Letters to the Editor of RV News
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| May 2002 | Volume 27 - Number 10 | |
Letters to the Editor of RV News | ||
From Our Readers
Don Wallace
Thanks again Bob. Tom Murphy
The season has begun in New Hampshire and I
enjoy re-reading your published articles to keep myself
on the right track. Have you ever considered publishing a book on How to Do It
Right? Bill Bradley
Bob, Dan Pearson, Dear Mr. Zagami, I am confidant that you will do a wonderful
job in this new endeavor. Your contributions over
the past few years, as outlined by Dan Holt in
this issue’s editorial, have been both thought provoking
and well received by those of us in the RV
business. I, for one, do not consider you an outsider
to our industry. In fact, you may be the ultimate
insider because you rose from the ranks of
the consumer. May we never lose that perspective! I remember, as a child, my father, E. W. "Dusty"
Crum, loading up the family station wagon as
we set off on another wonderful weekend camping trip. His love of camping led
him to become an RV dealer in the first
place. Way back in 1966 he saw an ad for
Starcraft camping trailers in Field &
Stream magazine. He wanted to buy one of
these new "Family Fun Machines" for
our personal use, but there were no dealers in
the Tampa, Florida area at the time. He found out
that if he purchased 3 campers he could buy them
at cost and become a dealer. That wasn't his
original intention, because he already had a successful
business. In a matter of days after the first
3 pop-ups arrived Dusty had retailed all 3
and had to call and order more. The rest, as they
say, is history.... In 1999, just a few months
before his death, Dusty was inducted into the
RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart. Before his death, Dad had envisioned building a
brand new dealership facility in central Florida.
Last April, we moved into our new surroundings, (35 acre facility on State
Highway 60, just east of Bartow, Fl) and so
far, the results have been tremendous. Our
comparable unit sales since the move have
been up over 40%, with sales volume up a
little over 50%. And it keeps getting better.
We had record sales in both the 4th quarter
of 2001 and so far in the first quarter of
this year. All in a "down market". Our customers
and Team Members have both been excited by
the relocation. Morale is at an all time high,
and our overall company productivity has never
been better. Recently, I started a series of weekly
"workshops" for each department in our company in order
to work on our every phase of our business. These are
producing great gains in process improvement
and involvement. As you mentioned, we are
striving to spend as much time with our
employees as we do with our customers. It would be interesting to
know what kinds of successful meeting/workshop structures other dealers use. We
are still experimenting with different
styles. If you are ever down in the area,
I would like to invite you over for a tour of
our new RV Center. I would love to meet
you in person. In the meanwhile, I'll invite you to
visit us on-line at http://www.dustysrv.com Again, best wishes on your
new assignment. K.C. Crum | ||||||||||||||||||
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