Ease the Service Stress of Spring Deliveries

It’s February, and you’re already dreading spring service stress.

You know the routine. The sun starts shining and suddenly the phone starts ringing, the door starts swinging, your email inbox is dinging, your website chat is blowing up. All your customers want to pick up their boat and get out on the water.

It’s the perfect storm of detailing, delivering and collecting payment on all the boats that have been serviced, stored or newly purchased and rigged. All at the same time, if your customers had their way.

So, what can you do now to ensure this final step of the service process is handled quickly and smoothly for the sake of your customers and your team this spring? Check out the tips, resources and education in this month’s Spotlight.

MRAA Case Study: Use Communication & Technology to Boost Service Efficiency

Reducing repair event cycle time (RECT) is a mandatory service data point to track at your dealership, because the more efficient your service department is, the quicker you can get your customers back on the water and doing what makes them happy – boating!

That’s why we picked the brain of Lauren Woodard-Splatt, Owner of Woodard Marine, an MRAA Certified Dealer, to find out how her dealership reduced RECT and received a RECT Efficiency Award from Lightspeed. Lauren shares tips and tactics that helped her store and could help you not only go paperless and install better processes, but also build a better service team and improve customer experience.

The Service Clock: Rethink Your Department’s Approach to Time

In service, it’s important to be efficient to improve your customers’ experience and satisfaction with your dealership.

This episode of MRAA’s Training ‘N’ Tactics Series features expert advice from Max Materne of Garage Composites. He’ll help your dealership’s service department to:

• Manage repair time effectively

• Understand seasonality and how it affects the service clock

• Enhance communication to set customer expectations.

As an MRAA Silver and Gold Member, you have access to this course and the entire TNT library at MRAAtraining.com.

MRAA's Training N Tactics

MRAA DATA

Dealers shared some key strategies they have implemented to improve upon timeliness and provide a better customer experience during detail, delivery and payment.

Survey participants could provide more than one answer. A popular strategy was for a dealership to provide customers with a consistent service/delivery experience.
The other top tactics involved communication practices and the need for a standard procedure and using texting to connect more rapidly.

Remember, CLEAR COMMUNICATION, both internally and externally, is critical in helping your service department become more efficient.

A 7-part training series for dealership service advisors
As a Service Writer, your skills and abilities can impact the performance of the Service Department and your dealership. When you excel in your role, you can directly create more success and stability for everyone, while also enhancing revenue, profits and customer loyalty. The MRAA created this e-learning course package to help you become a next-level Service Writer!

MRAA Gold and Silver Members can access this education today!

Service Process Map, Step 8: Detail & Delivery


It’s vastly important to reduce Repair Event Cycle Time (RECT) by improving the time you take to service a boat and help get the customer back on the water. With help from Valerie Ziebron and VRZ Consulting here are some solutions – created through a brainstorming exercise – to help your dealership excel at the detail, delivery and payment portion of the service process. Note: You will see a “Problem” listed and a solution you can use to help your dealership’s service department improve here.

Lightspeed Announces Marine Dealer RECT Excellence Award Winners

At MRAA’s 2022 Dealer Week Conference & Expo in Austin, Texas, MRAA Strategic Partner Lightspeed announced the inaugural 2022 Marine Dealer RECT Excellence Award Winners. All 10 recognized dealerships are MRAA Members.

3 Benefits to Managing RECT: 

  • Spot service shortcomings and address them
  • Reduce employee burnout with improved processes and communication
  • Delivering superior customer experience (get them back on the water faster!)

The MRAA will speak with a couple of these dealerships listed below to learn how they improved their Repair Event Cycle Time at their respective dealerships. Stay tuned for these case studies that will help you and your service department adopt similar practices and refine your business to enhance customer experience.

Read more about RECT here.

DealershipStateRECT % Diff.
Garden State Yacht SalesNJ-81.5385
Reeder – Trausch MarineIN-58.9744
G & S MarineMA-45
Riverview Sports and MarineMN-42.4658
BlackBeard MarineOK-31.9149
Race City MarineNC-30.1587
Woodard MarineVT-29.2135
Lakeside Motor SportsMI-24.5614
Morgan MarineNY-17.6871
Castaway MarinaNY-16.4835
DW Online
Service & Parts Pathway – Dealer Week Online

Need more education and tactics for your service department? Look no further than MRAA’s Dealer Week Online, your on-demand resource for relevant education from subject matter experts within the marine industry. Learn about the best practices for success to satisfy your customers.

RECOMMENDED SERVICE SESSION: “The Service Clock: Rethink Your Department’s Approach to Time” with Max Materne

MRAATraining Courses on Service

We’ve gathered a few additional MRAA Dealer Week courses from the last couple years that also highlight service efficiency through the use of technology and process.

Dealer Case Study: Be Efficient & Adaptable thru Technology

This course features Andrew Brodie of Yankee Boating Center and Subject Matter Expert Jim Million discussing how the dealership’s use of available technology has improved their efficiency in internal communications and reduced the dreaded paper trail.

Text Me! Improve Customer Communication and Staff Efficiency in Parts & Service

Learn how and why to use texting to help your service department and dealership at large become more efficient, have better communication engagement with customers and create an improved customer experience. Jeremy DeFelice, Garage Composites shares insights you implement to help simplify and streamline this final stage of the service process.