Please take 5 minutes and give us your input below for retention survey! 

Last year brought an influx of newcomers to boating and fishing. And they were welcomed with open arms and excitement, especially while dealing with an ongoing pandemic. However, to ensure their happiness and growth within each form of recreation, it’s imperative that dealers stay connected with these participants. This conveys a sincere approach to customer care and also helps protect the marine industry for 2021 and beyond. 

You’re probably still catching your breath, along with your team, and also wondering what’s in store for the new year? How will you handle follow-up and keeping in close communication with all these new customers? How will your team handle changing COVID restrictions? What resources do you need to help you put digital at the center of your marketing efforts to meet customer where they are? How will you take aim on the used boat market and all the potential that lies there?

This a huge opportunity for you to keep your long-standing customers and all these newcomers  fishing and boating for decades to come. To become loyal customers because of the service, care and commitment you provide them. How can you use your expertise and retention tools to guide them along, making every possible effort to keep them wanting more? Are there resources you feel you need but haven’t found yet? It’s time to share, as your input is both justified and instrumental in terms of building stronger resources.

The NMMA, Discover Boating, RBFF and MRAA understand your desire for enhanced customer engagement. Collectively, these organizations offer toolkits, guides, educational training videos and much more to help support you in this pursuit. They need your help and feedback to refine their collective retention resources to help you properly achieve this objective.

The MRAA kindly requests that you fill out a 5-minute survey is to understand how RBFF and Discover Boating can support your customer engagement/retention efforts with free resources. Thank you in advance for your time and perspective.

TAKE SURVEY HERE

A lot has been happening in Washington, D.C. this last week that affects our industry, so please see our update below.
 
On Monday, Congress passed its long-awaited omnibus spending deal.  A summary of the relevant sections of the omnibus deal – which includes the $900 billion stimulus deal – can be found on MRAA’s website. This will be updates as we continue to pour through this 5,600 page document.   
 
As you all must know by now, President Trump has not committed to signing the omnibus package or the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes Coast Guard safety provisions our industry supports. Today is the deadline for NDAA to be signed or vetoed, which will be a big tell.
 
Due to the margin that the omnibus passed by, it is unlikely that President Trump will outright veto it, but he may pocket-veto it instead. Normally, a President needs to act on a bill within 10 days of receiving it. A pocket veto is a maneuver that can happen at the end of a session where the President vetoes a bill by not acting on it and lets it expire at the end of Congress.
 
Here are some important dates to know as we navigate this:
 
December 23: Date that Congress would need to get a bill to the President to avoid a pocket-veto. The package passed on Tuesday evening looks like it will arrive on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day due to the sheer size of it.
 
December 26: Unemployment insurance runs out for millions of Americans.
 
December 28: Current Government spending ends. Failure to pass a budget deal (or continuing resolution, which funds federal agencies at current levels until a set date) by this date will cause a government shutdown.
 
December 30: Potential day when Congress could override a standard veto by President Trump. This day was already set aside by Congress through a memo to members to override a potential veto for the NDAA.
 
January 3: Any bill not signed by this date is dead. If no deal is made by here, there will be no opportunity for a deal until after the inauguration.
 
January 20: Presidential inauguration, when the a package could be passed and signed by the Biden administration if no agreement is made before Jan 3.
 
Things are still fluid with this situation right now. We could see a month-long budget deal, amendments to the omnibus, changes passed as stand-alone bills, or a breakdown in negotiations. I will share information with you all as I hear it.
 
As always, please reach out to Adam Fortier-Brown, MRAA Government Relations Manager, with any questions or concerns.

Over the course of just 90 days or so, the team here at the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas produced what many have suggested was the best virtual event they have ever participated in — Dealer Week 2020. The secret to the success with this event, in my opinion, was that we never treated it like a virtual event. We treated it like any other highly important, mission-focused event, and we delivered accordingly.

With this event now behind us, we can very clearly outline how companies can produce high-quality virtual event, like the boat show you are probably preparing for right now. MRAA recently produced, in partnership with Discover Boating, a powerful guide to boat show success, but here are a few tips I can offer that could help you prepare and produce your first or next virtual boat show.

This is how I would approach my boat show.

1.    Boat shows are the great equalizer, a place where every dealership looks the same with the same color carpets and the same shiny boats. If you want your dealership to stand out in a virtual event, you need to be prepared and polished like you normally would be. Most dealers spend months planning the inventory they’ll showcase, how they’ll arrange their physical booth and how they’ll both attract customers and stand out for the competition. Nothing should change with that.

