Scott
Johnson, Demco (Coast Show), said, "The Coast show has been very good better than
last year. Traffic was very good and we had a lot of exposure on our new Aluminator tow
bar."
Sally Moore and Susan Powell, JR Products (Coast Show),
both had positive views of the show. Susan said, "The show has been excellent. The
dealer turn out is more than we expected. We introduced some new products and some new
programs and they have gone over very well."
Sally said, "We were apprehensive coming into the
show, with the two shows going on at the same time; we didn't have huge expectations. We
were a little leery, but we are leaving very happy. Coast did a good job. They got the
dealers in here and the dealers are buying."
Darryl
Searer, Ultra-Fab, (StagParkway Show), said,
"The StagPark-way show is going great. I'm very impressed with the professionalism of
the show. I'm impressed with the dealer turnout and the genuine interest of
the dealers who have come to our booth. They're here to buy - there's no question about
that. We are writing business."
The distributor show is also a time for education,
motivation and the introduction of programs to help dealers become better parts and
accessories marketers and producers of more profits.
Tim McGuire's message to dealers at the Coast show was
that "parts and accessories are an important element in the success of your
dealership."
In his annual address to dealers, McGuire emphasized the
RV Aftermarket is a $1 billion industry. He said with the average order size being $40 it
means that 25 million customers come to dealers each year to buy parts and accessories.
McGuire said, "That means 50,000 customers come to RV dealers everyday to buy
accessories and that, in effect, they are paying for the privilege of looking at your
rolling stock."
McGuire pointed out that a dealer that sells $400,000 a
year in aftermarket parts and accessories could expect 10,000 customers a year. And if
that dealer were able to convert only one-half of one percent of these potential RV
buyers, he would sell 50 units a year as a direct result of having a well stocked parts
store.
All this was to illustrate to RV dealers that their parts
and accessories business is an important part of the their overall business. He compared
it to an eco-system where each part is interdependent upon the other. He said, "The
more units you sell, the more service revenue you will generate, the more service
customers you get, the more accessories you will sell and the more accessories you sell,
the more lot traffic you will have and the more lot traffic you have the more units you
will sell.
"If any one of these elements in the eco-system
falters, then you limit the total growth of your sales and profits."
He encouraged dealers to work toward making their
customers, customers for life.
McGuire also said that Coast was committed to helping
dealers reach their potential, not only for offering an extensive line of parts and
accessories, but also through programs such as the direct mail flyer program, the Internet
on line catalog program through RV America On Line and Coast's national advertising
campaign designed to bring traffic into dealerships.
Wannamaker told RV News that Coast introduced a
revamp-ed, more flexible flyer program at the show. This year the flyers will not be dated
so dealers can use the flyers for longer periods of time and Coast will honor the special
prices included in the program whenever the dealer runs the promotion.
Coast also announced its intention to develop an
electronic marine products catalog that marine dealers can offer on line as part of their
Internet site. The program will work like the RV parts and accessories catalog that is
available through the RV America On Line web site hosting service. Consumers can go to a
dealer's web site and order products from the extensive catalog. Coast ships the orders
direct to the consumer but the dealer gets the credit for the sale.
Coast will once again work with Web Site Management,
Inc., the parent company of RV America On Line, to develop a web hosting service for
marine dealers so they can participate in the on line catalog program.
At the StagParkway show, the emphasis was on education.
McKay said, "It's been rewarding here, even more than expected. I believe what I've
seen here at the show is certainly a great buying opportunity for the retailers as they
approach the start of the 1998 season. But more and more of them are telling me that
they're really pleased to have additional educational opportunities; that they are pleased
with the suppliers we have in attendance; and the opportunity to learn more about our
programs. It just seems that the suppliers are more up for the season, and everyone's
interested in learning more about how to successfully market their business. We have
developed a store merchandising program which has garnered a lot of interest by retailers
wanting to improve the appearance of the presentation they give their customers. Continued
