He went on to say that service is what keeps people in boating, not having access to buying boats.  Most boats are used anyway and what makes people leave boating is waiting too long for the boatyard to fix the boat or not knowing what is going on with their boat.  He went on to say that many boatyards don’t comprehend they are in the service business and need to keep customers in the loop when jobs are underway and they need to hit deadlines.  In the northern regions if it takes two weeks to get a boat fixed, that is 2 or 3 weekends out of 16 that they have to use the boat.  On average, a 40 foot boat costs about $5,000 to $10,000 a year just to maintain, get dockage, winterize, launch, insurance, etc.   Losing two weeks can be a reason to just get out of boating and start camping, golfing, or get into some other past time or hobby. 

So a lot rests on the boatyard’s ability to turn jobs quickly and effectively or the boating industry will suffer from people getting out of boating.  That is the real issue, not selling more new boats.

I suggest if customers are asking for discounts that you change the scope and give options. Give three different scopes of work with three different price points, but then hold firm on the work being done. You must do this to stay healthy and your customers should respect this. People love options and the customer will understand that with options there are varying levels of product.

There are typically three things to look at with any project scope; price, timeframe, and quality. Keep to these three sides of the triangle when bidding and discussing jobs with customers.

Before finding yourself in an unprofitable situation, the best businesses find ways to differentiate themselves and offer unique and special services and products. Customers will be happy and your business will remain healthy.

The easiest way to get testimonials is through a paper or e-surveying process either done annually to all customers or individually after jobs are completed. In the survey add the question “Is there anything you think we do particularly well or anyone you want to recognize?” You will quickly get dozens of testimonials to use. All you need to do is immediately send back the comments to the customer asking their permission to use in marketing.

99% of the time they will say “sure” and now you have your dozens of testimonials. Another way is to add an approval box after the question asking their permission to use any comments in your marketing efforts. Any checked off are fair game to use and you have documentation that they gave the OK to use it. Good luck!

Jamestown, RI, March 6, 2009 – As part of its commitment to help marine service providers develop profitable, highly responsive, customer-focused organizations, Survey Advantage (www.surveyadvantage.com), a customer research and loyalty firm, has released their 2008 benchmarks for marinas and boatyards. This benchmark report was designed in cooperation with AMI and ABBRA, the two major associations serving the marine services industry. The report tracks four key areas: facility quality, marine service quality, customer service, and boater loyalty.

“We hope this benchmark will help marine service providers understand their competitive position in the market and set goals for expansion and improvement. Marine service providers now have the same customer intelligence the hospitality industry has been collecting for years. Any size operation can obtain feedback after jobs, transient stays, or from seasonal and annual customers to drive improvements and referrals.” said Michael Casey, president of Survey Advantage.

The report measures four areas of customer service including responsiveness, reliability, communication, and courtesy. While operations continue to receive high ratings on courtesy, the industry continues to struggle on communication or keeping boaters abreast of service being performed. While the slip areas receive high marks it was surprising that the industry can’t do a better job keeping restrooms and shower areas cleaner and continuously stocked. The highest marks were in the marina area and ship stores, with gas docks and service desks receiving the lower scores. Customer comments highlight temporary or seasonal help being the reason for ill trained people in these lower performing areas. Nine different service quality areas were benchmarked including engine repair and rigging services. Highest ratings came in the hauling and launching areas while sailboat rigging and electronic repairs received the lowest marks.

Customer or boater loyalty is the most important metric tracked because it helps an operation understand their overall likelihood of retaining customers and receiving referrals. Measuring a boater’s likelihood to recommend their marine service provider found 51% promote and refer their provider, 29% are passive supporters or not emotionally charged about their provider, and 20% are at high risk of leaving their provider and spreading negative word of mouth about their experiences.

