As widespread uncertainty persists, boat dealers will need strong fundamentals to succeed
By now, we’re all beginning to get a good sense for how business in the year ahead is going to shape up. And if your indicators are anything like ours, you’re likely realizing that 2024’s fog of uncertainty has not quite lifted as we navigate through boat-show season and into prime selling season.
To validate the unsettled market outlook, look no further than the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ monthly Pulse Report. It shows that current dealer sentiment, after a brief spike in the fall, is as low as it has been since July 2023.
On the consumer side, February’s consumer confidence reading plummeted by the largest monthly decline in more than four years. “It seems to play like a broken record,” one dealer noted in the November 2024 Pulse Report, “but ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ still remains as the mantra for the current market. We need to get consumer confidence back, lower interest rates and get new-boat pricing back in line.”
As of late February, with boat-show results continuing to trickle in, there was little to no clarity about the direction new-boat sales will take for the season ahead. Some dealers and manufacturers reported a good number of buyers at the shows, while some reported poor traffic. Some reported strong buying signals, while others had their worst shows in years.
What’s unanimous throughout the industry is that the balance of power in the boat sale and purchase paradigm has shifted completely to the buyer. As such, the sales process is taking much longer to complete. There’s simply no urgency to buy.
So let’s talk about what it will take to be successful in a marketplace like we’ve found so far this year. As we enter the second quarter and prime selling season, it will be critical for dealerships to have mastered the fundamentals.
First things first; dealers who have been most successful at the early shows have put in the hard work to find success. They created and nurtured leads. They reached out to current prospects, as well as current customers, and invited them to the shows. They marketed directly to those potential buyers to create excitement around new product. They treated those customers like VIPs at the shows. They prepared their sales team to execute a strategy that would take that customer from a prospect to a scheduled delivery date later this spring. For customers who didn’t buy, those prepared dealers are now implementing a full-fledged follow-up campaign to move the customer further down the funnel.
That sales funnel is the key in today’s environment. Dealers need a documented sales process in place to move customers deeper and deeper into the purchase funnel. This activity can feel daunting for first-timers, so start with the basics: What needs to happen in order for a customer to make a purchase? Work backward from there to identify ways to attract buyers, pique their interest and bring them to the dealership. For help getting started, reach out to anyone at the MRAA, as we have many tools to share.
Regardless, with the sales process taking much longer these days, it’s imperative to have a process in place, and follow that process, keeping track of where prospects are in their buying journey. Use the process as a training tool for salespeople who may have developed bad habits when sales came easier, and for new salespeople who need to understand what it takes to sell a high-dollar, discretionary item like a boat.
As part of that sales process, an integrated digital marketing campaign plays a critical role in keeping a dealership and boat brands top of mind. Marketing efforts must be well-rounded to showcase product and promote the boating lifestyle through social media, email campaigns and ad purchases. When prospects land on a dealer’s website, it must be organized effectively, keep the prospect on their journey and further their interests in the dealership and its brands.
Dealers also must find ways to stand out in their market. Standard marketing strategies just aren’t hitting the mark. Dealer reports also suggest that most manufacturer promotions, while well-intended, just don’t seem to be moving the needle.
To create demand for boat buyers in any given area, get innovative. Create promotions that complement or build on manufacturer programs. Host custom events, new-product showcases, in-house or in-water boat shows, or other original events. Maximize efforts to build the dealership’s brand and the loyalty surrounding the local customer base.
The path through current market conditions will take hard work and perseverance. It will require dealers to remain diligent about the fundamentals of strong marketing and sales processes. As multiple dealers noted in February’s Pulse Report: “Sitting in brick-and-mortar and waiting for sales” or even “waiting for door swings” will not convert passive prospects into buyers.
Matt Gruhn is president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas.
