, live or virtual led sessions, to online recorded courses that cover the basics, to a plethora of published content available via blogs.
Chris Edmonston, president of the BoatU.S. Foundation, says his organization offers multiple boating safety programs, ranging from a free online basic boating course approved for most state education requirements, to more than a dozen online advanced courses and on-water boat handling courses. The organization leverages current technology to package and provide programming through multiple platforms.
Kalkomey Enterprises’ Rebecca Medeiros who oversees agency relations said her organization offers four NASBLA- and state-approved online courses which include state-specific boating safety information adhering to national standards, along with interactive courses found at ilearntoboat.com and a standard online course at boat-ed.com.
“Our courses are created with emphasis on student user experience, curriculum development, and engaging interactive elements supported by videos, animations, and more,” Medeiros said. “Our former text-based course with video and interactive elements has transformed into a fully interactive experience that positions students in the virtual driver’s seat, incorporating elements of gaming with rewards, consequences and motivational achievements.
“Students can cruise through a self-guided learning experience at the helm while experiencing everything from putting out an onboard fire to docking the boat under various wind conditions,” Medeiros added.
Besides the notable increase in course completions during Covid, Medeiros said the pandemic also provoked a swell of participation in online boating forums. Hot topics including paddlesports education, advanced hands-on training and mandatory boater requirements were among the most popular discussions in boating circles across the U.S., she said.
Beth Spilman, executive director of the American Canoe Association (ACA), says education and safety ranks #1 for products and services sought by her organization’s members who are part of a network of more than 500 local affiliated clubs and organizations. Members range from elite level racers and internally recognized instructors to novices and beginning paddlers.
“As has been noted in both participation studies and research and corresponding sales and purchasing habits during the recent COVID years, the public interest in outdoor recreation activities has spiked in recent years. Paddlesports are no exception, and the number of people purchasing paddling equipment has skyrocketed,” Spilman said.
“At this time, ACA conducts primarily in-person, experiential training and education,” she added. “We have begun hybrid and online programs within the past few years and have secured both federal and non-federal funding to expand our hybrid and online offerings in order to reach and serve more people with relevant, quality, and engaging paddlesports education and materials.”
NauticEd, a boating safety educator specializing in the sailing niche, has trained more than 100,000 sailors. NauticEd includes a series of online theory classes, coupled with an optional on-water, one-on-one training component taught by certified instructors. Director of Education Grant Headifen says online course sign-up rose significantly during the pandemic.
“People needed something to do and going online to learn made it simple to gain sailing theory knowledge while they waited to get back out on the water,” Headifen said. “Additionally, people have retrained themselves to work in a digital environment from home and so digital self-education has become the new norm. We provide easy and inexpensive access to the information which contributes to the overall trend. The easier the access, the more people will consume information.” For an abbreviated listing of boating safety and educational providers, visit the National Boating Safety Resource Center: Boating Safety Education – Water Sports Foundation
About The Water Sports Foundation Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the Water Sports Foundation is the non-profit educational arm of the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA.net). Since 2011, the WSF has received U.S. Coast Guard boating and paddling safety outreach funding through their non-profit grant program. The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund administered through Congressional action provides funding for the U.S. Coast Guard’s recreational boating safety initiatives. For more information contact the WSF at 407-719-8062 or visit www.watersportsfoundation.com
MINNEAPOLIS, March 16, 2022 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced today that Boatyard has joined the MRAA as a Partner Member and was named the official Service Efficiency sponsor for its Spotlight program in March. This month’s Spotlight delivers insights, strategies and best practices for boat dealers to employ in their efforts to get service customers back on the water faster. Boatyard helps dealers shorten their Repair Event Cycle Time (RECT) through their flagship product, the Boatyard customer communication platform. This platform works in conjunction with dealership management software to help dealers offer a modern customer experience for boat owners, all while reducing the amount of work required by their teams. Current customers of Boatyard save up to 8 hours of work a week by:
•Proactively communicating with customers through one-click messages and status updates •Directly sharing photos and videos of jobs from the Boatyard Pro field app •Centralizing an order timeline and internal notes to reduce errors •Automating reminders for digital quotes and invoices to help reduce accounts receivable •Collecting credit card information and document signatures up front through their robust online booking tool and custom mobile apps
“At Boatyard, we help our customers offer an incredible and personal experience for their boaters long after the sale has closed, particularly when it comes to service. It is equally important that we help service teams save time and cut the administrative backlog that is currently required just to keep their departments running,” said Katy Judge Fairman, Director of Business Development for Boatyard. “There could be no better partner for us than the team at MRAA, who work tirelessly to help improve results for service teams and to raise awareness of the incredible experiences our industry can provide.”
