Re: Are You Caught Up?

As a campground owner for 24 years , I have seen the bad factory workmanship and bad or no prep in new rigs. The slides that don't work is a major issue in the mid-2000s . I have had NEW rig owners come in with a list of stuff that should have been attended too. In 2008 the industry has gotten better, but still has a long way to go.

I am one who says the $'s/quality is still way behind the auto world. The 70's Harley story is still with us in the RV world.

Re: Are You Caught Up?

When your discussing "keeping up" the higher quality question is " Is there value in seeing our industry go the route of the auto industry?" From the retail stand point I say no , we should be working towards distingusihing our buyers experience as far from the auto industry as possible. Look we cant change how we are similar, the buying process is much the same ,BUT we can strecth in the places where we're different into a world class experience . for example: when a customer comes on our lot, does he feel hounded? is there that instant wall of protection we all put up when we go car shopping? or have we done all we can to ensure a comfortable first impression ? Are we using a greeter, or receptionist correctly? (or are they just answering phones? ) are we offering refreshments and the chance to browse if they'd like? Have we trained our sales people to take a consultative approach?
This is where we as dealers can set ourselves above the Auto Industry and reach for something "special"

Re: Are You Caught Up?

Chuck, I know that everyone is tired of hearing how for we are behind the auto industry. And yes, it is true. But there are simple reasons why:

Size
The size of the auto industry is huge compared to RVs. If you'll look at just the dealership stats, there are over 23,000 new car dealerships in this country compared to 4,000 RV dealerships. The average number of salespeople per auto dealership is 15, the average for RV dealerships is 5. So, when a training company or vendor wants to develop and sell their wares, just by shear numbers alone, the auto industry was going to win out. Plus, when you look at the number of mom and pop RV dealers there are as compared to auto, they don't normally have the type of funds to take them to the next level.

Manufacturers
I'm sure I don't need to quote the amount of money an auto manufacturer has compared to an RV manufacturer, so just on dollars alone the auto manufacturer was more willing to spend money where the dealership was concerned. Since I'm a trainer, let's just take training. Take a look at how much manufacturer sponsored sales training there has been compared to RV, which really befuddles me. RV manufacturers are primarily concered with product training, and not sales training. You would think that if they wanted their dealerships to sell more, they would be. And when it comes to technology, auto manufacturers have been forcing dealerships to install computerization for years, and are constantly trying to upgrade communication processes.

Internet
The auto industry has been involved with the Internet since at least 1992. Look at the number of website developers and third party lead providers there are for the auto industry as compared to RV. I know it's getting better, but it's still no where it near what it should be. I specialize in developing internet departments primarily in auto dealerships, and always install a CRM program called "WebControl." I asked them why they don't create a version for the RV industry, and their response was, "i never really thought about it!"

Sales Processes
There is absolutely no difference in the process to sell an RV then there is for an automobile. The 10 steps to the sale, follow-up, organization, repeat and referral business, all of it is exactly the same in both industries. Salespeople in both industries could be a lot better. I bought a 35ft. Class A RV from the best salesperson in the dealership, and he never follow-up with me one time. And what's worse, he knew what I did for a living.

Salespeople
I've trained in RV dealerships and found salespeople that have never even been in an RV, or camped over a weekend. If the RV industry is selling a lifestyle, how can a salesperson tell the lifestyle story if they've never done it? I've seen RV salespeople just stand their and show a Class A to a customer without saying anything, letting them walk though it on their own just like I've seen auto salespeople do the same. With my experiences owning RVs, I could tell tons of stories regarding my experiences. You would think that dealers would demand that they take a used RV out for a weekend to see what it's like.

The Customer
Ok, there's the big difference between auto and RV. It's a different customer. It's someone buying a want as compared to a need. It's someone buying a lifestyle as compared to basic transportation. They need to be handled differently.

I don't understand why the RV industry becomes so incensed when they are compared to the auto industry? Sure we'd like our customer treatment to be better, but I've seen RV salespeople not smile on the greeting, and I've seen them shortcut the process. And if you're reading this and you know me, then you also know that I place much of this blame on our managment, which is a whole other post.

But the RV industry also has a great industry to learn from. The auto industry has had many successes and many failures we can benefit from. We don't have to reinvent the wheel to become better. We can take a Japanese approach to the auto industry - take what they've already created and figure out a way to make it better.

Well, I think I've said enough to keep this post going. Chuck, don't let it bother you. We will always be behind the auto industry no matter how far we progress. They will always have the size, the money and the technology to stay way ahead of everyone else in the vehicle industry. We just need to keep teaching our dealerships to do the right things, take care of their employees and customers, provide an experience that is second to none, and then we can all sleep well at night knowing we did the good work.

Re: Are You Caught Up?

Chuck, I knew what your point was, and it's a good one. But the things you said that stuck out in my mind aside from you message were:

- compared to the car business
- position of second class citizen
- accept our place as being mediocre or backwards

I know these were meant to spur on thought and gather ideas on what dealerships can do to better themselves. But the bottom-line is the auto industry is a great place to learn from since they have been ahead of the game for a while. And they have done some great things the RV dealers can learn from.

What both of our points basically are, since we came at it from two different directions, is that RV dealerships need to begin making choices of moving forward and not just being complacent with the way they've been doing things over the years. Because if they don't, they will be left behind.

Keep doing the great work Chuck. We have met several times at the RVDA Convention if you'd forgotten. It was a pleasure meeting you then, and it's a pleasure communicating through this blog now. I just hope a lot of dealers are reading it.