Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/765201
TOP 100 www.BoatingIndustry.com January 2017 | Boating Industry | 55 nothing about the boat. Go back to the basics of the boat and learn everything about it – propulsion, hull construction, everything. "We look at it in terms of launching a brand in a market just as a complete relaunch," said Chuck Cashman, chief revenue officer of MarineMax. "We really look at it as if we were going to open a store with only that brand." GET ON THE WATER "We would do different things behind the boat, understanding each product, what the nuances are," said Katie Nutt, sales manager of Gordy's Lakefront Marine, which added MasterCraft in 2014 and MarkerOne in 2015. "We ... take a deeper dive into the new products and ... that on-water training, getting the feel for each boat and each model, is really where it shines." DON'T LOSE YOUR SERVICE Whenever you're integrating a new product, it is important to make sure your service quality doesn't decline. At Gordy's, the dealership looks at what the service department will need for in- frastructure, tools, education and training needs, and meeting the customers' needs. "What do we need to make sure … we hit the ground running at the same level we're doing with the brands that we've had for so many years," said Rallee Chupich, director of service and restaurant operations at Gordy's Lakefront Marine. PROMOTE THE PRODUCT Legendary Marine hosted a massive launch party when it added Pur- suit in 2015, called "The Pursuit Crown Jewels Event," which was very successful with existing customers. "That theme more or less told our customers that lineup was the crown jewel of Legendary Marine," said Todd Royall, general sales manager of Legendary Marine. Plymale said boat shows are still a great opportunity to put a dealer- ship's best foot forward when bringing a new line to market. "If you do your job during the year, you're going to attract those people to your display who are going to come see what you have to offer," he said. Whowell emphasized the importance of using digital marketing to help supplement the traditional forms. "All these tools we have that are very cost effective to market to the public and to customers specifically, whether it's broad-based or very narrow sniper shooting, it certainly helped us market all these new products," he said. UTILIZE 20 GROUPS 20 groups are incredibly helpful for picking the brains of other dealers who have the same or similar lines. "Other dealers in our Cobalt 20 group or dealer network had some ideas, suggestions, recommendations and were great to reach out to," Chupich said.