2019 Best in Class: Best Customer Service
Jerry’s Majestic Marine
Lake Geneva, Wis.
When you go looking for information about Jerry’s Majestic Marine in Lake Geneva, Wis. you don’t have to look far – or hard – to come across their philosophy on customer service. It’s in the third sentence of the About Us section of their website.
“Since our inception in 1984, we have been committed to setting the bar for complete customer satisfaction. In doing so, we align ourselves with only the finest people and boat manufacturers who embrace that same philosophy.”
Jerry and Diane Oglesby first opened up Jerry’s Marine in Walworth, Wis. offering service, storage, and rentals. In 2002 they began selling boats, and the following year they built a 6,000 square-foot showroom, added a complete ship store as well as a 2,000 square-foot addition to their service department. By that time, their son Mark had joined the sales staff.
In late 2007 they acquired Kunes’ Majestic Marine and by early 2008 were operating as Jerry’s Majestic Marine with a greatly expanded presence. One thing never changed though, and that is their commitment to customer service.
“Our business was built on service and exceptional customer service,” said Mark Oglesby, who is now general manager. “Our motto is ‘Service is the heartbeat of Jerry’s Majestic.’”
They are continually working to live up to that motto and to that end last year they added follow-up from their customer service representative after any routine service or warranty work is performed.
“Amanda calls and emails four days after the boat is picked up to make sure our service was 100% satisfactory,” added Oglesby. “We also send a copy of a link via email to click for a Google or Facebook review. We have heard more this year than any other year that a new customer came to us because of the great reviews they saw online. We have realized that a high level of customer service leads to happy customers, good online reviews and more walk-in’s for service with the goal of turning every one of them into a new boat buyer.”
Speaking of new boat sales, after every sale the general manager calls the customer before the seven-day mark to confirm the boat is functioning at 100% and to ask the customer to fill out their initial CSI survey. Then the customer service rep follows up again after 14 days with a call and e-mail. The sales person follows up at 30 days to make sure everything is still good with their unit and to ask for referrals.
“This has worked very well as we experienced 23% growth in 2018 while maintaining a 100% CSI score with all manufacturers,” stated Oglesby.
In addition, all phone service calls and walk-in’s go through the front office at the service center.
“Our service writer and customer service representative checks customers in, writes the work orders, and sends out suggested mechanical and detail work, including work to be completed over the winter on storage boats,” Oglesby said. “Once the work order or estimate is turned into a technician worksheet, Carlo our service manager schedules the work and calls the customer with any additional questions and a repair timeline before the boat comes in the shop.”
All of the technician time is scheduled with ADP technician scheduler. Each tech has nine-plus hours of work on their calendar every morning. Most of the winter work is flat rate jobs and they schedule the work in conjunction with the yard team and parts department so they can confirm the parts are in house and the boat is off the rack and ready to come into the shop.
“The heartbeat of Jerry’s is service and we care for your boat year-round as if it were our own,” said Oglesby. “Jerry’s offers 24/7 emergency mechanical service and guaranteed same day service for winter storage customers. We are the only dealership on the lake to offer guaranteed same day service. Our competitors are at least 10 days out to get on your boat. We realize how short our summers are and same day service really separates us from the other great dealerships in our market.”
