A few thoughts on marine trades...

The other day The Path Less Pedaled had an interesting post about how businesses could be more bike friendly and it got me thinking...

Marine businesses always seem to be complaining about how hard times are but don't seem to be all that interested in working to attract more business outside of sales and more sales. Not that I am adverse to sales and the odd discount but if your only means of attracting customers is by slashing prices you quickly find yourself in an unwinnable situation. If your clients are only interested in price, the customer will always go to the next guy who is a few pennies cheaper.

Of course, providing good service used to be the hallmark of a good marine store or business but that seems to have fallen by the wayside as the first casualty of "LOW PRICES" seems to be "GOOD SERVICE". It has been pointed out to me more than a few times that since I bought the stuff from them, why would I expect to have it work or actually function?

Sadly the folks who don't discount seem to have gone to the extreme in the other direction marking up already high prices to a level on par with bank robbery or Ponzi schemes. Marine businesses of this ilk don't seem to put a high priority on good service and it has been my experience that they only excel in being rude and unwelcoming (if they deign to bother with you at all).

Which is not to say that there are not some excellent businesses in the middle ground that seem able to do a good job, have fair prices, and a good attitude. I know from personal experience that this is a hard road to plow as far too often buyers of marine gear can be problematic at best and at worst a nightmare of epic proportions... So there is some fault on both sides of the counter for the less-than-wonderful state of modern marine business.

So, how to make things better?

If you are a business... Why not think in terms of value added instead of discounting? Adding value to the mix can come in many forms from education, providing a dinghy dock, or a place for cruisers to dispose of their trash. Throw in fair pricing and a good shop personality and you might be very surprised just how much stuff actually gets sold... Plus, here is a thought, look up the word "marketing" and do some!

Boat folk, on the other hand, could also improve their lot in life by not using a marine store as a place to check out gear while picking the brains of shop people with no intention of buying. Buying it online from a box store that provides zero personal assistance/service but sells for a few cents cheaper is certainly OK but not if you are using someone local as a surrogate salesman for advice and information. Or, if you have bought from a box store, then, when you have a problem don't use your local shop as a repair/warranty center because you don't want to spend to ship it back to the folks you bought it from.

Nuff said...

Listening to Jo Jo Gunne

So it goes...