Why The Aussie Boating Industry Could Be In Trouble

[Goldfinch]

Apologies for the long thread.

Well, the saga continues with regards to the selling of my Haines Hunter and the search for a replacement. After looking at hundreds of different models of boats both made in Australia and the USA I have scaled them down to a half a dozen boats that will suit my needs.

Here is my experience with 3 SE QLD boat dealerships and 1 NSW dealer so far.

The first one is a dealer that rang me as soon as I listed my boat and offered to sell my boat on consignment in their yard. I said I would think about it and call them back in a couple of weeks time if I was interested. A few weeks later I decided to give them a call back to discuss the possibility of them selling my boat by referral seeing as though they were the main dealer for my Brand of boat on the Sunshine coast. I tried to call them 3 times over a couple of days and had no answer, the phone just rang out. Then the 4th time I got a human and had to leave a message to speak with a sales guy who never called me back. Then over the following week I tried calling at different times during business hours 5 times and the phone rang out every time. If I was a customer looking at buying a boat, I would have given up. This is one of 2 main dealerships on the Sunshine Coast.

My 2nd experience was with another Sunshine Coast dealer who sells one of the 3 Aussie boats that I am interested in buying. I sent them an email asking if they had a particular model in stock. They replied 5 days later with a "no we don't have one in stock for you to look at". Lucky there was one at the boat show, not that they bothered to tell me that!!!!! So I checked the model out at the boat show. Comparing their boat with the Yank boat is a different story. Then I emailed them again on Monday with my details....the boat I have to sell or trade, a list of the features and inclusions that are important to me and then the question..."can you please give me an approx price on a trade with my boat keeping in mind that my budget is approx $xxxxx". The next day the sales guy just sent back a "format" one sheeter with base boat price a basic choice of Mercury outboards and a couple of other options and a note saying "when you are ready, let me know". Well, I'm ready mate...did you not read the email???? It says, give me a changeover price. No phone call to have a chat and discuss options, nothing. GONE !!!

3rd experience was a dealer on Brisbane northside who also rang me to see if I wanted to sell my boat in their yard as they needed stock. I said I wanted to use the boat but would be happy to sell by referral for less commission. He wasn't interested. He then asked why I was selling my boat and I explained that my needs have changed and I want a different style of boat. I mentioned the 3 Aussie boats I was considering and then he said..."what about the xxxxx range, they are the best glass boats in Australia", I said, "yes, I have heard of them but I dont think they have what I want", he said, "yes they do, they have a 5.8m centre console glass boat, awesome boat, blah blah blah. I said, "ok, i'll check it out. Do you have one?". He said, "No, we don't sell them". WTF?????? Gee thanks for the advice, glad you don't work for my company. Anyway, I did a search on this particular range of boats and as I suspected they don't do a centre console AT ALL and never have done. Great product knowledge mate!!!!

I also liked the look of a Yank boat which is being imported by a dealer in NSW so I sent them an email enquiry. Fortunately this time I actually got a call from the dealer and we started chatting about the boat. He asked if the boat was for fishing, family etc. I said, "just fishing, no wife or kids mate", then he starts telling me about his recent break-up blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I had to literally say "right, thats enough counselling, back to boats!!!!". He gets back on track, tells me what options are available and I tell him to quote me on this and that etc etc and he says, righto, I'll send you some photos and email you a quote. I get a text on my phone with a picture of a console of a boat, which I assume was his boat, then I reply and say "that looks good, please email a quote". Guess what???...never got one. I sent him 2 more texts asking how he was going with that price and no reply. The reality is, I was actually very interested in this boat and the price was almost good enough for me to not import one but then I changed my mind.

Then I thought, what about importing a boat so I did some research, emailed a reputable importer/broker and within 30minutes had a call from a guy who was straight up, gave me all the facts, pro's and cons, worse case scenario with costs etc and then gave me his direct line to contact him when I sell my boat and find a boat that I need inspected in the USA. Finally some service.

Is this painting a picture or what???