2.    Make your business and your brands stand out by showcasing a video tour of your business. Nothing demonstrates professionalism and customer service better than demonstrating the character and personality of your team, your facilities and your service. Don’t just concentrate on new boats, either. Make sure you capture your team, the service department, your certified techs, your parts or pro shop, and more. Give the video the same personality that an in-store experience would offer.

3.    Pre-record walk-throughs of every boat in your inventory to showcase what you have to offer. Shoot the videos in a clean, quiet environment to prevent the distractions of background noise or clutter. Make sure the lighting is good so the product comes off as polished as it would be at an in-person event. Use this how-to guide. What? No inventory to video? Surely your manufacturer partners have video of the products they offer. Substitute factory videos where necessary.

4.    Mix in live Q&As with your sales professionals. Depending on the platform’s capabilities, it would be ideal to do a “live broadcast” (of pre-recorded content) of those walk-throughs, immediately followed by a live question-and-answer session to provide deeper insight and context. Check with the show producer to see if you can schedule live events on the show’s public calendar; otherwise, find a way to promote the live conversations outside of the platform, in a Zoom or other environment. Consider using a host to moderate the sessions and ask the sales team the question, and prepare a few questions as starters for each product.

5.    Find a way to reward customers for stopping by your booth. Give away pro shop gift cards for everyone who comments in the chat. Provide a special contest and enter people into a significant drawing if they schedule a meeting with a member of your sales team. Include a pro fisherman or team rider in one of your live events. Pre-record or offer live how-to programs to establish yourself as the expert and help customers get the most out of boat ownership.

6.    Create your exhibit schedule with the consumer in mind. Your virtual event attendees will likely be visiting your exhibits from their homes, oftentimes “after hours.” If they log into the chat, will someone be there to respond? Make sure you’ve got someone ready to respond immediately during show hours, and consider and strategize what response times should look like after show hours. Virtual exhibits are challenging in that you never really know if someone is “in” your exhibit until they physically reach out. When that finally happens, you need to be ready.

7.    Create your follow-up plan before the event starts. There have been many best practices shared over the years of dealers who are following up and thanking customers before they’ve even left the convention center or texting or emailing them before they arrive home. What will your follow-up plan be for virtual attendees? A well-thought-out strategy with customized follow-up materials — links to those videos you created, brochures, meeting schedulers, and other enticements, for example — could make the difference for capturing the business.

8.    Particularly this year, when many dealers are going to be trying to figure things out, the better prepared you are and the more you can stand out, the better. Spend extra money on marketing your virtual booth. Find creative ways to attract people to your products. Make sure you fully understand the technology and platform well in advance of the event so you can maximize its value and stand out from the crowd.

My final piece of advice here is: Please don’t apologize to your customers for being at a virtual event. We get it. We’re social beings, and we love the person-to-person interaction. We also know, however, that you don’t have a choice, and they don’t have a choice to do business with you in any other way. Prepare yourself to be successful, and be confident in the way you present and deliver your business. And by all means, do NOT apologize for successfully adapting to today’s market place.

More than 80 percent of a purchase decision is made online, anyway. Your presence in a virtual boat show is actually just meeting the customer where they are. If you plan, prepare for and execute your virtual event strategy as though it’s the best way a customer can make a purchase with you, you will win the day at your boat show. Have a great show!

With Video as the Next Frontier, Now is the Time for You to Get Involved

So you want to join the video club, huh? Welcome to the video revolution! For you first timers in the crowd, don’t fret, it eventually gets easier with every video you produce. And for some of you out there, you will unleash a talent and “voice” you didn’t even know existed. You’re an influencer, too, you just don’t realize it yet. With all your years in the boating industry, you have gobs of stories, insights and best practices you can share with others, from peers to customers. You and your team know a lot of best practices for new boaters (maintenance, marina management, new buyer advice, regional vacation hot spots, et al).

It helps to know others have had success enhancing their video efforts. I wrote a best practices article with Len’s Cove owner Sean Horsfall called “The Video Game: 13 Tips for Moving to Video Marketing” found within the Operation Keep Your Customers Boating guidebook.  His story is a good reminder that you, too, can find success if you stick with it and learn the tricks of the trade. It’s also worth noting that Horsfall based this effort off of Dealer Week presenter Marcus Sheridan’s previous MRAA educational sessions.

Horsfall explained to me it took him a couple of years to finally realize Sheridan’s advice was spot on. He also told me it will continue to get more challenging as others create videos and get better at it. But there’s still time to learn, grow and find your specialty. Check out the article and also visit the Len’s Cove “Lessons In Boating” YouTube page to see some living examples of Horsfall’s work for inspiration and tips of how you can create your own content that not only showcases your knowledge, but also answers your customers’ questions.

