Dead Fish

Dead Fish Go With the Flow?

A couple weeks ago a boat rep called me to ask how it was going and I walked through the weekly report I just completed telling him the number of deals we had closed and the number of open contracts we had on the books waiting for demos, closings, etc. He responded “wow, a lot of dealers I talk to say nobody is coming through the doors.” I replied “call them back and tell them they’re out of business they just don’t know it yet. Nobody is walking through our doors either, we have to go out and club them over the head, drag them through the door, and work harder than ever for them to part with even the deposit money”?

Are you going with the flow and waiting for customers to come back? You’re a dead fish.?

This market is harder than most of us have seen since shortly after the recession. There’s a lot of reasons for dealers to sit back and complain, but I can assure you there are boats being sold…at all levels.?

“People who have money will always have money” is easy to say to those selling high end boats, but what about the entry level and first time boat buyer? Are they done? No money left after their food, fuel, and every other expense they have has more than doubled in 3 years??

They are out there, yet harder to spot because they’re holding on to their wallets tighter than ever. They’re waiting to be sold. Are you still just talking or are you selling??

I talked to a pontoon-only dealer last week and asked him how his shows went. I was blown away by his numbers! I made him show me, and HE DID! And not just no-margin leftover boats. New 2024’s and a respectable number of custom order outs and great margin.?

What’s his secret? He sold everyone he talked to. Not all bought, but he wasn’t SHOWING boats at the boat show, he was SELLING!?

He’s a life-long car guy that just knows how to sell. And he’s good…so good! He talked to people and when they said they were ”just looking” he still went through the boat and tried to sell every single person he talked to.?

Are you showing boats still hoping to be the nice, no pressure “helper”. You’re going to get beat by a salesperson. Are you showing or are you SELLING? How many contacts have you made this week? How many did you ASK FOR THE SALE??

If you weren’t selling boats before 2020 - please do yourself a favor and get sales training, or find another career. You’re burning leads and wasting your sales manager’s time if you just don’t know how to sell. It’s not your fault. It’s not. You were probably wildly successful selling from 2020-2022 but today you’re going to get beat by real salespeople. It’s not too late - find your guru and follow, study everything you can, practice, role-play, and try to sell everyone you talk to.?

If you’ve been selling for a long time, good news: the number of salespeople in the industry is about to fall off a cliff. Those who can’t make it won’t be replaced, you’ll just have to work even harder to make the same money but there will be less of you actual sales people that are hungry, driven by the dollar, and know what it takes to truly take care of your client list you’ve cultivated over your entire sales career.?

I’m not telling you any new news, the question is what are you going to do about it? Wait for conditions to change? Go find your own unique way to break through? Maybe you’re going to have the best customer event in the history of customer events??

Be creative, be different, be CRAZY!?

Don’t be a dead fish?