[propdinger]

i personally never do high priced sales over the phone or internet(unless too far away) cause im sure they get a lot of tyre kickers and treat everyone the same after awhile which is a shame but it happens. as for not answering phones that's just stupid on all accounts. i have never been treated the way you have which im glad.

hope it turns out well in the end

[Smithy]

I still can't see why you would want to sell your boat? For one, doing Noosa bar, if you cop a greeny your current cabin is going to shed a lot of water for you and pop out the other side. Copped some white water in a 2301 Striper doing fisherman's gutter the other week in the Rainbow comp and it just rolled up over the top and shedded it fine with just a few drips off the back of the hard top once we popped through. A CC or centre cab is going to scoop a lot up and bog you down with the extra weight and the free surface effect of all that water in you cockpit can make you pretty unstable. Are you looking to fish a guy up the front? Most of the true Aussie boats aren't true walkabouts. The 680-685 Patriots/Encores etc., CC Outsiders etc. you couldn't really fish from the front. Having been involved with a true walkabout (702 Signature) where one or two people could fish along the side or up the front I wouldn't have one again. One, due to what I said first about scooping up water and two, there is too much flex in the fibreglass on the cabin sides. On a normal cabin boat the topsides are coming straight off the gunnels and are very rigid and strong. On centrecabs they flex to much. That is Oz boats and US boats when you get in the sh#t. It leads to all sorts of fittings falling off, screws coming out etc. and then it cracks any SS or alloy work coming off the glass. That is my experience. Even for Grady Whites and stuff. Also the Signature had terrible storage. HHs have a heap more storage by comparison. Any thin sided thing is going to have minimal storage and then you are going to feel like two sardines sitting side by side in any centre cab compared to the width available in a half cab. The 2301 Striper wasn't too squishy sitting side by side, though it is overwidth, but then you could never have anyone fish up the front. Most of them are just for going up the front and dealing with the anchor and stuff. No advantage to a true half cab and more disadvantages. Are you into sneaking up on tuna schools and throwing slugs? That is the only time I hate cabin boats and a CC would be an advantage.

[tropicrows]

Long but enjoyable reading. Sadly I think its a reflection of a lot of Sales areas in Aust not just the marine industry. You only have to go into a some of the larger retail stores and try and get some assistance.

[Back In Black]

Dave,Dave,Dave-you are obviously expecting too much!! NOT. I hear you loud & clear- I cannot believe in these very hard economic times that when someone contacts you & is obviously serious, they are ignored. If I ran my business like that I'd go broke in a heart beat, but the sheer ignorance & arrogance of some business' defies belief. Don't start me on product knowledge. Had a recent experience where my father in law bought a Audi 5 Coupe. Salesman was rabbiting on about fuel consumption, the fact it must run only on premium blah blah blah & I'm at the back of the car reading 3.0TDI
Unbelievable!!
Tony

[PinHead]

Perhaps some personal visits to dealers instead of emails may get better results. I would not be giving quotes via email if I was a dealer .

They may be like me..the 2 worst creations made by man and the 2 biggest time wasters of productivity..mobile phone and email.

[kizza1]

As i work for one of the dealers you approached i would just like to clear up a few things in the post above.

The first contact that was an email on the wednesday night (930) before the brisbane boat show. As we were away at the brisbane boat show representing another brand we sell we didnt see the email till monday morning when we arrived back.
the email was one sentence "Just wondering if you have any /// centre consoles in stock that I could look at?"
there was a return email tuesday morning (clearing a backlog of emails from the boatshow)in the email we appologised for the late response explaining we were at the show and stating that we didnt have the model requested in stock however we had a model either side of that.
we went further and checked with the factory if they were building one and offered a factory tour.

an email came back wednesday (yesterday 1130am) saying that you had been to the brisbane boat show and that you had been trying to sell your boat and had not much interest. in the email we recieved there was no request for a trade in /changeover price.
you stated in the email you werent impressed with the original boat you were enquiring about.
we replied (3hrs later) with a flyer outlining another option for you (as requested) and said to feel free to contact us once your boat sells.

Maybe there is some communication issues here. if you are still interested in a trade in price on the particular model please feel free to contact us again.

[scrotty]

Hey guys, i tend to agree with the above posts. I am a sunnycoast local and have visited my local dealers many times to both look and recently to buy a boat. After looking for approx 6-8 months i can only remember speaking to a sales person on one occassion! After walking around their display area's many times and trying to attract attention only to walk out frustrated and pissed off. I certainly wont go looking for service when i am spending $80,000. Needless to say i did not buy local and the local guys miss another sale. From my experience it certainly seems to be common in the marine industry!

