MRAA Scorecard Program
An in-depth approach to improving the most important relationship in boating and driving a better customer experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most frequent questions and answers
What are Dealer-Manufacturer Performance Reviews?
Understanding the important link in the dealer-manufacturer relationship and how it impacts the customer experience, the MRAA and its Strategic Partners developed Scorecards that the two parties can use to ensure they are living up to their mutual expectations of one another. These Scorecards can be used to foster conversations in what MRAA recommends should be annual Performance Review-style discussions, where dealers and manufacturers strive to help each other deliver at a higher level for their shared customers.
How were the Scorecards created?
Taking all of that insight, as well as further research into numerous dealer-manufacturer agreements, similar scorecards from the RV and motorcycle industries; and one-on-one conversations related to expectations that manufacturers have of their dealers and that dealers have of their manufacturers, MRAA created draft Scorecards that identified 10 performance categories that impact the relationship and the customer experience. Those Scorecards were reviewed by MRAA staff with dozens of years of marine industry experience. They were reviewed in three separate meetings with the MRAA Board of Directors. They were reviewed by industry consultants Garage Composites, Spader Business Management, Parker Business Planning and VRZ Consulting. They were then reviewed by several boat manufacturers, including Barletta Pontoons, Bennington Pontoons, Brunswick, Chris Craft and Smoker Craft, Inc. After receiving feedback from each set of reviews, MRAA updated the Scorecards before they were presented to the MRAA Board and Strategic Partners for final review and discussion.
What will MRAA do with the results?
One of the first questions that typically arises as MRAA has discussed this program with manufacturers is: What will MRAA do with the results? Understandably, manufacturers are concerned about brand reputation, and so it’s important to note that MRAA will not expose negative comments, negative scores, or poor comparative ratings with the industry. MRAA will share individual dealer responses with manufacturers, and MRAA expects manufacturers to share and host a conversation about individual dealer feedback with the dealers themselves. These should be aimed at making improvements in the performance of both parties. MRAA will aggregate all dealer responses into one report for manufacturers so the manufacturers can know how they are performing overall. Those aggregate scores can be compared against other internal brands, boat type/segment aggregates, and industry aggregates. MRAA will not share one manufacturer’s scores with another manufacturer. MRAA will not produce a ranking of manufacturers’ scores. However, MRAA may recognize leading companies to celebrate the organizations that set the bar for the marine industry. For more thoughts here, refer to the question on this program’s intent.
How do I know what defines a 7 vs. a 6 vs. a 5 and so forth?
Above and beyond the ratings guidance on the Scorecard itself, which again offers ratings from “Very Unacceptable” (1) through “Very Acceptable” (7), the MRAA has created a Scorecard Guidance document (link to Scorecard Guidance document) for organizations to use as a reference tool. In the Scorecard Guidance document, MRAA outlined its recommendations for how to think through the scoring on each form. The Scorecard Guidance sought to provide guidance on industry-accepted norms, but MRAA recommends that the scoring should be correlated to each specific manufacturer’s dealer agreements, business models and other documents that outline mutually agreed upon expectations for its dealer network and the relationship in general. MRAA encourages manufacturers and dealers to establish expectations well in advance of a performance review and to develop their own scoring guidance, based on those expectations.
When should the Scorecards be completed?
MRAA strongly recommends annual performance reviews take place between manufacturers and dealers to ensure performance and customer experience expectations are being met by both parties. One manufacturer suggested that MRAA establish a “review week” where both dealers and manufacturers spend time completing the evaluations and then schedule the time to discuss the results with their respective partners. Such a strategy makes sense but MRAA believes would be best implemented at the manufacturer level to raise awareness of the effort and capture appropriate participation levels.
What’s Needed to Enroll?
In order to enroll in the MRAA Dealer-Manufacturer Scorecard Program, you will need the following items:
- An Excel spreadsheet containing your dealer list* with dealership name, location, contact person, title, phone number, email address and the name of the manufacturer’s rep assigned to that dealer. If you have multiple brands to enter, please enter dealer lists in separate tabs in an Excel spreadsheet.