The MRAA Service Efficiency Spotlight program includes a comprehensive portal to help dealerships address the emerging topic of RECT, which in effect measures the amount of time that it takes for dealerships to complete service work. These cycle times have increased significantly since the onset of the pandemic, due in large part to the perfect storm of supply chain issues, lack of available technicians and a significant increase in demand and pressure on dealership service departments.
“The downside consequence of the significant growth our industry has experienced has certainly been the length of time it’s taking to get parts and get boats serviced and back on the water,” says Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “This focus on helping dealers create more efficiencies, implement best practices and ultimately get customer boats serviced, we expect, will help dealers make more money in service, and we are so appreciative of Boatyard’s support of this important effort.”
The MRAA’s service department resources, which come to life through articles, blogs, templates, case studies and best practices, can be found at www.MRAA.com/ImproveRECT.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.
About Boatyard Founded in 2015, Boatyard’s mission is to improve the experience of boat ownership through technology. Boatyard began as an on-demand consumer service engine, driving consumers to marine businesses while helping boaters navigate the murky waters of ownership, repairs, and maintenance. In 2021, Boatyard launched a brand-new version of their flagship product – an easy-to-use customer communication platform that transforms the boat service experience for boaters and service providers alike. Now, Boatyard continues to innovate and pushes the barriers of our industry to bring groundbreaking user experiences to boaters and businesses of all sizes. Boatyard’s customers range from small service businesses to multi-location retail operations, including MarineMax, Huck’s Marine and Resort, and Y Marina. More information on Boatyard can be found at www.boatyard.com/business.
Southold, NY, March 16, 2022 – The Sea Tow Foundation is now accepting nominations for membership in its national Boating Safety Advisory Council, with applications being accepted through April 19, 2022. New appointees will be chosen by the current council and executive committee, notified in mid May and serve a two-year term beginning June 1, 2022.
According to Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director Gail R. Kulp, the Boating Safety Advisory Council is currently comprised of 20 leaders representing all segments of the for-profit recreational boating industry. Council members attend bi-monthly teleconference meetings to consult on numerous boating safety topics, participate in a variety of boating safety initiatives and are actively engaged in producing and judging the annual National Boating Industry Safety Awards.
“The Sea Tow Foundation’s Boating Safety Advisory Council has contributed significantly to raising awareness of boating safety within the recreational boating industry,” said Kulp. “Having top boating industry leaders actively engaged in this council and in boating safety initiatives has no doubt boosted the overall awareness and the importance of boating safety throughout the industry.”
Nominees should be gainfully employed full-time in the for-profit segment of the recreational marine industry, working in leadership and/or decision-making roles within their organizations. Candidates should have full support of their organization, coupled with an expressed interest in boating safety.
“We are filling key slots for several members whose terms are expiring, all of whom have contributed greatly to our council efforts,” said Kulp. “We are particularly interested in replacing key areas of representation including sailing, paddling, water sports, marine media, retail, manufacturing and industry associations.”
Outgoing council members successfully completing their terms include David Connolly, Thomas H. Connolly and Sons, Inc.; Jim Emmons, Water Sports Foundation; Kevin Falvey, Boating Magazine; John Jost, consultant; Captain Keith Lake, MarineMax; Nic Thomas, Freedom Boat Club; Stephanie Vatalaro, RBFF; and Annamarie Worrell, Emerald Coast Marine Group.