If you were an active participant at Dealer Week 2020, you noticed that video is THE way to go moving forward. Your marketing plan must include more digital efforts, including video productions. Four of those educational sessions cover the importance of video. I’ve listed them below, but let me remind you that all Dealer Week registrants have access to these videos until March 31, 2021. And MRAA Silver Members and above can watch them throughout the year. Register here!

1. Dealer Case Study: Pre-Owned Boat Photography and Videography: Within the Customer Pathway, this session, made possible by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, discusses the growth in and demand for pre-owned boats as well as way to grow revenue. This includes relevant examples from host Jim Million and case study subject N3 Boatworks that your team can incorporate such skills as photography and videography.

2. How to Become a Video-First Dealership: Within the Dealership Pathway, this training session is straight forward on its mission: Video is a must! Host Sam Dantzler and speaker, author and video advocate Marcus Sheridan discuss ways to stay competitive in this space by producing their own videos. Learn the ins, outs and science behind marine videos, including dozens of ideas to implement immediately.

3. How to Build Your 2021 Marketing Plan with or without a Boat Show: Another gem from Sheridan, this session will teach you how to leverage better video practices and techniques to “show” your boats better than ever. It’s just a portion of his plan of attack for 2021 and a must watch whether you’ve committed to doing video or not.

4. Grow Your Customer Base With Facebook Ads in 2021: Educator and author Danny Decker says Facebook Ads represents an attractive, alternative source of qualified leads that you can turn into customers. Within his Dealer Week 2020 session presentation, he clearly states that video content performs best and needs to be entertaining, educational and inspirational. This session also lets you get credit for the 2021 Marketing Course for Continuous Certification.

The recently launched MRAA’s Guide to Boat Show Success publication also discusses digital marketing, online boat shows, 3-D camera technologies and other strategies that can help you reach more customers. You’ll also learn where to find educational sessions to help guide you on your next business adventure. All Dealer Week attendees have access to this guide.

This blog is to remind you that you need to be doing videos. Consider this a wake-up call and a roadmap for finding more success within this industry. My message to you: Don’t quit before you even start!

The evolution toward digital for the retail market took its largest leap forward yet in 2020, inspired, of course, by the pandemic and subsequent social-distancing requirements. In the boat business, market conditions continue to transform go-to-market strategies, as we enter what, for many, will be the first winter without in-person boat shows.

While this reality has befuddled many organizations, innovative thinkers and leading businesses will drop the complaints, protests and excuses and adapt their business models to deliver value for their customers and grow their market share.

Examples of that innovation can be found all around the marine industry already, from the immediate adjustments made by Woodard Marine with its online boat show last spring, to MarineMax’s full-featured approach to growing its business online; to one of the most recent, most innovative virtual boat shows we’ve seen at Big Thunder Marine. You can read case studies on these and other organizations in MRAA’s recently released Guide to Boat Show Success, a nearly 60-page publication on how you can adapt your business for the unusual boat show season ahead.

At MRAA, we’ve lived this scenario — being forced to adjust a large event in the covid era — and having come out on the backside, I can assure you, there’s a path to success. For show producers, exhibit sales will take a hit. There’s really no way around that. While you can get creative with sponsorship, you just can’t sell “bulk space” when the entire Internet is one giant, free convention center. But for those of you who measure success in sales and exposure to potential customers, the move to a virtual environment provides exponential growth opportunity at a much lower cost.

Take our Dealer Week event as an example. The in-person event offers an electric experience, where history shows it’s a great place to shake hands, meet new people, find new products and services, and catch up with old friends. The energy at our 2019 launch of the new Dealer Week brand was palpable, we were thrilled that we attracted nearly 600 dealership personnel to the event, and in our outlook for the 2020 event, we expected significant growth.

When covid hit in March, we knew that the likelihood we would host an in-person event had been compromised, but rather than complain or apologize or protest, we looked at it as an opportunity to expand our reach, to attract more dealers and impact a larger percentage of our industry than ever before. We embraced it, and not only did that shine through in the execution of the event, but we realized 77-percent year-over-year growth, and we eclipsed our three-year goal of attracting 1,000 dealers in the first year.

The 2020 boat show season will be different for you. There’s no way around it. Going forward, producers will transform the way boat shows will help you go to market. There’s no going back to “normal,” whatever that may have been. This requires you to innovate now.

I urge you to transform your thinking, embrace the change, and evolve the way you go to market. Yes, the pandemic has forced your hand, but you get to choose your response. Will you be a victim or a beneficiary of these market conditions? Your choice will set the stage for success or failure, not just in 2021, but long after the pandemic’s impact stops driving people to boating in record numbers.