By Jim Ackerman, President of Ascend Marketing – In our last column we suggested that the hit-and-miss approach to referral generation is costing you money and we gave you the reasons why referral selling is so wonderful, along with recommendations for how you can execute a more systematic approach to referral generation. Read more >>
By Dan Coughlin, The Dan Coughlin Co. — 
Many great achievements can be traced back to overcoming disadvantages.
Many great failures can be traced back to a lack of disadvantages.
Be careful about complaining about your disadvantages and about assuming that your advantages will guarantee you success in life. Disadvantages can help propel you to see your situation from different perspectives and find approaches to succeed that you might not otherwise have found. Advantages can blind you from the necessity to keep searching for better ways to pursue success.
A couple of months ago I wrote about the first in what will be a series of new reports that look at which marketing channels most influence consumers as they’re deciding whether or not to purchase a new boat. That report was on the influence boat shows have. The findings of the second report – The 2010 Boating Industry Dealership Experience Influence Report – which is on the influence the dealership has on the boat purchase decision, were announced Thursday. Read more >>
By Bill Thompson, Cardinal Points Network — Throughout the summer Congress bantered about the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, touting it as the next brick to rebuilding our economy. The Act was finally signed into law in late September. Now the question is what does this mean to a boat dealership? Read more >>
One of my biggest challenges in life is finding a sense of balance between the different roles I play. It seems like most of us are wearing multiple hats at work these days as part of our companies’ efforts to remain profitable in this economy. And then there are our other roles: parents, spouses, caretakers for our family’s elders, coaches for our kids’ sports teams, home owners, cooks, weekend warriors, etc. Read more >>
Tags: efficiency
For more than two weeks, the average price of regular gas in the U.S. has been dropping, according to USAToday.com. As of yesterday, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $2.76, the newspaper reported in an article today, and some analysts are predicting it could drop further, perhaps even as low as this time last year, which was about 30 cents per gallon cheaper. Read more >>
Tags: Boating, Economy, gas prices, Memorial Day
By Christopher Kourtakis, director of sales and marketing, 360° Industry Solutions — As I stood in a local dealership the other day, a customer who just purchased a boat from the dealership had a few questions and looked a little lost. So, I went up to the gentleman and asked him if I could point him in the right direction. As we started to talk, I realized that the only person in the dealership that he knew was his salesmen. Read more >>
I had a dream a few nights ago that I was working a boat show for a dealer. It’s not unusual for me to dream about work these days. When we’re on deadline, I often find myself trying to write articles or headlines in my sleep. It’s too bad the outcome is never as brilliant in the light of day. Read more >>
Tags: Marine Dealers, Top 100
A week ago, I was on the phone with Fred Pace, managing director of Destin, Fla.-based dealership Legendary Marine, who said something that surprised me. He’s seeing a return of first-time buyers in his local market place. Read more >>
Jan Kelly, president, Kelly Enterprises – Many dealerships have downsized their personnel to the point of not having a dedicated F&I manager. Is that department just as profitable without the dedicated person focused on the task each day? Who is presenting the ancillary service policies, and working with the lenders to secure the customer financing? Read more >>