Remaining members of the Sea Tow Foundation Boating Safety Advisory Council include Shannon Aronson, ABYC; Laura Barry, West Marine; TK Krumenacker, AAA Insurance; Captain Bob May, Bob’s No Wake Zone Boating Radio Show; Tyler Mehrl, Mercury Marine; Mark Pillsbury, Cruising World Magazine; Adam Quandt, Boating Industry magazine; Scott Rath, Uflex USA, Inc.; Angie Scott, The Woman Angler & Adventurer; Eric Shepard, retired; Chad Tokowicz, MRAA; and Leslie Zlotnick, Yamaha Watercraft Group. The council’s executive committee includes Kristen Frohnhoefer, Sea Tow Services International; Gail R. Kulp, Sea Tow Foundation; and Wanda Kenton Smith, Kenton Smith Marketing.
To nominate yourself or another individual for membership to the Sea Tow Foundation’s Boating Safety Advisory Council, please visit www.boatingsafety.com/page/stfbsac
Sea Tow Foundation With a vision of a world where boaters are safe and responsible, the Sea Tow Foundation – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – was established in 2007 by Sea Tow Founder Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer. After his passing in 2015, Captain Joe’s legacy continues as the Foundation provides access to education, tools and resources in order to eliminate preventable boating-related accidents, injuries, and deaths. For more information on the Sea Tow Foundation and its programs, visit BoatingSafety.com.
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, March 16 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas applauds members of the Minnesota recreational boating industry for their support of a Minnesota Boater Educational Bill during a Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance committee. Jeremy Wiczek, Sales Manager at Nisswa Marine., Gabriel Jabbour, Owner of Tonka Bay Marina, and Jill C. Sims, Manager of Great Lakes Policy and Engagement for the National Marine Manufacturers Association all testified in support of the bill.
SF 3392 will phase in mandatory boater education in Minnesota and set up educational requirements for boat rental operations. This carefully drafted bill included input from a large group of stakeholders ranging from boat dealers, manufacturers, rental operations, lake-property owners and members of the tourism sector, all of whom support this initiative. This bill is being introduced in response to a massive increase of boaters on Minnesota’s already crowded waters.
“With over 18 years of experience in the boating industry, I have seen firsthand the increase of boaters on Minnesota waters,” says Jeremy Wiczek, Sales Manager at Nisswa Marine. “Marine dealers stand behind SF 3392 and boater education, as it is a piece of common-sense legislation that will only improve the fabric of Minnesota’s boating community by putting safer operators on the water.”
Currently, there are more than 825,000 registered boats on Minnesota waters, making it second to Florida. Furthermore, boater sales skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting an unprecedented number of new boaters on the water and emphasizing the need for more boater education.
“While Minnesota boasts the second most registered boats in the country, where we are falling behind is in boater education and safety training,” says Jill C. Sims, Manager of Great Lakes Policy and Engagement, NMMA. “Of the top 10 boating states by registration, Minnesota is the only state that does not require boater education that extends beyond youth. The recreational boating industry has long championed proactive education measures and this move from the Minnesota legislature is a great step toward ensuring our boaters are safe on and near the water.”
Boater education in Minnesota is supported not only by the recreational boating and fishing industry, but also law enforcement and by conservation, environment and lake association organizations like the Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocate and MNCOLA. This bill will better align boating with other recreational products in Minnesota by creating an accessible education course for boaters while also tailoring the course to deliver key messages for Minnesota residents, like how to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species.
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.
WASHINGTON, D.C, March 16, 2022 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and 44 other members of the Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition submitted formal comments to the Federal Register regarding the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, a key component of the Biden Administration’s “America the Beautiful” Initiative, also referred to as “Thirty by Thirty.” The recommendations urge the Administration to identify the lands and waters considered to be “conserved” based on conservation outcomes rather than arbitrary criteria. The groups also highlight the importance of working with entities such as state fish and wildlife management agencies, regional fish and wildlife management authorities, tribes, conservation-focused NGOs and private landowners who are most knowledgeable and best equipped to advance pragmatic and successful conservation efforts throughout the U.S.
“Thirty by Thirty” is a global initiative started by the environmental community that seeks to protect the Earth’s biodiversity and address climate change by protecting 30 percent of the planet’s lands and waters by the year 2030. “Thirty by Thirty” proposals were originally linked to global land and water protected area targets established by the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity.
“We are honored to endorse the recommendations made by the Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition, as this group ensures that conservation is done in a way that preserves access for boater, anglers, hunter and all other types of outdoor enthusiasts,” said Chad Tokowicz, Government Relations Manager for the MRAA. “Users of these resources are the best conservationists and it is imperative the we develop a 30×30 plan that includes those who have been lifelong stewards of the very resources it seeks to benefit.”
