2012 Top 100 Hall of Fame

MarineMax
Almost all dealers made it a mission to become more lean post recession, but successfully trimming expenses as a 100-location dealership is an especially noteworthy accomplishment.

Clearwater, Fla.-based MarineMax was able to downsize to 53 locations, drop underperforming brands and reduce the size of its team, all while increasing its offerings to the customer.

“We asked our team to do more with less team members, and they are,” says Bill McGill, president of MarineMax.

MarineMax focused on both its training and entertainment events for its customers over the last year.

For example, McGill says MarineMax increased ongoing customer boating lessons in the form of free captain training at its facilities, or even at the customer’s home. The dealership also focused on improving its seminars, which range from how to maintain a boat to developing navigational skills.

With now more than 1,000 annually, MarineMax’s Getaway events have continued to grow as a key customer retention strategy for the dealership, along with its numerous customer appreciation and manufacturer events like Aquapalooza.

The dealer also recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its MarineMax Vacations Yacht Charter Division, which facilitates bareboat or crewed chartered yachting vacations. Since its October 2011 inception, the program has added to its fleet with a custom, 46-foot power catamaran due to join in January.

McGill says the dealership implemented a boat delivery strategy that included only trained staff and captains being able to deliver new or used boats. Detailed process guides were developed to define best practices for customer deliveries.

MarineMax also launched its new e-commerce website Boating Gear Center in 2011, which was designed to support the growth of its gear and accessories sales. Boating Gear Center was integrated with MarineMax Rewards, providing its customers access to special offers exclusive to them.

The launch of the website is part of an overall strategy to increase MarineMax’s online presence, according to McGill, who says the new website along with social media are vital communication tools in today’s market.

“The Internet has become a greater focus and opportunity, including social media. We are growing external services for our customers,” McGill says. “Our strategy of teaching, servicing and showing our customers how to have fun has not changed.”

While reducing expenses unrelated to the customer experience, MarineMax increased events and other offerings. And the consumers apparently noticed as the dealership network increased its net promoter score in 2011 – evidence the dealership positioned itself well for 2012 both financially and with its customer base.

“We have a company of passionate team members who are all dedicated to our core philosophy of ‘delivering the boating dream’ to our family of customers by teaching, servicing them, and showing them how to have fun with their families on the water,” McGill says.

Prince William Marine
After two years as the top dealer, Prince William Marine joins the Boating Industry Top 100 Hall of Fame for the first time in 2012.

The Woodbridge, Va.-based dealer still sees plenty of room for improvement despite continued growth in revenue and sales. In 2011, Prince William invested in capital and facility improvements and added the Harris Flotebote line of pontoon boats.

“We are constantly reinvesting in the business to improve the lifestyle atmosphere we offer and have created for the customer,” says owner and CEO Carlton Phillips.

Although always focused on customer satisfaction, the company put a special emphasis on it over the past year, driving a 99.04 CSI score across all brands. From after-sales care to reserving service and storage for only boats the dealership sells, every Prince William employee is focused on delivering a good experience for the company’s “boating family” of lifelong customers.

The Prince William team also changed its sales and inventory management approach, shifting from having a large stock on hand to increased selling of ordered and arriving boats.

“The Sea Ray dealer locator has been a great source for out-of-area boats because dealers in some areas where the market has not recovered as well … are willing to release some of their inventory,” Phillips says. “With the competition reducing their inventory, [this] has allowed us to gain market share by obtaining these available boats.”

With the decreased inventory, Prince William has focused on moving the new and used boats on hand around in the marina to create a “new face” for the dealership and highlight different vessels.

The sales staff has found success with a more personalized approach to sales, creating custom videos for potential customers that highlight the ways the boat will benefit them, rather than just a generic rundown of the boat’s features.

Potential customers can also expect quicker service as Prince William works to improve response times. The company put a process in place that sends leads through the sales team’s mobile devices for a more rapid follow-up even after hours.

“We realize that in the still somewhat unstable economy we must continue to deliver much more for the customer’s hard-earned dollar and deliver them the best possible buying experience to sustain growth through customer word of mouth and customer retention,” Phillips says.

Galati Yacht Sales
In 2008, this program named Galati Yacht Sales the top dealership in North America for the second year in a row — not exactly a red flag that the company needed to change.

Nevertheless, spurred by the recession and its pursuit of continuous improvement, Galati introduced a slew of new initiatives that year which it continues to refine to this day.

“As a leader in our industry we have to embrace change, employ adaptability and continue challenging our internal resources to discover and create ways to improve, allowing our company to weather any crisis,” says company president Carmine Galati. “Galati continues to make the necessary improvements to prosper in this environment and grow market share in a declining market.”

Among the 2008 changes the company continues to enhance are an inventory reduction plan that has morphed into an inventory control plan, an increased focus on service department profitability and efficiency, and a bank-owned program that has bolstered revenues.

In 2011, the company also not only remained present but expanded displays in international boat shows. According to Galati, this investment has allowed the company to maximize its exposure and reach more customers around the globe.

In addition, Galati continues to seek new ways to get in front of potential boaters by partnering with a local marina, a real estate developer and another boat dealership to participate in local events. The company turned a marina opening and an open house for a new waterside condo development into weekend sales events and brought their “Ladies at the Helm” class from their own marinas to local yacht clubs to teach women at the clubs how to operate a yacht.

To improve its e-commerce efforts, Galati continues to work on a pilot program with Yacht World to ensure increased visibility across the Internet. The company has also considerably upgraded its commitments on BoatTrader.com.

To strategically market the company’s brokerage products around the globe, Galati increased its Web presence on 18 websites throughout Europe, Asia, South America and Australia — available in each country’s home language.

The company has also improved its website boat shopper feature, allowing prospects to search for a particular vessel by make, model, type and more.

Finally, in 2011, the company continued its management restructuring initiatives. The program has consolidated many roles within as Galati, like the rest of the marine industry, works to improve efficiency.

“These opportunities have resulted in profit opportunities and cost-saving measures supporting our need to maximize our profit potential on all fronts,” says Carmine. “Today’s environment has forced all companies to look inward and design a platform to grow our efficiencies while being cost conscious without diluting our value proposition to the consumer.”