Dusseldorf great and Oyster Yachts not so..

This is called qualifying.... Another question we used to ask is have you considered where you might keep such a boat. Depending on how hey answered such questions dictated how much time you could afford them.

When I worked at shows we would have anywhere between 2-12 people on the boat at any given time. When it was quiet you could spend more time with people but when it was flat out you had to get to the bottom of who's buying and who isn't. As a sales guy you are there to sell so make sure you are talking to the right person.

In an ideal world we would be able to get on any boat we want just by walking up to the stand. Sadly there are many other people at the shows so it is not also possible... Perhaps he girl should have smiled when asking for an appointment to be made.

It's not the end of the world and worse things have happened at sea.

Let's hope that Oyster put a nice smiley face on at Southampton for us.. I recommend pre booking an appointment when you know you're going just in case they are busy
 
Lozzer said:
This is called qualifying.... Another question we used to ask is have you considered where you might keep such a boat. Depending on how hey answered such questions dictated how much time you could afford them.

When I worked at shows we would have anywhere between 2-12 people on the boat at any given time. When it was quiet you could spend more time with people but when it was flat out you had to get to the bottom of who's buying and who isn't. As a sales guy you are there to sell so make sure you are talking to the right person.
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Hang on, do you work for Oyster? You surely can't have been advising your boss as to the merits of buying one of his own boats!!!
 
AndrewfromFal said:
Irrelevant; the revenue generated by ticket sales doesn't go to the exhibitors.
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I doubt that any of the money I pay for YM and PBO goes to the advertisers, but I still expect the magazines to be worth reading. They are, like boat shows, not just places for advertisers to sell things.

Anyway, if visitors weren't charged the exhibitors would have to pay substantially more between them. Some (non boat) shows charge different rates according to whether you are just selling something or giving the public something to do. I wonder if Boat Shows are the same? I expect Richard knows, but don't expect him to be able to say.
 
No I don't work for Oyster. I once worked for Princess so I have first hand experience of working the shows and selling yachts. You could have spotted that by the number of people I had on boat at the shows..

I have advised my current boss on buying yachts. We went to Southampton boat show and walked away with a motor yacht. My boss was a serious buyer, we had done our homework and wild horses would not have stopped us buying what we wanted Despite the best efforts of the management team of the company we bought from. The experience I have to say wasn't the best but we learn.

Now we are in the market for sailing yacht, research done plan being executed. Out of all the companies I / we have looked at and spoken to we have found Oyster streets ahead in the TOTAL package.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the interaction and are very excited.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I doubt that any of the money I pay for YM and PBO goes to the advertisers, but I still expect the magazines to be worth reading. They are, like boat shows, not just places for advertisers to sell things.
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But the responsibility for the 'content' which you buy the magazines for is the responsibility of the publisher, not the advertisers. - For your analogy to work, it's like buying YM and then complaining about the photography in a Hallberg Rassy advert not being to your taste.

In the same way, the relative merits of a show are down to the Exhibition organisers (where real fortunes are to be made).
 
AndrewfromFal said:
But the responsibility for the 'content' which you buy the magazines for is the responsibility of the publisher, not the advertisers. - For your analogy to work, it's like buying YM and then complaining about the photography in a Hallberg Rassy advert not being to your taste.
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True but irrelevant. Although I am surprised that the lifejacket fundies who write to the mags full of moral outrage at the site of an unjacketed sailor haven't twigged that every single boat advert shows people without lifejackets.

Back at the issue, you claimed that "the reason these shows exist in the first place is for exhibitors to sell product, not as some sort of amusement park for grown ups" which I contend is clearly nonsense because we punters pay to go in. As with the mags, the responsibility for amusing us lies with the organisers (publishers) and how they do that is up to them, but as far as paying visitors are concerned, they most certainly are amusement parks.
 
JumbleDuck said:
As with the mags, the responsibility for amusing us lies with the organisers (publishers)
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Which is something they actually rely on the exhibitors to do......which given an exhibitor like Oyster will have paid the equivalent of a several thousand entry tickets for the privilege of doing; so I don't think it's reasonable to complain that they run their stand in a way they see fit, which may be different to the way other exhibitors choose to run theirs. - My original point was that there would be no show without the exhibitors, and if they felt for a moment their cash would be better spent doing something else, they'd be off. Nobody goes to the time, effort and expense of exhibiting at a show for the sake of a few 'oooohs' and 'aaahs' from whoever may be passing.
 
Its over 10 years ago, so I am sure the number has changed, but when I first started at boats shows selling new boats it was costing us a minimum of £400 per hour to be there.

You have to get sales from the show. The organisers certainly didn't give us a cut from the gate!
 
jonic said:
Its over 10 years ago, so I am sure the number has changed, but when I first started at boats shows selling new boats it was costing us a minimum of £400 per hour to be there.

You have to get sales from the show. The organisers certainly didn't give us a cut from the gate!
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you should try selling magazines....
 
My experience with Oyster has been fine, for what it's worth. We rocked up unannounced, wife and two kids, one Saturday at LIBS a couple of years ago, and asked if we could get aboard for a look around. They said not right now, but come back at 3pm and there's availability. And they were very welcoming and gave expensive-looking brochures to the kids. You have to play the game of getting an appointment, but it was possible. And no, I wasn't well dressed and don't look rich (and looks don't lie in this case).

Southerly are generally fine too. Again, you have to play their game of registering, but that's fine. I've bumped up a particular salesman at Southerly who is pretty unwelcoming. Then again, the last time I was on their stand I chatted to a salesman with a North American accent who couldn't have been nicer. Just depends who you get, I suppose. In short, I see them both as good brand ambassadors for the UK boat industry.
 
Happy for IPC to reissue their magazines with new dates providing the advertisers are prepared to supply the boats at the prices advertised!!

Got the £'s its the s & d that may be difficult - OK pay in £ and keep the change!!
 
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