Oct 15, 2024

Triage begins…

While most Canadians are thinking of family and friends around the Thanksgiving table, for those who operate marinas and storage facilities, who are technicians of all types, or who have repair shops, this is the week when triage begins. Customers boats will be all over the place, dropped off for storage and often forgotten about while their owners focus on shutting down their waterfront homes and saying goodbye to summer 2024.

End of the season is a mad scramble for our industry, yet it should be a business windfall. Because, what does every boat owner want? They want their boat to run reliably all next summer. There is nothing more disappointing than to have the boat break down as you start your vacation, especially if you have children, or grandchildren who are expecting to surf, ski, or go fishing with ‘gramps’.

This week, do your best to talk to the customers and see if they are open to having work done over the winter. There is lot’s of time between now and May 24, 2025. Service work keeps your best techs working, earning and paying their bills. It can keep cash flowing and keep investments like your service area generating income.

As you get the boats ready for winter storage, appoint one tech to do a check-out. Has the boat been damaged? Does it start easily and run well? Is upholstery or canvas damaged? Develop a check list that can be quickly run through and then start an evening phone blitz to have a service person call in the evenings (when customers are at home) to talk about their boat’s condition and what it might need to have repaired so that it provides a reliable and enjoyable summer of service in 2025.

And make it easy. Send an email telling them you will call on a particular evening. Then, offer discounts or extended payment terms to take the burden off the customer who may be paying for lots of other things in the fall.

As an added bonus to getting the boat into the shop, appraise it and suggest what you might offer if they were to trade it in on a new one. I hope you will consider doing this and that you will keep the shop open and the techs earning.

One last thing – we just discovered that we have the wrong dates for the Western Marine Trade show. We listed Oct 20-21 in the Boating Industry Canada desk calendar but that date is incorrect –  the Western Marine Trade show is actually on Oct 18 -19, 2024. We regret the error.

Andy Adams – Editor