[fishing111]

Customer service is the be all and end all to a sale for me. If someone starts blurting off bullshit to me i don't confront them or pull them up, i just take my cash elsewhere, simple as that, and on those odd occasions where i have been caught out i make dam sure to never spend another cent in there business.

[astro66]

most of the sunnycoast boat shops are usless....only want to know you if you are spending >50k...
went into one to price all the parts to convert my merc to forward controls was given a 670$ price by the OWNER....droped in the next day to order the parts and was told that it wouldnt be under 2.5k and when i pointed out the owner gave me a price of 670$ i was told "how would he know" so out the door i went to port o call boating (same street as the other wankers)....total cost 500$ and the owner was nice enough to measure all the steering/control cables for me...

[charleville]

As kizza1 might suggest, there are always two sides to any story. Nonetheless, there are way too many "order takers" in Australia and not enough true professional sales people.


Any boofhead can take orders in good times but even in those times the best sales people are hungry for the sale and they achieve it by offering the best service. In the bad times, the duds don't survive. More "order takers" need to do some basic sales training and get some mentoring by the top guys in their industry to see how they do it.


The best of the best are always looking to achieve continuity of hot sales referrals and they are only earned with stunning service. Price is in the mix but not always the critical element.



.

[Kero]

I have had dissapointing experiences at some Brisbane dealers also. Stopped by one on the Southside while I was in between jobs. Now I was the only customer in the place and even after walking between a boat and the office several times, nobody wanted to offer any time. Even, very deliberately, looking through the window at them didn't prompt a response. My ute was parked inside their yard (couldn't miss me) so after 30mins drove out again. I wont be back!

[IcyDuck]

Wow 30 minutes Leigh. That's unbelievable. You could have nearly bought one in that time.

Most businesses have to deal with tyre kickers and time wasting customers and I expect even more so with boat yards. I know I have spent my fair share of time "just browsing". However, it only takes a salesman 30 seconds to check if a potential customer needs any help. A good salesman will actually see it as an opportunity. Maybe not now, but later on, that tyre kicker could become a paying customer. With all this so-called competition from the web and overseas you would think that the business would using their physical presence to its' advantage whenever it could. I would think that getting customers in the front door was half the battle.

Phone and email enquiries can't be ignored either. It is what customers expect now and it is only going to increase in volume with newer generations. That's why a business has phone numbers, email addresses and pays for advertising.

I've done my fair share of trade shows in my industry and I know how "full on" and draining they can be. However, you can't afford to have emails unanswered for days. Customers don't care why you are busy and the expectations on response time have dramatically shortened these days. I regularly have to respond to emails out of hours and with the technology options available, there is no excuse to not have access to all your communication methods whenever and where-ever you are.

I bought my last 2 cars and last boat all via telephone and email. The only time I went to the dealerships was to sign the paperwork and pick them up. I did my research and worked out what I wanted then hit the phone. Anyone who showed little interest in helping me was crossed off the list.

I agree that there is always 2 sides to a story, and a lot in between. Good communication requires both parties to be clear. However, today's businesses have to do their best to not give any excuse to let a potential customer move on to a competitor.

Cheers,
Phil

[Tickleish]

A couple of years ago I bought a used Haines Sig from Coastal Power Boats of Daren ( Boatboy). I'd been looking for months and had watched this boat for a while, so I sent an inquiry form from there add which he replied to first thing in the morning and I drove down to have a look. Darren didn't bullsh:t me just answered my questions and was very proffesional.

I made an offer that was well under what they where asking but said thats all I've got and to make the offer to the owner(on consignment). He had to sell it to the owner but he did and I got my boat which I took home a few days later after they had changed the wheeel bearings and did a few other things.

Now I'm looking to upgrade soon and will definatly be going back to him for a chat.

Their are a few good guys out there.

[MudRiverDan]

I don't know a lot about boats, but I am guessing these guys are used to a boom market.
Buyers willing to splash out for that great boat they always wanted are thinning on the ground these days and by what you have posted, the sales people are out of touch with what it means to buy something that represents you and serves your needs and also looks the goods.

Either that or they have lost the market and have lost enthusiasm, it sure sounds like they lack motivation.

I have read about businesses of all types (real estate being one) opening up in these sort of situations to cater for a niche market of customers that are not really being treated the
way they should be.

In my opinion these guys need to work on a factory floor for a few years, then they might appreciate the meaning of buying a boat.

Dan