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One of the real positive spin-offs of the Go RVing enthusiasm is a reevaluation of our industry's commitment to quality. We are hearing more and more talk about how if we, as an industry, don't produce quality into our products, any lasting effects of market expansion will be lost. RV News agrees that the most serious threat to our future is not competition from other forms of leisure activities but our unwillingness to give the consumer a product that is hassle free. In Dr. Richard Curtin's latest research, he tells us that a large number of our potential customers are those who owned an RV sometime in the past. The Go RVing market expansion program is specifically focusing on this target audience as one of its major themes. But there are a number of former owners who will be lost forever. They didn't have a wonderful experience with their RVs and it was more likely than not it was because the quality of the RV they bought did not meet their expectations. It's amazing to me with all the emphasis on quality I've seen in various companies that we have featured in RV News over the last several years and then look at the products being offered to our end user. Everybody seems to know the jargon, TQM, a process not a program, and so on, but it appears that sometimes they get so involved in the process that they forget what the results are supposed to be - higher quality products. Obviously, some companies do better than others. Some manufacturers make better RVs than others and some suppliers make better components than others. One of the problems with the industry is when times are good, like they are now, we see an influx of new companies that make hay while the sun shines but will drop out of sight at the first hint of a downturn. And often what they produce is not the best our industry has to offer. I call these types of manufacturers opportunistic vultures. They don't build a good product in the first place; they pay little attention to their warranty claims - hey, if it gets too bad they just close their doors and open next week across the street with a new company and new brandnames - and the unsuspecting RV owner walks away with a bad taste about the RV lifestyle. But even some of the industry's best names have fallen victim to less than satisfactory quality. That results in high warranty costs. When a major RV manufacturing company was put on the block recently, at least one potential buyer backed off. The CEO of the manufacturing company that looked at the company being sold told me he had no interest because the ratio of warranty costs was way out of line. Why is that? It means that the quality was not built into the product when it was manufactured. And that's why we have so many people leaving the RV lifestyle - the RV itself or the components were malfunctioning so instead of living with the headache, these customers sold their RV and will probably never return. You'll find them at the Hyatt next weekend instead of the RV resort. I'm not sure that the industry can or should police companies that traditionally produce shoddy products, but the industry as a whole earns a black eye when a consumer is straddled with a product that fails to meet minimal quality standards. This industry's greatest success is when a young buyer gets involved in RVing with an entry level travel trailer or popup camper and he loves the lifestyle. Over the years, that buyer trades up to other RVs as his needs and desires change. And when he retires, he buys his ultimate dream RV and spends his retirement traveling and enjoying life. We know a lot of stories that have this happy ending, but how many success stories never unfolded because that first experience turned the RVer off? Too many I'm afraid. So let's hope as we work together in this exciting new market expansion program that one of the benefits will be a greater emphasis on quality. Not the kind that gets lip service, but the kind that rewards our customers for having chosen the RV lifestyle. RVN
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