Sailors Prevail: The Marine Industry in 2009
"So How is Business?". While the intention is always noble, the actual question makes you cringe at times. After awhile- you learn to make the conscious decision to focus on the positive and all will be OK. If you took a random sampling of business owners and surveyed them, I'm sure you'd find that many of them might opine the same. It ranks right up there with the question you're asked after you've been married for a month "So how is Married life?" (I think it's easier to explain the pythagorean theorum.) How are you supposed to answer that one?
To use a horrible baseball metaphor, I usually reply that "We aren't getting our runners to cross the plate by hitting home runs, but it's the base hits (three in order) that are scoring runs for us". "Code for" We're doing it one boat at a time. We are trying harder than ever before to focus on Customer Service because that is what we've built our business upon. We strongly believe THAT is the key to succeeding in this economy. It is what is keeping us going in these times. While we often forget, it's the thousands of little things that go on behind the scenes (that we address) that make a difference. Basically, it is what every business owner knows to be a self-evident truth for business in American these days- keep your chin down and keep working because if it is to be- it is going to be due to your efforts- not those of anyone else.
We've blogged about it many times here on Dock Talk. One of the best things about being a stocking dealer is that we have boats to sell. We have a stake in making sure that the boat we sell our customers is not the last one they buy from us. Most importantly, we are in it for the long haul. We aren't going anywhere. There are others that may sell out of the trunk of a car or out of a catalogue. This economy will shake them out. We have been blessed this past off-season to have the support of new and existing customers who have made it their mission to buck this economic mess and keep on living their lives. Keep on Sailing.
One of the best summaries of the Marine Industry was in the recent Cruising World article that ran this June Issue (being delivered as we speak). We've made it available on our website via the link below. We hope that you take the time to read it and share it with anyone thinking of ever owning a boat. It doesn't get any better than this.
