MDS Brand Blog

You did it. Everything is set up and ready, the boat show has begun, and people of all kinds are entering your booth by the dozens. Ideally, each and every adult there could become a lead but it can be a challenge to A) gather a person’s contact info if they didn’t walk in already planning on giving it to you, and B) get in contact with quality leads who are truly looking to buy.

As a dealer, participating in your local boat show is a no-brainer. The trick though, is to be the shining beacon in a sea of other booths that your customers (and hopefully others) flock to when they arrive. In this article we will be sharing some important tips, gathered from veteran boat show participants, on how to have the best booth at a boat show.

Live chat services entered the business realm in 2002 with the launch of LiveChat. This program allowed customers to communicate directly with a representative in the company through the website, no phone calls necessary. The concept was slow to gain traction among companies as it was commonly thought of as unnecessary and not worth the cost. Customers were still more accustomed to picking up the phone or going to the store to have their questions answered.

Rates to market through third party trade sites are on the rise, often consuming hundreds of dollars per listing per month and ultimately is no longer worth the cost. It may be time to consider other options for posting your listings. One alternative is maximizing your own website’s marketing capabilities with a simple addition of targeted microsites. The shift towards the use of microsites is gaining traction with the realized ability to target specific audiences and have full control of marketing campaigns.

Depending on the level of which you need live chat to assist customer service in your business you have the ability to select the specific features that match your regular needs. With this, you can start an evaluation of the customer calls and emails that your customer service team receives on a regular basis. From there you can determine how often your visitors ask which types of questions. You will find that many inquiries are ones that never lead to a sale, but to retain excellent customer service they must be answered with the same degree of care as your buyers. 

A Post-Boat Show Event is one that acts as a follow up event after a local boat show. Often times they are planned in accordance with the boat show and promoted during as a way to attract serious buyers that may still be on the fence about their purchase. Post-Boat Show Events are typically much more personalized and serve as a nice accent to the more public boat shows.

A boat is a major investment. It helps if your customers know what kind of boats you offer and their needs and preferences made before making the final decision of buying one. Your customers will choose based on design, size, brand, intended use and many other features. So, it is important to have your sales and customer service team prepared to walk the customers through every step of the purchase process, at whatever point they walk into your store. Whether they are in the initial search stage or as far as the final decision stage, the best decision can be made with the assistance of your professionals.

The most important manner of discussion in the issue of fast response service is that it is not a simple and basic definition. There is no one basic method of fast response, and it is developed specifically for any number of industries that are able to service customers quickly. Think about the fact that as drivers we all have memberships to services like AAA or we have purchased insurance that also provides fast response service with immediate towing, repair or assistance with other issues. There is much to be said for that in comparison to the fast response service that marine dealerships have the ability to offer their customers.

One of the greatest things to provide is empathy-powered communication, helping customers realize that the request for their feedback is of the greatest assistance to your business improvement. There is also the ability to show that you appreciate the needs and values that they place on the market. With answers provided in the surveys and questionnaires given to customers, there is much to see in the social network created, much to learn for the coming leads to be gained, as well as the upcoming products and services that may be needed for sale and distribution to old and new customers.

Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) campaigns provide a number of important benefits to help maintain business in the coming seasons. While each marketing campaign has a specific goal, it is important to gain information on specific customer response to your products, marketing strategy, customer service, communication and more, in order to help determine what has gone right and what needs to be updated in the coming seasons. In most cases at this time, boat show season has passed for the year and sales are at their peak. Now it is time to find out how your new and returning customers feel about their interactions with your company and whether they will likely refer friends, family, neighbors and other contacts to you.