Keep Your Customers Boating
Your customers leave the market because they become disinterested and don’t use their boats enough to justify the cost. History shows that first-time boat buyers depart the marketplace within five years after purchase and at about a 40 percent clip.
Engaging your customers should be a top priority! This starts with authentic follow-up and includes holding community events and educational resources on operation and ownership. These touchpoints are critical for increasing boater retention.
Customer Engagement Guide
MRAA Case Study: Len’s Cove on E-Newsletters and Customer Engagement
Imagine if your dealership could deliver an exceptional customer experience and top-notch engagement even during your busiest seasons. But with everyone consumed by day-to-day responsibilities, it’s tough to prioritize these vital customer interactions.
That’s why we wrote this MRAA Case Study about MRAA Member Len’s Cove Marina to show how a successful dealership can create an email newsletter to transform customer engagement and establish itself as a trusted brand in the eyes of the customer.
Operation Keep Your Customers Boating
Guide to a World-Class Customer Experience
As a leading dealership, you strive for marketing returns and customer satisfaction. But you are seeing rising inventory levels and more hesitant consumers due to higher pricing, inflation and economic uncertainty.
Therefore, it’s time to enhance the customer experience to attract new buyers and engage your existing customers to keep them boating longer. MRAA’s guide, “Operation: Keep Your Customers Boating,” provides proven tactics and resources to help you retain more customers by creating processes and touchpoints to increase their satisfaction and loyalty to your brand.
Silver & Gold Members ONLY:
Not a Silver Member? Learn more about Silver Membership!
Survey: Dealership Hurdles Disrupting Customer Experience
From warranty issues to workforce shortages to unrealistic customer expectations, you’ve seen many challenges at your dealership that hamper your team from creating the best possible experience for customers. Recently, marine dealers like you participated in an MRAA Pulse Report survey, noting some top obstacles that impede the customer experience.
“Financing has been a bigger challenge, as well as floorplan interest and possibly soon to be curtailments.” — Anonymous Dealer
Elevate Your Dealership’s Customer Experience
As a leader in your dealership, your goal is to turn one-time purchases into lifelong customer relationships. This repeat business is crucial for maintaining dealership stability, regardless of market fluctuations. To achieve this, building strong connections with customers is essential.
MRAA offers a powerful course package that provides tools and tactics to enhance the customer experience. By promoting the boating lifestyle, you can increase customer engagement and encourage them to return for all their boating needs.
Throughout this education, you will learn:
- Guidelines for integrating visual elements across various channels to promote the on-water experience.
- How to create a marketing plan that actively engages current customers, ensuring their return year after year.
- The difference between good service and experiential service, along with techniques for a more emotional approach to customer engagement.
- The importance of understanding your customers’ perspectives and handling uncomfortable situations.
- Personalizing the customer journey and anticipating their needs.
- 3 key elements to offer an outstanding customer experience and create brand evangelists.
Boost Customer Experience & Boater Retention by Throwing a Helpline
A customer support hotline is a valuable tool that enhances customer experience in three essential ways: consumer engagement, operational support and educational insights.
Advocacy & Boating Safety
When your customers are informed, educated and familiar with their vessels and state boating laws, your dealership can feel assured that you have contributed to a safer overall recreational boating community. This in turn will keep your customers boating longer and keep more folks in your dealership and on the water.
Share Boating Safety Resources with Your Customers
As an industry leader and boating expert, your dealership plays an crucial role in helping your customers feel safe and comfortable on the water. That’s why it’s important to connect with them about boating safety by sharing resources and tips.
‘Get Real About Follow-Up or Get Gone’
Discover the power of effective follow-up and customer care. In this MRAA TNT session led by subject matter expert Jordon “Schooly” Schoolmeester, you’ll embark on a transformative journey.
Learn to engage with customers before and after the sale, meeting their expectations and surpassing them. Gain valuable insights and actionable strategies to build lasting relationships that extend beyond the initial transaction. By taking responsibility for post-sale communications, you can safeguard against customer loss and ensure the long-term success of your salespeople and dealership.
Don’t miss this opportunity to form authentic relationships, improve your CRM and align your business with the evolving market demands to thrive in the years ahead.
3 Online Courses to Keep Your Customers Boating
“How to Keep Your Customers Boating (and Buying)”
with MRAA Certification Manager Liz Keener
What you’ll learn:
- Understand data behind summer market conditions
- Discover new ways to get your boaters on the water
- What resources you can use to improve boaters’ experiences
- Learn from dealer best practices
“A New Tool for Your Customer Follow Up”
with MRAA Lead Certification Consultant Bob McCann
What you’ll learn:
- Analyze your dealership’s customer follow-up
- Discover MRAA’s customer follow-up process
- Determine whether the vBDC tool is the right fit for your dealership
- Plug into customer follow-up and customer experience resources
“Marketing the Boating Lifestyle”
with Pushing the Envelope, Inc President Samantha Scott
What you’ll learn:
- Guidelines for integrating visual elements into your social media, website, in-store marketing and more
- How to better sell the on-water experience.
- Best practices for filming videos, taking photos, making them stand out and getting your customers to share them.
For the Love of Boating
You want to continue communicating with your customers to keep them invested in the boating lifestyle and wanting to be out on the water with friends and family. These 5 blogs supply you with tactics and resources to help you stay engaged with customers while helping them keep boating!
- Arm Your Customers with the Resources They Need — Blog by MRAA Certification Manager Liz Keener. Resources where customers can find information related to help them feel more comfortable in their boating lifestyle.
- 9 Ways to Keep in Touch with Your Customers Year-round — Blog by Liz Keener. Nine new and fresh ideas to stay in contact with your customers to keep them using their boat.
- 9 Resources to Help Marine Dealers Enhance Content Marketing – Blog by MRAA Content Manager Jerrod Kelley. Nine resources that will assist you in keeping your customers engaged in all things boating.
- Create a Post-Sale Follow-Up Process Map to Assure Nothing’s Missed – Blog by Liz Keener. Gain access to a Post-Sale Follow-Up process map that allows you to put in place schedules, checks and balances to make sure each customer gets the same follow-up, from handwritten cards to the 5-day thank you call and more.
- Follow-up is Critical to Building Loyalty – MRAA blog. Create loyalty and meaningful connections with your customers following their purchase.