Boot Dusseldorf 2019

[Pinnacle]

imo,
all this "data collecting " is a result of modern management techniques, (marketing & sales)
but implemented up to a unpleasant level,

new managers pushing people to collect as much data as possible,
but ignoring or not taking in to account the consequences, nor the negative impact in real live situations,

are you also fed-up with the number of "customer satisfaction survey's" you get now a day's ?
from the place where you book your flight tickets,
from your car rent booking,
from your hotel booking
from your restaurant booking,
from your online order forxx
etc etc,

last week I dropped my e-mail adress on the feretti website to get a brochure from one of their yachts,
(the brochure was crap, just the same info / flashy pictures as on their website)
and since then I've got 4 ! phoncalls from sales people
I was just curious about some techical specs ...
which they send me in a mail after asking

Ah but they clearly spotted you as a future buyer of a new boat!

 

[Pinnacle]

I disagree and I say this as an exhibitor at more tedious exhibitions than I can remember. Exhibiting your products at such shows should serve 3 purposes. First and most obviously purpose no1 is to have pre-arranged visits from potential buyers and hopefully turn those into sales. Purpose no2 is to meet potential buyers who have not made pre-arranged appointments to visit your stand but could be turned into potential sales and purpose no3 is to allow people to inspect your products who are not immediate potential buyers but could be in the future. The trouble with the gatekeeper system is that it really only suits purpose no1, could seriously piss off people who fall under purpose no2 and does not meet purpose no3 in any way

If all exhibitors do at exhibitions is to operate a gatekeeper system in order just to meet pre-arranged hot prospects and sign orders on the stand just for publicity, then what is the point of spending all that money to exhibit your products? You might as well take those few people to another form of hospitality which would cost you a whole lot less than an exhibition. I always admired the way that Sunseeker managed their stand at LIBS in stark contrast to others. They allowed everybody on to their stand and everybody on to their boats and they seemed to understand that exhibitions are as much about creating future customers as it is about serving existing ones

So I did enjoy BOOT this year but I didnt go onto a number of stands because I just could not be arsed to go through the gatekeeper system every time which means I didnt get to see boats that I might want to buy in the future and the exhibitor did not get to meet me and the likelihood of me buying one of their boats in the future is lower as a result

Mike. I am with you on this. I tried to enter the Beneteau stand, but could not without registering. Guess what, I ignored them and went to the Bavaria stand instead. And I am a former Beneteau owner. Go figure, as our US cousins would say.

 

[Momac]

If you’re paying tens or possible hundreds of thousands of pounds to exhibit I think they’re entitled to know who is visiting their stand and where they are from. .

Why is that?
Do you walk into a supermarket and expect to provide your details before being allowed in ?

I can share my business card electronically using an app called Haystack . They should exchange the details that way - its is as simple as scanning a bar code.

 

[Bouba]

I cannot believe that this kind of thread (and there is one after every show) is not picked up by the marketing department of these boat manufacturers.

 

[Switch]

Why is that?
Do you walk into a supermarket and expect to provide your details before being allowed in ?

I can share my business card electronically using an app called Haystack . They should exchange the details that way - its is as simple as scanning a bar code.

If you think buying a boat and a tin of baked beans is the same I very much doubt they’d want your details ?

 

[Powersalt]

I am still trying to figure out what Galeon have done to Buaba. I thought their stand was great

 

[EricJ]

I agree that the whole registration thing went a bit through the roof. I had to register at the Jeanneau stand. I am in their database, but they could not find me. Once inside it was all good, I spent quite some time looking at the NC33/37 and Leader.
I went on Wednesday which was a calm day; some salespeople said it had been a quiet week altogether. The only stand which seems always busy is the Princess stand. They have loads and loads of stand personnel, from a guy who greets you on the stairs to all the hostesses at the desk and hospitality, sales people and more hostesses that need to control access to each boat. A hostess kindly showed me around the new 45. The interior styling of Princess seems to get nicer with every new model. The mid cabin is fine (with some unavoidable intrusion from the ceiling), but this thing comes with IPS which is a pity IMHO. The P43 with the 550 hp Cummins was a better proposition in my view. I wonder if Princess is totally abandoning shafts for anything below 50 feet.
Also had a look on the Y75 as the new Y85 was too busy. The use of space is just fantastic on this boat and one could argue what you need a Y85 for. The 85 has no private access to the mastercabin like the 75 but also no mastercabin on deck level like the 30m.
I had a pleasant conversation with the Dutch dealer at the Fairline stand. The Sq53 is a nice boat altogether. There are perhaps some more steps down below than in other boats, but I liked the mastercabin with the lobby area that they created at the entrance. Also the layout choices that are offered make a lot of sense to adapt to different markets.

