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Gut instinct has its place, but when you are building the biggest boat you’ve ever built on site, it’s nice to have more than a good feeling backing up your investment. As it happens, Larson/Glastron, Inc., Little Falls, Minn., did have more — much more. Before taking the new Larson Cabrio 350 sports cruiser into inventory production last fall, the ...

As the marine industry launches into 2006, there’s a high level of anticipation for what could be a defining year. There’s little to be excited about when reviewing 2005. By the end of September, traditional powerboat sales, which include inboard and outboard boats and sterndrive boats, had dropped by 4.2 percent compared to the year prior. Unit sales for all ...

The outboard business doesn’t sleep. The dumping controversy, Brunswick’s boat builder acquisitions, emissions regulations and demand for new technologies have kept outboard manufacturers on their toes for the past decade, requiring dramatic changes in strategy that have led to leaps in market share for some and drops for others. “For a long time, we as outboard engine guys didn’t make ...

Some marine dealers might fuss over the way merchandise is displayed. Others likely fuss over their financial records. But to fuss over customers? Sure, customers are likeable and appreciated, but do and should dealerships fuss over them? The answer is a sound yes, according to F.U.$.$. Follow-Up Sales Systems, which has made it its business to fuss over customers for ...

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Every dealership faces unique challenges, in addition to the challenges prevalent throughout the marine industry as a whole. One challenge specific to family-owned dealerships is honoring tradition while simultaneously honoring one’s own vision for the company. The owners of Pine Crest Marine, Inc., (ranked 97) had to settle such a dilemma when they acquired their family’s 57-year-old dealership, located in ...