‘We’re Going Big Here’

PHOTO COURTESY CHICAGO BOAT CO.

With the opening of the 51^st Fort Myers Boat Show today — the final big show in the fall show circuit — dealers should be shifting their focus to the winter show season, which kicks off in less than 60 days in Chicago, Boston and other major markets.

“We’re going big here in this Fort Myers show right now because we see that the current mixed economic picture requires us to beef up our boat sales efforts,” says Tom Hansen of The Boat House. “Our inventory is building, interest rates are at a 22-year high, and the general atmosphere isn’t encouraging buyers. So we’re here to get face-to-face with lots of prospects.”

Hansen’s words are wisdom for all retailers. It’s why no one should take a pass on the coming winter shows and lock down exhibit space now.

Some years ago, a very successful dealer told me that shows were an expensive pain in the ass. He was right, and he’d be just as on-target today. “But the only bad show would be the one I’m not in,” he said as he chose his exhibit space.

There is an undeniable truth here. The power of boat shows is their steadfast success in drawing to a single location, at a specific time, large numbers of potential customers who are interested in boats. Sure, in bad years there may be a few less show-goers, but our industry recognizes there is no other medium that brings products and the sales teams face-to-face with large numbers of prospective buyers. That experience cannot be duplicated.

True story: A very good dealer decided to reduce costs by passing on my boat show in favor of holding an open house on boat show weekend at his showroom. Nearly 300 customers and prospects came. He sold two boats. But while his sales team was dealing with a few hundred people, they missed the huge possibilities that the 41,000 boaters at the boat show represented.

Of course, no one knows if he would have sold more boats at the show than at the open house, but it’s fair to conclude that he failed to capture hundreds more prospects for the future. Boat show space isn’t just about closing deals on the floor; it’s buying access to a very large in-person audience. It’s about backing up the sales team with an opportunity to stand face-to-face with many new prospects from which future business can be developed.

To conclude the story, the dealer was back in the show with a big exhibit the following years, admitting that he was “a little shortsighted.”

In being adamant about the importance of exhibiting at shows, I’m not ignoring the fact that we’re living in a technology age marked by online research, social media, email, search engines, smartphones, videos, and so on. But we can’t fall for the argument that that stuff replaces good, old fashioned face-to-face selling, especially to people who’ve paid admission to see and touch and talk to you about boats. Think they might be good prospects? The most powerful selling tool a dealer has is the salesperson. Technology helps, but connecting a salesperson with prospects at a show is still the winner.

In times when there’s no real market growth, a dealer’s goal is to grab market share, and that goes for manufacturers, too. Dealers and manufacturers who are not in the shows are literally surrendering market share to others who’ll gladly cash in.

During my 34-year career with the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, I produced 136 shows in four states. I saw it all — depressing Arab oil embargos, 22% interest rates, four nationwide recessions, plunging retail boat sales. But I also lived the banner sales years of 1989, 1996, 2003 and 2007, and witnessed the incredible boom of 2020-22. Through it all, boat shows remained the anchor that put people and boats together. It will happen in Fort Myers this weekend, and during the winter shows to come.

Dealers who haven’t yet signed up for their local winter show risk losing sales and profits. I urge you to get on board now.