Back to some smaller stuff i found the Nimbus 305 coupe a great little boat with a single D3-220 on V-drives for max 21 knots. The accommodation is fairly small, but seems ok to me. Nice boat for all year round boating. The one on display was hull number 191 (!!)
The Marex 360 has great use of space, but pricey at around 400k. Dealer told me they have sterndrive now but shafts will be available later this year. The 310 I also found impressive in what they got into that 9.5 m hull.
All in all a great day out. I could easily spend another day there.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I can share my business card electronically using an app called Haystack . They should exchange the details that way - its is as simple as scanning a bar code.

I didnt really want to steal the idea from one of my forum colleagues who also attended on Tuesday but here goes anyway. Sorry J. Why not give all visitors to the exhibition the option to answer a few questions about themselves and their boating history and in return receive some kind of card which could be quickly scanned by a machine on entry to a stand and which would could be used by the exhibitor to collate details of all visitors to their stand. Or if exhibitors still wanted to use a human gatekeeper, the card could be quickly scanned to identify which particular dealer on the stand would be needed for that visitor

 

[Bouba]

I am still trying to figure out what Galeon have done to Buaba. I thought their stand was great

At the Paris show, about two years ago, they wouldn’t let me on their boat! I’d already stirred up the crowd on another stand and the girls let everyone through, but the Galeon girls would not budge:disgust:

 

[Nigelpickin]

I didnt really want to steal the idea from one of my forum colleagues who also attended on Tuesday but here goes anyway. Sorry J. Why not give all visitors to the exhibition the option to answer a few questions about themselves and their boating history and in return receive some kind of card which could be quickly scanned by a machine on entry to a stand and which would could be used by the exhibitor to collate details of all visitors to their stand. Or if exhibitors still wanted to use a human gatekeeper, the card could be quickly scanned to identify which particular dealer on the stand would be needed for that visitor

Because it’s too easy!

But just an app with a list of stands - you select the stand you are about to visit and it sends a contact form to the stand - it’s unvelievable that this simple tech is not in use.
The sales opportunities are massive - as an exhibitor you can use the app to qualify the visitor and schedule time for coffee/wine/tlc....
And then when you’re off the stand it posts to your Facebook and instagram (by agreement), with a shot of you on a bling yacht or in a HH jacket or whatever.
There’s loads more you can do with show offers, fast track visits, flash sales - if this kind of dynamic tech isn’t being used then wow, really!?
we were doing this kind of thing 5 years ago....

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Let me get this straight - £300ish to fly to Dusseldorf to see a boat show, £20+ for a ticket to get in and yet they decide whether or not you're allowed to look at the boats? I think I'd give them my details, look around the boats if I wanted to and then, once they'd got my details nicely distributed throughout their systems, send them a formal request to delete all my details per GDPR - explaining exactly why I wanted them to delete them. Are these people idiots?

I shall retire in a few years or so and will almost certainly be buying a reasonably new or new boat when I do - I may even live aboard. Anybody who has treated me like that had better have a very special offering if they are expecting my money and I can't be rare in having that viewpoint.

It's strange - at Southampton I have happily wondered over all sorts of boats, stating up front that, while I sail as crew and charter as well, I have no intention of buying a boat for some years so as not to mislead anyone (and to let them know that I have a vague idea about their product already). Never once has anybody refused me a look around.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Let me get this straight - £300ish to fly to Dusseldorf to see a boat show, £20+ for a ticket to get in and yet they decide whether or not you're allowed to look at the boats? I think I'd give them my details, look around the boats if I wanted to and then, once they'd got my details nicely distributed throughout their systems, send them a formal request to delete all my details per GDPR - explaining exactly why I wanted them to delete them. Are these people idiots?

I shall retire in a few years or so and will almost certainly be buying a reasonably new or new boat when I do - I may even live aboard. Anybody who has treated me like that had better have a very special offering if they are expecting my money and I can't be rare in having that viewpoint.

It's strange - at Southampton I have happily wondered over all sorts of boats, stating up front that, while I sail as crew and charter as well, I have no intention of buying a boat for some years so as not to mislead anyone (and to let them know that I have a vague idea about their product already). Never once has anybody refused me a look around.

