Tag Archives: Columns

By David Gee “Good and kind people outnumber all others by thousands to one.” Stephen Jay Gould, an American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist wrote that in a New York Times essay after 9/11. I was reminded of his words, and so many other things associated with that day and event, when we spent Labor Day weekend in New York City. ...

By Adam Quandt As I’m writing this column for our October issue, the team at Boating Industry is nearing the end of another season of scouring through piles of fresh Top 100 applications and scoring them accordingly. And by the time you’re reading this, we will likely have the 2021 Top 100 rankings set and will be gearing up for ...

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 David Gee Excellent customer service is your best marketing tactic. A best-selling author and keynote speaker made that statement, and I am in total agreement. More on that in a minute. It was my birthday recently, and my wife and I decided to celebrate with a road trip, using points to stay at a couple of different Marriott properties. ...

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 Adam Quandt These days it’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Things over the last year and a half have been somewhat hectic, to say the least (and that might be putting it lightly to some of you). Every time we at Boating Industry chat with someone in the industry — ...

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 David Gee As I write this, I am staring at a bunch of boats bobbing in the sunshine at King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, California. Big deal, you might say. Well, it is kind of a big deal. For me anyway! Because I don’t live in L.A., or California, or on the west coast, and I traveled on ...

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 David Gee I recently caught up over Zoom with a friend I last got together with a year-and-a-half ago. It was good to “see” him, but at one point he just sounded kind of sad and said, “I feel so disconnected. I don’t go into the office, I don’t have beers with my buddies, my dad died last fall ...