Voices

Growing the Industry Through Team Work

 by Randy Biles, owner
Pikes Peak Traveland, Inc.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Randy Biles has owned an RV dealership for the past 15 years. Prior to that he had 20 years experience working for two large corporations. His experience with RVs started as a consumer in 1969 and that eventually led to his wanting to be part of the industry and acquiring Pikes Peak Traveland in Colorado Springs.

In the past 28 years our industry has made many great improvements in product quality. It used to be that in order to use an RV you had to be a plumber, electrician, carpenter and mechanic all in one. The products we used were marginal in design, assembly and performance.

But now, in most instances, the products our industry produces are far superior in all areas. Both powertrain manufacturers and RV manufacturers have significantly improved what we have to offer today to the RV consumer. With our high-tech gasoline and diesel powered systems, coupled with computer controlled transmission performance and operating economy the product has never been better.

It was very gratifying for me to see our industry come together in support of the Go RVing campaign which hopefully will bring the next generation of families into the RV lifestyle and into our dealerships.

This next generation of RV owners, however, are not accustomed to the way we have traditionally provided goods and services to our long-established customers. The "Baby Boomers" are used to buying a car that probably costs as much as a small motorhome and having very little trouble with their vehicle. When you are used to having very few problems with your vehicle and you have access to a service organization that quickly resolves any issues, I doubt these new RV owners will tolerate such inconveniences as lengthy delays in a service shop awaiting parts and service.

Whether we like it not we will be judged by people who are used to receiving their automotive service through an industry that has been around for a long time. The automotive industry is very efficient when it comes to delivering service to their customers. The three-year bumper to bumper warranty is a good example of how they are caring for their products. The extensive warrantees offered don’t come inexpensively and demands quality manufacturing. One of the domestic auto manufacturers spends about nine percent of product cost on warranty. On the RV portion of our products it is estimated that our industry spends about two to four percent on warranty.

Warranty costs don’t come free. The question is — how much is the consumer willing to pay for better warranty coverage from the RV manufacturer? Obviously better built products cost less to warrant but more to build. So where do we draw the line? These are some of the "opportunities" we as an industry face if we are going to be able to provide the level of satisfaction that I feel this new customer base expects us to deliver.

An area that has me concerned is that we as an industry fail to communicate among ourselves very well. To serve our customer base into the 21st century and keep them coming back to our lifestyle we are going to have to work as a team, not as a bunch of independent businesses with single interest short term goals.

I feel that it is a common belief with most business people that we don’t need more government involvement in the running of our industries. We have an RV manufacturer trade association (RVIA), a national dealer association, (RVDA) and many state dealer organizations that exist to help solve problems we as an industry face together. I challenge these associations to work more closely together to resolve issues on how we can better serve our customers in addition to resolving problems with our business relationships. Too often we only look at the piece of the puzzle that directly effects our segment of the industry and ignore how that piece fits into the total puzzle we call our RV industry.

To serve our customers over the whole country and Canada, we need a common focus and we need an organization which consists of RV manufacturers, rolling stock dealers, aftermarket accessory stores and service facilities in each of the communities where the RVing public lives and travels.

A recent industry event that I feel threatens the unity necessary to accomplish these goals is the Affinity Group, Inc. (AGI) acquisition of Camping World. AGI started as a publishing business and joined the RV industry when it acquired TL Enterprises, (Trailer Life publications). Representatives from AGI tell us they are in the business to provide their organizational membership groups (Good Sam, Coast to Coast, Inc.) with ever increasing value by selling Extended Service Contracts, RV financing, Breakdown/Towing programs in addition to product discount arrangements through a network of local dealers and campgrounds. Most of what AGI calls "membership services" also happen to be profit centers for the RV dealer.

So the latest AGI membership benefit is the acquisition of Camping World which is the largest single retail organization in the RV aftermarket parts and accessories/service business. With that move, AGI is involved in every aspect of the RV industry with the exception of manufacturing rolling stock, selling RVs and RV rentals.

At a recent meeting an AGI executive indicated that their companies had no intention of getting into the rolling stock sales business; therefore, it was implied that we as dealers should not view them as our competitor. To me, if an organization is conducting the same business and is vying for the same consumer dollar as I am, I feel that organization is my competitor, regardless of their rhetoric about simply offering membership benefits.

And what about the approximately 550 RV businesses that only provide RV parts and accessories and related services, not rolling stock? Should they not consider AGI a competitor also?

Is AGI being in most business segments of the RV industry wrong? I doubt that any of us will shy away from another competitor. However, when that company also owns the majority of the RV industry publications and controls the majority of information the RV consumer sees that competitor suddenly takes on enormous proportions. Then add to that the hundreds of mailings going into most all RV owners’ homes from their clubs and now Camping World too, AGI has the power to undermine the foundations of the RV industry and destroy a lot of businesses — businesses that are needed to provide the network of services that RV owners will need.

Can the independent RV dealer compete with AGI/Camping World and succeed? For the sake of our industry I certainly hope we can.

If the local independent RV service/accessory provider is significantly hurt by AGI’s very aggressive marketing tactics then our industry will suffer. If the consumer must travel great distances to obtain the goods and services required for the use of the RV, our newly found enthusiast may just drop out of the industry. If the usage becomes more of a burden than enjoyment then we all lose.

What we need are team players. If our industry can unite and work together for the common good of our customers then we will prevail in keeping our new found owners and make them repeat buyers. If we stay fragmented in our dealings with the RV owner then they will probably take their dollars to other venues for their recreational enjoyment.

I urge my fellow industry members to join our various industry associations, participate in the issues these organizations are working on and always keep our customers needs of prime importance – that’s how our industry will flourish. However, if we continue with our business-as-usual attitude, we should not be surprised if we lose many of our first time buyers that we spent millions to attract to our market.

RVN