Boating Industry

July 2013

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MARKET FOCUS SECTION { SERVICE } SERVICE STATS w t $5,000 » amount set aside by Woodard Marine to offer no-charge service add-ons to select customers, about 1% of its total volume. Since being implemented, this pot of money has significantly grown the dealership's service business. Lauren Woodard-Splatt, of Vermont's Woodard Marine, "How do I make more money without spending any money?" Seize Your Service Opportunity Use service departments to build loyalty, profits BY TOM KAISER M any dealerships leaned on revenue from their service departments to help make ends meet during the recession. Now that we're moving into a period of hopefully greater stability and sustained growth, it's important that dealers continue to treat the service department as an integral part of the overall business. With the use of current technology, employee incentives, efficiency tracking, creative marketing and strategically going above and beyond for customers, the service department could be an untapped gold mine full of potential and, most im- 26 | Boating Industry | July 2013 P26x27-BI13JUL-MarketFocus.indd 26 portantly, the place where first-time customers become life-long enthusiasts for your business. It doesn't matter if your facility is a small mom-and-pop or a regional Taj Mahal, ideas of all sizes can have a big impact. Gordy's Lakefront Marine in Wisconsin started a loaner program that has become an easy way to expose customers to newer, nicer boats. ARI's Jon Lintvet recommends regular staff meetings to discuss which customers are scheduled to visit in the days ahead, and what their poten- JON LINTVET tial needs could be. Or, in the words of CHANGING THE MINDSET Lintvet, chief marketing officer at ARI Network Services and a lifelong boat owner, feels the service department is often a place where customers can experience frustration. Instead, he said, it should be viewed as a vital place to focus on providing a superior customer experience with spillover benefits for the rest of the business. "The challenges we all faced in the market have forced and encouraged dealers … to be much more focused on our customers and the experience from end to end," he said. "Service, which historically in the marine segment has not received as much attention, has given dealers an opportunity to turn what some would argue is the worst part of owning a watercraft into something that can really set a dealership apart and create opportunities to drive new sales of finished units, as well as ancillary products and services." As a marketer for ARI, which provides lead generation and management software, as well as ecommerce and online parts catalogs, it's understandable when he says it's "all about data and the customer experience." Whether using his company's software or a competitor's, Lintvet argues simple organization can provide valuable intelligence for each day's customers. And, especially in the service department, little extras like giving a customer a few DIY tips can go a long www.BoatingIndustry.com 6/5/13 10:29 AM b b a t n c i f s w b s t t c m i p t s i n A G T w m c m t l t 2 t c t s C c i m d p

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