Can’t you just keep toilet paper in the bathroom!
The little things tick people off at marinas; cold showers, no toilet paper in bathrooms, not enough launches on race night, puddles near the electrical connections. When it comes to boatyard service the frustrations include dirty boots climbing deck during commissioning, greasy hands on masts, rude ill trained seasonal help.
The surest way to keep customers is to keep the pulse of your operation and react quickly. Understand how you are performing on a regular basis. Don’t wait to find out the showers were cold a week after the heater went on the blink. Yes, you would think a customer would walk in and tell you, but don’t assume. Make it easy for customers to give you feedback. Feedback cards and boxes in convenient places, online surveys on kiosks or emailed to customers after a stay or boatyard service, phone survey followup for larger jobs or high end operations.
The best way to keep your operation profitable is through referrals. By building an army of those “Very Likely” to recommend you, there is no reason to have a huge marketing budget, put big advertisements in cruising guides, or buy google ad words. People in boating love to talk about experiences. Their boating or yacht club gathers are your greatest marketing opportunities and it’s free! You much rather have the member bragging about their recent decision by saying, ”Boy, marina xyz was the best I have been to. A true 5 star. Thier customer service was unbelievable and they ….. The facilities were incredible and they had…….. The most outstanding thing was……
The flip side could be “Never go to XYZ marina. The bathrooms were always out of toilet paper, I had to … The showers were cold at 6AM causing me to ….. I had to wait 20 minutes for the obnoxious kid on the gas dock to……
Remember, your best source of referrals and repeat business is to make experiences memorable in a good way. Give them a reason to brag about their great choice when sipping wine with their boating friends. The only way to make this happen is to keep the pulse of your operation through the eyes of your boating customers.
Tags: Boater feedback programs, Boater Loyalty, Boatyard benchmarking, Marina Benchmarking, Marine