When did manufacturers get so exclusive at boat shows?

[Shrew]

If I'm serious about buying a boat in the million dollar range, I'm not waiting in line for 2 hours to talk to someone. The sales people seem to feel the same way. They don't want to clog up the flow with a bunch of looky loos.

So, that is where it stands. You really only have two parties involved here (The Buyer and the Seller) and neither one wants to wade through a 'Times Square' of folks who decided that the cost of admission was worthwhile cost to waste a day with the chance to crawl all over boats they have zero intention of buying.

[TBear60]

Gentlemen (and I use that term loosely in this crowd),

If you want to apply your "grubby" hands to the interior of one of these boats, it might be wise to learn from the folks who do get that opportunity.

It seems maybe the Dealers have figured out that those with the wherewithal (to wit: $$$$) to actually buy one of these are the ones driving this market. Those folks probably did call ahead (or had their BM do the calling) and "Reserved" a spot. In reality who can tell over the phone how much dough you've actually got to spend?

Like the guy showing up at the B&O dealer to buy stereo equipment, you too do not need to "dress up" to tour one of these. Maybe just call ahead and turn up your snooty accent to get an appointment.

Just sayin!!!!
Oh, and BTW, neither am I counted in the Gentleman crowd!

TBEAR

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Bycrick

Once upon a time, I worked as a floor salesman in a CompUSA competitor. I was told that if the customer didn’t buy something in 10 minutes, drop him. I ignored the advice. A guy came in, I spent over an hour telling him about stuff. He walked out and the manager complained loudly that I’d spent too much time with him. I ignored that, too. The next week he came back and bought $20k worth of stuff and over the next year, about another $80k. +1 for redneckrob. Talking with a customer is the investment a salesman makes to have steady customers that come back.

100% agree. I have been in sales for 40 years, audio/video and marine. I don't discount anybody.

I remember in a major electronics store I worked in a customer came in, clean but dressed casually in a ski jacket. Turned a few tv's around and took pics with a digital camera of the jack pack on the rear. Other salesman ignored him. I talked to him and answered any questions he had. He came back a few days later better dresses with his wife and bought top of the line Sony XBR. He was a very well known author as it turns out. We had a chat about his books, some I had read.

Another time a guy came in wearing sandals and ragged jeans and was written off by most salesman. I helped him and he bought high end equipment. Needed delivery as it wouldn't fit in his 100k Porsche.

Some people dress to impress but many who are in the upper income group don't care as they have made it by their standards and don't need to impress anybody. But they do spend.

[4arch]

To me, the whole purpose of a show is to look at boats. If a manufacturer doesn't want to let me look at their boat, I won't buy it. There's only so much to be determined from looking at spec sheets, pictures, and virtual tours online so at some point I have to see and experience the boat in the flesh. I may fall in love with a boat on paper even to the point of having financing lined up but then get to the show and realize it's a total dud. Does that make me a serious buyer or not a serious buyer?

Also, I'm not the type who'd want to conduct boat buying business at a boat show. I'd expect a private showing outside of the show and to complete the paperwork one on one in an office setting. The crowded, chaotic, distracting nature of a show wouldn't feel like the right place to make such a major financial transaction. So maybe I'll never be seen as a "serious" enough buyer to be allowed onto some of these "exclusive" boats at the show?

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Shrew

If I'm serious about buying a boat in the million dollar range, I'm not waiting in line for 2 hours to talk to someone. The sales people seem to feel the same way. They don't want to clog up the flow with a bunch of looky loos.

Yup. I guess the only counter-argument to that would be if you thought you had a better shot at scooping a "show special" or driving a harder bargain at the show... but then again, if one is actually capable of buying boats priced in the mid six figures and up, there are other ways to get the best deal.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Bycrick

A salesman doesn’t want to waste time with a tire-kicker, but that assumes that you can always, a priori, identify the tire-kickers. If you’re wrong, there’s no telling what you’ll miss out on.

Yes, there may be the stray exception but the salesman has to play the odds and for every boat sold to a scruffy dude who looks like he eats from a dumpster, there are a 1000 sold to guys who look the part.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Yes, there may be the stray exception but the salesman has to play the odds and for every boat sold to a scruffy dude who looks like he eats from a dumpster, there are a 1000 sold to guys who look the part.

First, we have to acknowledge that the determination of who gets aboard when is not made by the sales persons, but by someone higher up.


That said, don't underestimate a top salesperson. Not only are they experts in the topic, and evangelists for their product, they can analyze a psychiatrist in five minutes and tell you what's wrong with them.

Last week at a show an older gent with white hair, a brushy moustache, and blue overalls ate up a bunch of my time telling stories. After a long while, he departed, a bunch of bills lighter. About two hours later he came back, and storied some more. Finally he pulled out a big wad of cash, this time leaving with a much lighter wallet.

As he parted, he said in his deep Kentucky drawl, "You didn't think I'd buy anything, did you?" I just smiled. We both knew that to be untrue. I knew within two minutes he had money, and I knew if we got on well he'd part with a big pile of cash. Of course, to his credit, he knew I could tell he had money, and he was feeling me out to see if I was worthy. It wasn't happenstance, and it wasn't good fortune that he just happened to have cash; despite the old farmer appearance, it's hard to hide brains, hard work, or financial flexibility.