The Hunt Fish 30×30 Coalition’s recommendations reflect the priorities first outlined in the “Hunting and Fishing Community Statement on the 30×30 Initiative” that was developed in response to “Thirty by Thirty” legislation introduced at the state level in 2020. In the statement signed by 66 sporting-conservation organizations, the Coalition highlights the important role sportsmen and sportswomen have played and continue to play in the conservation of fish, wildlife and natural ecosystems in the United States.
Recognizing this history of conservation successes, the current recommendations present an opportunity to advance pragmatic, effective conservation efforts while identifying several existing measures that should be included in the Atlas. The updated recommendations focus on empowering the entities best equipped to identify and advance effective conservation solutions by strongly encouraging the Administration to partner with these organizations during the development of the Atlas. Furthermore, the recommendations provide critical details on what the sporting-conservation community believes should and, often more importantly, should not be included as criteria for inclusion in the Atlas.
The organizations believe that for America the Beautiful to be successful, the following fundamental elements must be included in any “Thirty by Thirty” policy: •Clearly defining “conservation” to support the active management and sustainable use of our nation’s public trust fish and wildlife resources. •Collaborating closely with entities devoted to achieving measurable biodiversity conservation objectives, including: oState fish and wildlife management agencies oRegional fish and wildlife management bodies oMembers of the sporting-conservation community oThe more than 500 federally recognized Native American tribes oPrivate landowners (through voluntary, incentive-based opportunities) •Recognizing and including all efforts directly contributing to biodiversity conservation in the forthcoming American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas, including those on lands managed for multiple uses. If you would like to learn more about the America the Beautiful initiative and opportunities for you to get involved reach out to Chad Tokowicz, Government Relations Manager for the MRAA, at Chad@mraa.com, or 978-569-5127.
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.
How this simple task closes the gap between dealership expectations and dealership results
As a dealership manager, you know how you expect your employees to operate. You know the steps they should take when a boat arrives for service, as each boat goes through maintenance or repairs, and as each boat gets returned to its owner after the repair order is closed.
In most dealerships however, there remains a significant gap between the process that you believe exists, the individual and unique processes that actually exist with each different employee, and the processes that should exist to help you achieve your business goals.
The frustration that bubbles up in dealerships as problems occur and reoccur aren’t the fault of your individual employees. Those team members simply execute tasks the way they have been trained or told or the way they have seen others do it. What they need in those cases — to prevent problems from occurring in the first place, to identify and correct problems as they take place, to create consistencies across your business and to move your dealership from reactive mode to proactive mode — are documented processes, or process maps.
Let start with the basics: What is a process map?
A process map offers a visual aid for picturing the inputs, activities, outputs, people, and resources involved in specific functions within your dealership. Process maps are created to document every step your business takes in delivering a product or service, and they are used to train employees and set the expectation for the steps to be followed by all employees, 100 percent of the time to ensure consistency across your business. Ultimately, they act as tangible blueprints to set the expectation for exactly how your customer is being served.
Documented processes are essential for well-run dealerships because, as you will find if you look closely enough, there are variants in the way specific tasks are being conducted by your employees. In today’s fast-paced environment where consumers’ expectations become higher and higher by the day, process maps are also critical to delivering higher quality services faster than ever before.
Another huge benefit of employing process maps in your dealership is that it frees up management to manage the big-picture part of the business while providing clarity and structure so the employees know what’s expected of them. Without such tools, managers field too many questions and stay bogged down in the day-to-day operations, unable to focus on strategic direction and oversight. And if you don’t believe me, just watch how many of your dealership principal colleagues are fielding phone calls and stepping out of the room during important dealer meeting presentations.
Creating a process map
With the heightened pressure on your service department and the related focus the industry has placed on reducing repair event cycle times, or the amount of time it’s taking for us to get customers back on the water, I’m going to focus on service department operations. If you want to learn more about sales department process maps, Certified Dealers can access a Guide to Improving Your Sales Process Maps in the Continuous Certification Course Fill the Gaps in Your Dealership’s Sales Process.
