Tag Archives: Boat Dealer Profits

By Matt Sellhorst As a dealership owner or marketing expert, are you monitoring Google Trends for “Boats for Sale” or “Your Style of Boats for Sale.” This can be an outstanding tool for seeing demand trends in the industry and it’s obviously slowing. We knew this would happen, the question is, how will you and your team respond? With this ...

By Matt Sellhorst Going to boat shows is something I’ve done since I was a kid back in Nebraska. This year I’ve already attended four and plan to sneak a few more in by the time boating weather arrives. Mystery shopping at the shows, I’ve seen some good, some bad and some ugly in my interactions with salespeople, as well ...

By Matt Sellhorst What is one thing we all need more of in this industry? Time (though I would also take skilled labor and technicians too, but that’s another article). There just isn’t enough time to do all the things that need to get done at the dealership. The staffing is forever tight. Everyone is doing multiple jobs.You know the ...

By Matt Sellhorst With summer winding down, school back in session and so on many of us are getting back to more “normal routines.” Hopefully we are getting back to a more normal life all the way around, because these past 18 months I know I’ve felt out of sorts at times. Maybe you can relate, if you’ve had the ...

By Matt Sellhorst Your sales are through the roof. Margins are up due to insane demand and stunted supply. Your service department is busier than ever, even if some parts and materials are harder to come by. The question is, are you doing an outstanding job taking care of your clients across the entire dealership to ensure they continue as ...

By Matt Sellhorst Here’s a conversation a serious boat buyer shared with me the other day: He was searching for a 22- to 24-foot tri-toon with 150hp in a few of the mid-price range brands in the Midwest. As you can imagine, his search was coming up empty in an effort to get on the water this summer. A particular ...

By Matt Sellhorst If you’ve studied successful companies and businesspeople, you may recognize this story. Back in the earlier days of Amazon, founder Jeff Bezos shared the following when talking about how he plans the direction for the company who at the time was focused on book sales (remember those days?):  I very frequently get the question: “What’s going to ...

By Matt Sellhorst With an unprecedented busy season behind us and an unpredictable 2021 ahead of us, it’s time to focus on the fundamentals and utilize proven technology for a successful 2021. Here are seven fundamentals to focus on during this off-season: Improve interview portion of the sales process One of the most overlooked and most impactful portions of the ...

By Matt Sellhorst The data is coming out and the 2020 season has been an enormous success so far, especially considering the state of the world, upcoming presidential election and overall uncertainty. It’s great to celebrate, then, ask what’s next? Virtually every dealer has added new clients and generated a ton of new leads. So, in addition to the huge ...

By Matt Sellhorst Have you ever watched a YouTube video while researching a major purchase? Video is one of the best tools for those early stages in the educational spectrum of a boat buyer.  Now, what if you could show your video ad to those people watching videos that are likely in boat shopping mode? With more and more people ...