A great salesperson doesn't play the odds, they already know which cards are in hand.

[Mariefred]

It's a boat show. With SHOW being the operative word. The whole point is to impress as many people as possible. You impress the buyers. And you impress the people the buyers want to impress. There are a number of different ways to do that. And I guess being exclusive is one of them. Hopefully those that went exclusive displayed a gorgeous exterior, didn't treat anyone with disdain, explained the situation with charm, and offered alternative ways for prospective buyers to experience the boat.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by Sailing August

You have to buy a ticket to get into a boat show. If you bought a ticket...you should not be barred from going on a boat.

Actually if you have to buy the ticket, there's a good chance you aren't the customer they're interested in. Serious prospects often get a complimentary tickets from the vendors. At least that how it was a few years back when I still went to boat-shows. Perhaps that has changed in the meanwhile.

[danstanford]

I am still really conflicted on these questions. Clearly the sales force needs to be able to focus on the solid leads so they can convert them. Clearly we are so addicted to choice (just go to the grocery store to buy canned fish or yogurt) that we can never show enough options to prevent the clients from making us crazy with demands to see other choices. Clearly we make staunch enemies of our clients whenever we overtly judge them to be lacking in some quality our customers need to have.
I still remember the day 40 years ago that some car salesman suggested we go look at cars I could afford....so every day I insist that our sales/design staff treat every customer as a viable lead while bitching about how much time we spend with them. Over the last few years our design and sales process has about doubled to an average of 40 hours, and nobody wants to pay for that.

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by danstanford

I am still really conflicted on these questions. Clearly the sales force needs to be able to focus on the solid leads so they can convert them. Clearly we are so addicted to choice (just go to the grocery store to buy canned fish or yogurt) that we can never show enough options to prevent the clients from making us crazy with demands to see other choices. Clearly we make staunch enemies of our clients whenever we overtly judge them to be lacking in some quality our customers need to have.
I still remember the day 40 years ago that some car salesman suggested we go look at cars I could afford....so every day I insist that our sales/design staff treat every customer as a viable lead while bitching about how much time we spend with them. Over the last few years our design and sales process has about doubled to an average of 40 hours, and nobody wants to pay for that.

The problem here is some of these companies have none of their own inventories. A boat "show" can be used to show off their wares if they can convince previous customers to loan their boats out.


It's not for everyone, that's for sure.

[PippaB]

Right now the "high end" cat manufacturers are selling every boat they build without even breaking a sweat. Most of them are selling a build slot year(s) down the road. In that environment the sales team doesn't have to work very hard. The savvy ones will be thinking about the lean years that may be ahead, but the majority of people in just about any field would rather take the easy road.

You can see the exact same thing happening in real estate in the many hot markets right now, if you can't show the money or pre-qualification to get the money then the agents aren't interested in talking to you - they already have an abundance of buyers. When you have an abundance of buyers you take the easiest ones, you don't have to scratch around to find the "maybes".

Could be short-sighted, but a huge percentage of the economy is all about the "now".

[Narfi]

I went on Thursday and Friday, the first I have ever attended, so didn't know what to expect.

Was looking at cats and the only ones showing 'by appointment only' were the simi-custom ones. They only had one boat each at the show, and I would have liked to look at them, but understood they needed to budget their time, If I had really been wanting to look at one (aka they were in my budget) I would have made the necessary appointment and come at that time to get a much better look at the boat than I was able on all the other crowded boats.

As for the more mass-produced brands, they each had 3-4 boats and sizes showing and were open to anyone with a name and email address willing to stand in line. Seawind only had 2 as their mid-sized one ran into trouble and couldn't make it to the show.

[ohdrinkboy]

I was at the show on Thursday. Chatting with one of the brokers I indicated my surprise that some manufacturers wanted appointments. He said the show encouraged it. They decided not to follow that advice. It was the most crowded I remember seeing on a Thursday.

Also chatted with the broker about the market. He said they have started seeing a slow down in their web traffic over the last 3 months. He said it was still a seller's market, but there may be signs of it slowing down from being crazy....to being more normal.

[billgewater]

I don’t think it has anything to do with your appearance. The reality is that modern boats are extremely complex and can be very expensive. If a customer is genuinely interested, experienced and informed then they would most likely have lots of questions and would want all the features explained or demonstrated to them. i.e. the potential buyer would require a one on one tour around the boat by the salesman.
I know that if I was venturing into a new boat, then after some elimination I would be honing in on a boat with specific features. Then I would be asking lots of questions and I would expect answers and hands on checking. Then I would be asking about a sail trial. Would you buy a car without a test drive? Boat shows should be showing new and innovative boats, so even more care is required IMHO.
If I went onto a boat swarming with people it would largely be a waste of time. And I have visited a few boat shows in my time. I have also visited boat building factories and their response to a guided tour made an enormous difference.
At one boat show in Cape Town, a yacht had notices plastered at various places to explain particular features. It helped - sort of.
So maybe an open day with everyone invited followed up by a one on one guided tour at an arranged time may be the answer.