A service process map should start with an action or a trigger that puts the service process in motion. That trigger should, in some way, originate with the customer, usually through some form of a service inquiry. Many dealers think the service process begins at the write-up or check-in phase, but everything leading up to the check-in is a huge part of the experience and key to generating work for the department.
At famed customer service company Ritz Carlton, Founder Horst Schultze suggests that the first three touch points for a stay at one of their hotels sets the stage for the entire visit. If all goes well with reservations, the front door, and reception, the rest of the stay goes perfectly. However, if the ball is dropped in any of those first touch points, it will likely result in the guest looking and finding trouble later in their stay.
Note: I’m featuring several steps for building a great process map below. If you would like to access best practices for these steps, please visit here.
STEPS 1 and 2: Initial Inquiry and Scheduling
The same could be said for your service department. If you would like a customer’s experience in your service department to be more like a stay at the Ritz, shoring up those first touch points is crucial. Therefore, your process map should document how you want that initial inquiry and the scheduling of service to transpire, whether those communications take place over the phone, via email or texting or in person. No matter what method the customer uses, you should consider using an automated method of confirming and following-up with the customer.
STEP 3: Drop Off
The next step you should illustrate in your service process map, still before the check-in or write-up, is the drop-off. This step should focus on being welcoming and should not be challenging for the customer — with obstacles or tight spaces that make it difficult to maneuver a trailer. The beauty of maintaining a process map is that it allows you to examine all these transition points and either change, update or fill any gaps in your standard operating procedures that might leave the customer unfulfilled with the service experience.
STEP 4: Write-Up
The Check-In or Write-Up is the final touchpoint in the first impression a customer will have with your shop. The Service Writer or Advisor typically greets customers, listens to the problems they’re having, communicates to the technicians what that problem is, and then acts as the liaison between the dealership and the customer every step of the way. I like to tell dealers to ensure your process map covers the three Cs: Complaint, Cause and Correction.
Start by identifying or confirming the Complaint. That’s the mission of the Check-In or Write-Up, and the details of this phase should be outlined in the process map’s accompanying Standard Operating Procedures, including at a minimum the condition of the boat, promised ready date, upselling opportunities and offers, pre-approvals and payment.
STEP 5: Dispatch
Once the boat gets checked-in and the customer is certain their complain is heard with as much detail as possible documented, it’s time to Dispatch the service to the best technician, which could mean next available, or the technician with the skills or certifications that best match the need for resolving the complaint.
STEP 6: Repair
Completing Job or the Repair step in the process is typically represented by the same size square as others on the process map, but in reality, it’s the biggest part of the process and risks becoming bottlenecked when techs are pulled for emergencies or other non-tech work. The most important advice I can offer in this step is that your process map should document that your techs need to focus on work that only they can perform. Your technicians represent your only opportunity to generate revenue in service, and therefore, they should not be working on non-revenue generating tasks. Your process map should outline who — not the technician — should be portering boats, finding parts, searching for tools, or other administrative tasks.
Dealers should consider adding a critical team member to their service ranks to help improve the tech’s efficiency level — an Expeditor. The Expeditor role and terminology is borrowed from the restaurant business, where kitchens are challenged with getting food from various stations to tables while they are still hot and fresh. An Expeditor serves as the dispatcher, who announces to the stations to “work” a menu item and then signals them to plate the food with a “push” order. This keeps the kitchen talent working on the right orders at the right time ensuring hot and fresh food being delivered to hungry customers.
You, too, can enjoy this level of efficiency and effectiveness by adding an Expeditor, who, with a little time on the job coupled with some boat, engine and shop knowledge, will become your champion of efficiency. He or she can ensure the right boat is in the right place, with the right technician at the right time, every time. An Expeditor alone keeps the shop efficient and Service Writer focused on communicating and selling service to the boat owners.
When the job is complete and the tech has proudly signed off on the job that it was done right, the repair order should be completely documented with the other two Cs — Cause and Correction — so that anyone looking at the RO can thoroughly understand what the issue was and how it was fixed.
Step 7: Detail & Delivery
By now, as the Service Manager, you’re feeling that your service process is tight, and all goes smoothly for your customers. However, just as the Write-Up step served as a first impression, the cleanliness of the boat at customer pick-up or delivery will be the lasting impression. So, don’t let all these mapped out efforts go down the drain by delivering a dirty boat with greasy fingerprints.
