Hundreds of retailers across the country are reaping the benefits of being Certified Dealers under the Marine Industry Certified Dealership program produced by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas. To maintain certified status, however, continuing education is a requirement, and MRAA has launched this year’s program.

Becoming a Certified Dealer provides such advantages as access to high-level education, time with expert consultants and discounts on MRAA programs, among other benefits. For 2022, Certified Dealers are being called on to earn credits for four educational courses.

The first course, “The Key Performance Indicators of a Profitable Dealership,” was launched this week. It features Bob Clements and Sara Hey of Bob Clements International. The second course, which is slated to be offered starting in April, is “The Five Red Flags That Derail Your Recruiting and Retention Effort.” This will be conducted by Kelly McDonald of McDonald Marketing.

Certified Dealerships that are enrolled in the 2022 Continuous Certification program have exclusive access to these first two courses. To meet the annual requirement of four total credits to maintain certification, dealers will be able to choose from a selection of other courses on sales, as well as a courses on the parts-and-accessories business.

Some dealers have already earned credit in these categories either at Dealer Week in Austin, Texas, in December or through Dealer Week Online, held Jan. 11-13. Other Certified Dealership staff will be able to view the courses in the spring, notes MRAA.

Maintaining Certified Dealership status following initial certification requires dealers to complete the 2022 education offerings, plus five other annual requirements. These can include an assessment and affidavit, facility check worksheets, an employee satisfaction survey and staff meeting, a CSI tracking and trending evaluation, and a performance planning exercise.

“The 2022 Continuous Certification curriculum addresses dealers’ needs,” says MRAA certification manager Liz Keener. “The course on key performance indicators has been requested for years. April’s course on recruiting and retention could not come at a better time because dealers are running into obstacles keeping a full staff. And the parts-and-accessories courses are the first of their kind since we launched the program in 2018. Of course, sales courses are always a hot topic.”

The Continuous Certification curriculum is designed to strengthen the foundation formed when a dealership completes the initial the pillars of the certification process. These are:

• Dealership Operations

• Employee Engagement

• Customer Experience

The dealership’s leadership is able to share all this education with their entire workforce to foster employee development and encourage those with whom the topics resonate most.

A Certified Dealer has exclusive access to the Continuous Certification curriculum through MRAATraining.com. The courses are on-demand and video-based, allowing dealers to log in and complete the requirements any time between their release and the Nov. 30 deadline.

Not a Certified Dealer? You’re missing out on valuable education that will strengthen your dealership operations.

To find out more about the program, click here.