The benchmark report is published from collective results from operations running with Marine Service CustomerPulse™ and HealthCheck™, two programs offered through Survey Advantage. The goals of the programs are to:

• Preserve recurring job revenues
• Retain customers at risk
• Identify process breakdowns early
• Respond to dissatisfied customers within minutes
• Identify competitive strengths and weaknesses
• Generate sales leads to expand share
• Identify opportunities to expand services
• Set customer focused team goals based on first hand feedback
• Automate testimonial collection

For more information on CustomerPulse™ and HealthCheck™ or to receive a copy of the overall report, contact Survey Advantage at info@surveyadvantage.com or call 401-560-0311. Visit www.surveyadvantage.com/marine for details on marine specific case studies, partnerships, and programs.

About Survey Advantage: Founded in 2001, Survey Advantage’s mission is to delight our customers by improving their business performance through the delivery of cost-effective, comprehensive market intelligence tools. Our Vision is to see our system integrated into the infrastructure of every company that has ongoing, high-value customer relationships.

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.

Now as a business owner or manager, we all need to look in the mirror.  I will be the first to confess that I have at times made life miserable for customers, but not on purpose.  Maybe you are now saying “Boy, that business is messed up”.  Well, if you have been in business more than 20 years and haven’t had a dissatisfied customer I want to hang out with you.  Things happen, but we need to own up to it, fix the issue quickly and stay on top of it.  Process breakdowns, lack of proper resources, miscommunications can cause train wrecks, but typically the problems start small and if left uncorrected come to a head.  When we hear of these problems we apologize and can’t believe it happened.

Does your business know when customers are so frustrated with you that they are trying to leave?   The larger the enterprise, the trickier it is to know.  The smaller the enterprise, the easier for the customer to gently walk away without telling the truth to your face.  Here are a true story from a recent survey we conducted.  A printer recieved a loyalty rating, those who say they would recommend you to others, of 53%.  Average printers run in the 92% range here.  Nearly 100 years ago they carved out their niche and owned the market by locking out competition, but now things changed and their ex-customers were telling them why they left and really gave it to them.   The “Walking Dead” or those still buying, but feeling hostage explained their efforts to find someone else.  I felt aweful for the business because it was slowing dying and management continued to blame the economy and the shift to the internet as the reason.  There is some truth in that, but customers were also walking to other printers.  It was not the quality of the product as much as the level of service that caused the walking dead.

Lesson learned:  keep the pulse of your customers over time, react quickly, and don’t become complacent.     

Here are a few things to consider when you look at customer loyalty and keeping the pulse.  Think of the critical satisfiers for your customer base.  Assuming your product is solid, think of the things such as responsiveness to e-mail and voicemails,  shipping product on time, having clear invoices, estimating properly, estimating timely, communicating project status on a continuous basis, issuing credits timely, shipping the right products,  having product in stock for quick delivery.  Pick the top 4 or 5 things that if done well will put you in the best position.  But, don’t neglect the little things that can drive people crazy.   

Great Customer Loyalty is driven by treating each customer in a unique and special way while doing the basics well.

1) Give your best customers your cell phone and maybe even your home phone. They won’t call unless it is an emergency, but it shows you care.
2) Invest in a robust CRM system. Be able to track key dates, events, personal information, notes from past meetings. Takethe time to review this before your visits or phone calls.
3)Communicate the way the customer wants. Some love e-mail and others hate it. Ask customers and use the appropriate methods. Respect “Opt Outs” from your communications, but be careful managing this. Most customers don’t want to be “Opted out” of everything, but maybe just one e-communication piece. Manage this to keep communications open.
4)Don’t assume they are doing well. Ask them face to face, survey them once a year, do a short simple survey once a month. Keep those lines open. Some customers will tell you face to face if something is up, but some rather think and type up their thoughts in a comments box of a survey. One size doesn’t fit all.
5) Think of chemistry and don’t be afraid to move or assign CSRs and sales people who match the chemistry of the customer. Many people will buy based on rapport as well as how well you do.
6) Always tell the truth. I know this sounds obvious, but customers respect if you tell them if you made a mistake. Of course you can’t have too many of those, but owning up to it is respected and honorable.