Most dealers refer to this as Detail and Delivery, but I recommend you use the term “courtesy wash” to create an expectation of what’s promised. Be sure to include a well-timed courtesy wash that will leave a lasting glory for a job well done and the dealership. Service Writers can use the courtesy wash to motivate the owner to pick-up their boat on time by asking, “When are you picking up the boat? I want to have it courtesy washed for you so it’s clean when you pick it up.” Whatever process you document, don’t shortcut the delivery or pick up, lasting impressions are very profitable in the form of repeat and referral business.
The job isn’t complete until the customer is followed-up with. Customer feedback is so very valuable, whether positive or negative, and I recommend you include this follow-up into your process maps. The positives are valuable when they are shared with the crew; the negatives are your time to shine because emergencies don’t cripple your shop, everyone will learn from the mistake, and you can now update your process maps to prevent the problem from happening again and to ensure you delight your customers.
Updating your process maps
Once you have published your first version of a Service Process Map — first version, because an effective process map is a living document that should always be updated as new and better practices or methods are adopted — it is critical that you continue to learn how to improve them every single day. Your first pass at this won’t look the same after months of improvements are added in. You will make mistakes, but documented process maps give you the means to adjust and improve.
Updating you process maps is the cure for complacency, which is the first step toward mediocrity. Grow big ears and listen to your crew, listen to your customers, and get insight into new ideas, tactics, strategies and best practices from other sources, such as our team and our products and services here at the MRAA, as well as our fantastic partners, to help you continue to update your processes in pursuit of a better result and a stronger business.
Process maps benefit business like yours in so many ways. They help you focus your team on the customer’s perspective. They improve the start-to-finish process while improving cross-department communication. They serve as excellent training tools for new team members, and they will improve consistency across your team. Meanwhile, process maps boost efficiency by uncovering flaws, obstacles and bottlenecks that hold you back, like extra steps, activities, forms, reports, or approvals. Finally, process maps build transparency into your processes by providing you, the manager, with the big picture of gaps that exist between what you expect and what your business actually delivers to its customers.
This blog was published as part of MRAA’s focus on helping dealers get their customers back on the water more quickly. Check out more resources here.
If your service department ran as smoothly as a well-oiled machine, there’s a great chance that you could improve upon your Repair Event Cycle Times and get more boats in and out of your shop while also reducing the stress on your staff and driving greater levels of revenue.
The path to getting to that point is quite simple. It’s through the creation and refinement of a service department process map.
Your service department requires great coordination, several contributors, the right parts inventory and a little bit of luck … all just to get a single boat repaired, let alone navigating a whole day’s, week’s or month’s worth of ROs.
There are several key elements of every service department’s success, and if any one step doesn’t go well, it can create a domino effect, hampering the entire system, delaying repairs, agitating customers, hurting your smooth system and reducing your potential.
Mapping those activities allows you to get more clarity on your processes, identify places for improvement and become more efficient. Your service manager and your service team should take the time to write down each step, from initial customer inquiry to post-service follow-up, as well as the details of what goes into each step.
If you haven’t yet process mapped your service department, here’s an initial set of steps you can start with:
Initial Customer Inquiry
Scheduling
Write-Up
Dispatch
Parts
Repair
Quality Control
Detail & Delivery
Note: To help MRAA Members further, view this page of best practicesfor downloadable recommendations and best practices that other dealers have offered and MRAA has compiled for your benefit. Check them out and implement them into your processes.
After you’ve mapped out your shop’s unique approach to conducting business, including those details mentioned above, you should go back and ensure each step is accounted for, and that you are taking the customer’s experience into account along the way.
While it takes time to create a process map that works for your dealership, the time spent working on your business will be worth the effort. If we can help you shorten up the time commitment or provide any guidance, you should enroll in the Marine Industry Certified Dealership program, which offers you a sample service process map as well as guidance from a Certification Consultant to make the process work perfectly for your dealership’s unique circumstances.
With a service process map in place, your dealership will become more efficient, you’ll be able to service more boats, and you’ll drive greater revenues at the same time.
Note: MRAA has an entire library of resources available to help you reduce the amount of time it takes to get customers back on the water. Check it out here.
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