Guest Blog

By Jeff Backus So you’re working with a customer, and they have decided on the perfect boat. They are ready to buy, you submit to the banks, and boom: decline, decline, decline. Dead deal and everyone goes home unhappy. So what happened? Let’s talk about everything you can do to get more deals bought and more customers out on the ...

By Erin Ruane How should dealerships approach emerging technology, like electric boats, that may be unfamiliar to shoppers? To help dealers craft informed strategies, Boatline, an online marketplace for buying and selling watercraft, is sharing insight from a recent survey of marine consumers to identify current electric boat trends and tips for selling them. Current electric boat trends Among survey ...

By Sarah Prellwitz If you’re struggling with your website’s SEO, you’re not alone. A HubSpot survey revealed the top three challenges for SEO in 2022 are 1) staying up to date on changes to search engine algorithms, 2) ranking highly in search results and 3) identifying useful keywords. These challenges aren’t surprising – because they aren’t new. Brands have struggled ...

By Sarah Prellwitz If you manage multiple store locations for your dealership, you understand the importance of maintaining a consistent brand experience across all locations. After all, it doesn’t bode well for your brand’s reputation if customers have a vastly different experience when they visit another location. The expectation for brand continuity extends to your online presence. Odds are, your ...

By Mark Overbye Confusing innovation with novelty can be lethal. When I started Gekko Boats years ago there were plenty of daily reminders that we swam in a pool filled with sharks. A young company in a capital intensive, seasonal and cyclical business meant continually sharpening our knives. Committed to our craft, we eagerly showed up. When Toyota entered the ...

By Sarah Prellwitz April is International Customer Loyalty Month! While I encourage dealers to focus on building customer loyalty all 12 months of the year, April presents a great opportunity to analyze your customer retention strategy and look for improvement. After all, loyal customers are the key to growing your business and supporting long-term growth. Not only do they come ...

By Mark Overbye Quit worrying about competitors, other forces closer to us are greater obstacles to our successes. The stories we tell ourselves and internal chaos can do more harm than any opponent. We all carry challenges that either become a rock in our shoe or the fire of inspiration. Mediocrity and disappointment hold hands. Give frustration a foothold and your dreams will ...

By Mark Overbye Contemplating the death of a close friend recently has me wondering whether I’m investing my time properly. Am I exercising my talents in ways that add value, increase joy and elevate my life beyond the generic? This metric could be a good measure of our business success as well. We all experience selfish businesses more interested in their ...

By Mark Overbye There are only three answers; yes, no, or not right now. I always prefer a quick no over a long maybe. If you believe the universe is conspiring to help you and that all things happen for your benefit, it’s good to dispense with the distractions that keep you from being on the right path.   We ...

By S. Chris Edmonds If you’re trying to hire people right now, you’re up a creek. The US Federal Reserve Bank in September estimated that the average time required to fill an open job rose from 20 days to 50 days over the previous four months. And a new global McKinsey study finds that 40% of respondents are somewhat likely to quit in ...