• Real-World Dealer Insights from May 2025 Pulse Report

You know the market is tightening. While it’s good to focus on your business outcomes, it’s also imperative to explore retail tactics that boost your customer relationship, earn repeat business and trust and enhance your dealership’s reputation.  

It’s also important to understand what some of your dealership peers are doing out there in the real world. Many of them are facing the same struggles and have developed marine retails strategies to improve their outcomes in challenging conditions. Being proactive in their approach, from retention efforts to digital presence to becoming leaner.

We pulled a few key insights shared within the May 2025 Pulse Report. Here are a dozen dealer-tested retail tactics within three core areas.

Retail Tactics — Customer Connection & Retention

Strengthening personal connections with your customers is essential for your success. Here are three critical drivers of long-term success, with dealer feedback.

1. Personalized Follow-Up

Your team should treat every lead like it matters. Dealers who say they are winning have recognized that lead follow-up requires 110%!

Dealer insights:

• “I am going after each lead and follow-up aggressively! The goal is to close the deal!”
• “Personal follow-up is about the best thing we have going right now.”

2. Fast, Reliable Service

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, repair event cycle time (RECT) is arguably THE top metric and key driver of customer experience. It also plays a role in your reputation, referrals and loyalty.

Dealer insights:

• “Keeping service times low has kept regular customers happy and new customers coming in.”
• “We’ve reduced our service rate in hopes that a previous year’s increase will have caused increases at surrounding repair centers, making us the better financial choice when boaters are comparing servicing costs.”

3. Education-Focused Selling

It’s huge in today’s marketplace to engage customers through education instead of only sales and commitments. Many buyers want guidance and for your team of experts to share their boating tips and ownership insights. Dealers who are focusing on education, not just the close, help gain customer trust and heighten boater experiences.

Dealer insights:

• “Communicate well and often with your clients.”
• “Our salesperson takes the route of providing information and education on products rather than being pushy to ensure boat buyers are getting what’s right for them, rather than what’s right for us – even though we’re nearing a ‘desperate measures’ situation.”

Retail Tactics — Sales & Marketing

Meet your buyers where they are at. That’s a phrase you’ve heard hundreds of times since 2020. We know they are online and fancy the digital lifestyle. They enjoy doing their own research in numerous places before setting foot in your brick-and-mortar store. That’s why it’s vital to get seen, be everywhere you possibly can and create a sense of urgency in your digital marketing efforts.

4. Demo Rides & On-Water Events

There’s nothing wrong with offering the best digital experience in the world for your customers. Your efforts may include 3-D programs, virtual boat shows, walk-around videos and more, but nothing (yet) can replace putting the buyer at the helm of a boat ON THE WATER!

Dealer insights:

• “We began on-water shows at the rate of two per month … we’ll keep them up through July.”
• “Demo Days and ride-and-drives are working.”

5. Stock What Customers Want

Part of understanding your market and your customers’ needs is to study the data and inputs you receive. It’s time to commit to learning what your customers really want. To do this strategy better, you need to determine if making a shift toward practical, value-driven inventory will work for your dealership.

Dealer insight:

• “We have seen a definite improvement in activity for new boats, with many new customers coming into the showroom. With the summer season almost here, we are focusing on promoting family-friendly boating and affordable fishing models.”

6. Digital Advertising & Online Presence

Even if overall demand and purchasing is slower or lower, it’s critical to stay active in your approach to advertising and growing your online presence. Investing in slow times can keep you top-of-mind, capture more exposure for your products and brand. You can stay ahead of the pack who choose to cut back on their marketing efforts. Being aggressive can gain you more leads and increase online and in-store foot traffic.

Dealer insights:

• “Lots of digital advertising to keep our product in front of customers.”
• “Activity, shoppers, calls, web activity and foot traffic have all picked up, with more people coming into the showroom, many of them buying. We are starting to see the results of a more robust marketing plan, targeting family and fishing models. Our pleasure models are still much slower than expected.”

7. Focus on Used & Brokerage Sales

The MRAA Pulse Report continues to show a more balanced market for pre-owned boats compared to new boats, both for inventory levels and retail figures. It’s clear that used boats are turning faster and have solid appeal because they can fit within the buyers’ budgets.

