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MARKET FOCUS SECTION { BOAT CLUBS } 40 | Boating Industry | January 2015 www.BoatingIndustry.com the business and more handshakes on the sales floor. "There's a boat club member and there's a boat owner, and there is a person that's in between there that just hasn't found their way yet," said Holcomb, saying the club helps those people in between find what they really want. "That's how it really complements sales." The Legendary model leverages the dealer and marina infrastructure, but since it's a separate, autonomous division, ongoing club boat orders go directly to the dealer- ship's bottom line. "The folks stay in new boats, boats that are very well maintained, everybody benefits since the club is its own division and then we've got sales that we're purchasing and selling boats through and our service department here that is servicing our boats," said Holcomb. He said the club uses all the statistics gleaned from its dry-stack marina facility to choose their club fleet. He knows the five most popular boats that come out of the marina at any given time. "Those five boats are literally our picks," said Holcomb. "They've been really excellent, we've gotten a lot of amazing feedback on those boats." He also gets great feedback from the sales staff. "We, of course, purchase the boats from ourselves and we never allow a boat to stay in the club for more than six months," said Holcomb. The members love the brand-new offer- ings, and when Holcomb orders a new fleet, those boats are sent back to the Legendary pre-owned lineup. "At the end of that six-month period, they'll be turned back to our sales department to be sold at a favorable price," said Holcomb, who has seen more and more buyers hold out for great deals on former club boats. "So some- one gets a great bargain on a boat that's been incredibly well cared for." He said new boat sales also get a boost from exiting members through a unique re- fund plan. "We offer up to two years in the boating club and we refund them 70 percent of their initiation fee on the purchase of a new boat from Legendary Marine," said Holcomb. "So there is definitely a benefit and we absolutely have seen people take advantage." Operating apart from the main business at Legendary also keeps the service depart- ment busy with work on club-owned boats and installations for the new fleet boats throughout the year. "From a service standpoint, we've got a massive service department here that gives us same-day treatment for the better part," said Holcomb. He said club members themselves are great at drawing new boaters into the community. "It's a fantastic marketing tool as well. These folks that are in the boating club, it's rare that it's just a wife and a husband and the kids," said Holcomb. "They always have a friend or a neighbor and other folks that wouldn't be boating come along." SHOULD YOU START A BOAT CLUB? Whether a dealer is looking to sign on with