Grumpy indeed.... Does the GDPR extend to the rest of the world

 

[CLB]

Grumpy indeed.... Does the GDPR extend to the rest of the world

Its an EU thing, so would be relevant in this scenario

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Because it’s too easy!

But just an app with a list of stands - you select the stand you are about to visit and it sends a contact form to the stand - it’s unvelievable that this simple tech is not in use. .

Of course! Thats even better. Are you aware of any exhibitions that use this technology?

 

[Nigelpickin]

Of course! Thats even better. Are you aware of any exhibitions that use this technology?

We created an app for some events that we ran several years ago - allowing clients to hook up with us, exhibitors to push information and generally communicate business to consumer and back. Really simple - Boot should be onto this - it would add so much value to the exhibitors - imagine if their back end could flag visitors who have visited a boat more than once and tracked time on the stand, what a great way to hone in on a potential customer....
It would cost pennies in the grand scheme of things and for visitors who want to opt out, fine, they go back to the data capture as it is currently and the exhibitors have a perfect way to incentivize visitor to download and join in....

 

[Nigelpickin]

Of course! Thats even better. Are you aware of any exhibitions that use this technology?

We created an app for some events that we ran several years ago - allowing clients to hook up with us, exhibitors to push information and generally communicate business to consumer and back. Really simple - Boot should be onto this - it would add so much value to the exhibitors - imagine if their back end could flag visitors who have visited a boat more than once and tracked time on the stand, what a great way to hone in on a potential customer....
It would cost pennies in the grand scheme of things and for visitors who want to opt out, fine, they go back to the data capture as it is currently and the exhibitors have a perfect way to incentivize visitor to download and join in....

 

[Blue Sunray]

Let me get this straight - £300ish to fly to Dusseldorf to see a boat show, £20+ for a ticket to get in and yet they decide whether or not you're allowed to look at the boats? I think I'd give them my details, look around the boats if I wanted to and then, once they'd got my details nicely distributed throughout their systems, send them a formal request to delete all my details per GDPR - explaining exactly why I wanted them to delete them. Are these people idiots?

I shall retire in a few years or so and will almost certainly be buying a reasonably new or new boat when I do - I may even live aboard. Anybody who has treated me like that had better have a very special offering if they are expecting my money and I can't be rare in having that viewpoint.

It's strange - at Southampton I have happily wondered over all sorts of boats, stating up front that, while I sail as crew and charter as well, I have no intention of buying a boat for some years so as not to mislead anyone (and to let them know that I have a vague idea about their product already). Never once has anybody refused me a look around.

On the odd occasion where I've come across this sort of requirement and I don't want further contact I tend to give an entirely fictitious set of details, they don't seem to check.

It's still a pain though and I entirely concur with the thrust of your second paragraph.

 

[laika]

I think I'd give them my details, look around the boats if I wanted to and then, once they'd got my details nicely distributed throughout their systems, send them a formal request to delete all my details per GDPR - explaining exactly why I wanted them to delete them.

So you do that and they ignore you and you chase it and they ignore you and then you research the equivalent of the ico in their country and have to engage with them via google translate and eventually after you’ve wasted several hours of your time you are removed.

Or you could give them the hotmail address you never check like I do.

We were not allowed on any sailing boats without an appointment. By lunchtime it was next day appointments only. This has been the only annoyance. Show is massive. I’ve had longer journey times to Brighton than it took to get from Canary Wharf to Düsseldorf via London city airport

 

[mcanderson]

Of course! Thats even better. Are you aware of any exhibitions that use this technology?

A couple of years ago I went to the Bangalor airshow and our passes had RFID chips in them. Everywhere you went was monitored as was the stands you visited. It was impressive, but has a few security issues. We often forgot our passes as we wandered about.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Grumpy indeed.... Does the GDPR extend to the rest of the world

Not wanting to drift to far away from boats, the GDPR does sort of extend to the rest of the world. If you're American for example you don't have to comply with GDPR unless you are processing the details of and EU/EEA subject. If you are and don't follow the GDPR then the foreign company that doesn't comply can be fined. Obviously they need to want to do business with the EU for that to have any effect but it means outfits like Brunswick or Raymarine need to comply in practice.

I still think it's pretty appalling behaviour though even if it was a bit of a Meldrew rant.