- Your brand’s official logo, preferably in a .png format
- The contact information for the point person on your team
- The contact information for anyone else on your team you want to receive copies of reports
- The Boat Type Segment(s) you wish your brand to be categorized in
*Note: The contract we will countersign ensures confidentiality and non-disclosure of your dealer list.
Who can I talk to if I need more info?
If you’d like to learn more or have a question not answered on this page, please contact Matt Gruhn at matt@mraa.com or 763-333-2421
Why is MRAA recommending Dealer-Manufacturer Scorecards?
In ongoing conversations between the MRAA Board of Directors (all dealers), MRAA’s Strategic Partners (all manufacturers and service providers to dealers) and the MRAA Staff, two things became clear: 1. Boater attrition levels, where boaters sell their boat and leaving boating, remain too high; and 2. There are six critical areas of the dealer-manufacturer relationship (link to Don’t Split Up the Team blog) that impact the boat buyer and boat owner experience and their loyalty to boating. After digging much deeper into these six key areas; hosting more than 50 individual conversations with dealers and manufacturers related specifically to their important relationship; and sharing and discussing the results of the conversation with the MRAA Board and Strategic Partners, MRAA was charged with drafting usable scorecards.
What is the intent behind introducing these Scorecards?
Boat manufacturers and dealers know the importance of surveying their customers through marine industry customer satisfaction surveys. The insights gleaned from these surveys provide a roadmap for improvement opportunities and a chance to recognize our industry’s leading companies. Similarly, by hosting annual conversations between manufacturers and their customers – the dealers – a lot can be learned about how to continuously improve the experience for today’s boat buyers and boat owners. The intention behind the MRAA Scorecard Program is to foster deeper awareness and conversations around the key touchpoints the dealer-manufacturer relationship has with the customer experience and ultimately the opportunity that the Scorecards offer is focused on improving that experience.
Why is MRAA using a 1-7 Scale?
The MRAA explored many dealer-manufacturer Scorecards, and among them, Harley-Davidson had used a 1-7 scale. In looking more closely at the scale and its recommended explanations for the scale – from Very Unacceptable (1) through Very Acceptable (7) – it seemed to be an easier measurement system than the commonly used 1-10 scale and yet more detailed than the 1-5 scale seen in other forms. In conversations with every group of organizations that reviewed them, there was agreement that the 1-7 scale was the right way to go.
Who should fill out the Scorecards?
It is important that the individual or department with the best knowledge and understanding of a specific Performance Category be designated to complete that specific Category within the performance review. In other words, you don’t want a manufacturer warranty department completing a dealer performance review on marketing or sales effectiveness just like you wouldn’t want a dealer’s sales manager completing a review of the manufacturer’s warranty processes. Think through the best person on your team to score each category before you get started.
How will the surveys be fielded?
MRAA is working with Customer Service Intelligence, Inc., a third-party surveying organization with decades of experience in the marine industry, to field these surveys independently. MRAA hopes to work closely with manufacturers to roll out the Scorecard efforts to their dealer networks.
What is a Net Promoter Score?
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric commonly used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a company’s products or services. The metric can be used to understand customers, identify customers at risk of leaving, and spread positive word of mouth.
To calculate an NPS, customers are asked to rate their likelihood of recommending a company on a scale of 0–10. Those customers are then categorized as promoters, passives, or detractors based on their score:
- Promoters: Score 9–10, and are loyal customers who are likely to recommend the company to others.
- Passives: Score 7–8, and are satisfied but not devoted to the brand.
- Detractors: Score 0–6, and are unhappy customers who may negatively affect the company’s reputation.
The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters, and the NPS is reported as a number ranging from -100 to +100, with higher scores being better. Bain & Company developed NPS in 2003, it was popularized in the book “The Ultimate Question” by business loyalty guru Fred Reichheld, and it’s now used by millions of businesses.