Dealer insights:

• “Used and Brokerage sales have been steady.”
• “Used boats are out-selling new right now and we are stepping up on trades to make the deals happen. Putting a little more into the trade to make the new boat sale and knowing that used is strong has been our early-season strategy.”

8. Weekly or Targeted Deals

“An urgency story is something that registers in a customer’s brain as a compelling reason to purchase right now,” says Dom Zappia of EasyCare, an MRAA Education Champion.

Whether you use timely world events or build limited-time offers, creating buyer urgency is a valid strategy and something your team can rally around. This is especially true in a time where the customer’s lack of urgency — and increased caution to buy discretionary items — is a clear pain point.

Dealer insights:

• “Deal of the Week is working for us.”
• “Everyone is looking for a deal or using their existing boats.”

9. Facebook Marketplace

Many dealers use Facebook Marketplace as an effective strategy for creating awareness, retargeting and moving used inventory. When paired with a solid follow-up plan and quick response effort, you can maximize your results.

Dealer insight:

• “Marketing on Facebook Marketplace has been a great hit for used inventory.”

10. OEM Financing & Promotions

Baird has tracked how Original Equipment Manufacturers’ promotions impact demand since 2014. Through July of 2020, the data clearly favored “helped retail demand.” However, since the early spring of 2021 that has shifted into the red (or hurt retail demand) and remained. In fact, May 2025 showed an all-time low point.

Dealer input varies about manufacturer-backed offers. Some praise certain OEMs. Others complain there is not enough action. Still others say these promos (financing and others) only work when dealers fully promote and explain them clearly.

Dealer insights:

• “Highlighting service quality, nationally advertised rebates, some OEM financing (like Yamaha 1.99%).”
• “We’ve been really pushing manufacturer promotions to close deals.
• “Derive sales with promotions marketing.”

Retail Tactics — Operational & External Factors

Strategies that allow you to maintain an aggressive approach are your best course of action to overcome marketplace challenges. The following couple of examples were mentioned by dealers as recent strategies to help them keep afloat in this time of uncertainty.

11. Lean, Efficient Operations

This strategy of going lean works for some dealers while it could create other pain points in the future. You have to put this one on the scales to determine if you’re right sizing in your time of need or standing on a slippery slope that could create workplace pain points like burnout. Certain dealers have found success by trimming overhead, reducing staff and focusing on retaining key functions, while others aren’t sure how to face their workforce conundrum.

Dealer insights:

• “We’ve cut back to a skeleton crew …  it’s widened margins, but everyone is taking on more.”
• “Having reduced staff is putting more and more weight on the owners to take on bigger work demands. The single technician we’re down to is having to move their own boats around the yard, where previously he had a porter, a second technician and an apprentice to spread the work around to. The fear of burnout is real.”

12. Weather as a Multiplier

Even the weather guy at your local TV station knows you can’t control the weather or the layers of haze created by wildfires. Focus your energy on the things you CAN control. Dealers who have learned to plan around it or take advantage of sunny days and weekends have displayed flexibility and patience to meet their customer’s needs. Success here means using weather as a tactical amplifier, pairing it with your follow-up, digital marketing and model-specific events. For example: Join our pontoon parade — the sun is out and boats are ready to enjoy.

Dealer insights:

• “Good weather is working. The excitement for boating is there. When we get a sunny day the traffic noticeably picks up!”
• “We generally begin to see good weather in late April early May. It’s been wetter and cooler than normal and it has resulted in a pretty slow start to the season. But I still believe the business is in front of us, and we’ve got three months to prove it.”
• “The second we see sun, the phones start ringing.”

Molding Your Clay; Reshaping Your Approach

Remember this: A block of clay will always be a block of clay until you pick it up, bend it and shape it into something you need it to be. Your dealership requires the same sort of “hands-on” approach if you want to be more successful. In a challenging market filled with uncertainty, these 12 focus areas aren’t just dealership “hope-to-dos.” No, they’re working, right now, for real dealers who are putting in the work to make their dealerships better.

Use these retail tactics as a checklist, playbook or team training tool to help you stay focused, connected and competitive.