Norfolk, VA – (October 9, 2013) – The 2013/2014 Marine Retail University series, sponsored by Norman Spencer Insurance, is now underway. The curriculum was created by Boats Group, the division of Dominion Enterprises that operates YachtWorld, Boat Trader and boats.com, and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas. The season’s first Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University was hosted by the Northwest Marine Trade Association in Seattle on September 25.
This professional development program, created specifically for boat retailers, provides in-depth current market data, including industry statistics and trends on a national, regional and specific state basis. The data includes details of the 3% year-over-year increase in fiberglass boat sales and 6% increase in aluminum boat sales, both broken down by brand. Additional presentations range from the “Marine Industry Outlook” to “Decoding the New Sales Funnel” to “The Generation Drives the Strategy.”
“Dealers who attend these Universities walk away with a competitive edge,” said Courtney Chalmers, director of marketing, Boats Group. “The information and statistics we share let them compare their performance against industry standards and make any adjustments necessary.”
Comments from dealers who attended the Seattle session included: “I picked up ideas to implement immediately, especially how to generate more reviews online;” “It was certainly beneficially to bring our entire team;” and “Glad that you shared regional and specific city data about how consumers were searching for boats.”
“The Marine Retail University events expose attendees to a unique combination of local data, national trends and insights into how to use that information to outperform their market competitors,” said Liz Walz, MRAA director of education. “When you add the opportunity to interact with and learn from experts in dealership operations as well as their peers, it’s easy to understand why these events have been so well received.”
The next Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University will be held in Grapevine, TX, on October 13-14, hosted by the Boating Trades Association of Texas. To register for this event, click here . This will be followed by one in Charleston, SC, on Monday, December 9, 2013.
About Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas believes that, for the marine industry to thrive, the companies that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. Those businesses determine a boater’s experience and are the leading factor in the industry’s success. The MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those businesses, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit www.MRAA.com.
About Boats Group
Boats Group (Boats Group) is the Internet partner of choice for the recreational marine industry and operates the three market leading web portals – boats.com, yachtworld.com and boattrader.com. Boats Group is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company that provides businesses with a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting and data management services. Boats Group has offices in North America (Norfolk, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia) as well as in Europe (United Kingdom and Italy) and Australia. The company employs 150 people, has customers in 106 countries and advertises boats for sale in 166 countries. In 2012, over 51 million unique visitors spent time researching products on Boats Group web and mobile sites, apps and social media outlets. Boats Group’s global reach includes 23 localized web portals which are translated into 13 languages.