Soton Boat show: pretty awful salesmen

[Quandary]

So Cornish Crabber take half the yard up to the boat shows to spend their time entertaining potential customers, good on them. But they are a commercial company not a charity so somebody has to pay for all those weeks of time when the guys are entertaining boat show visitors and not making boats.
I wonder who pays for all that time?
If they sell a hundred boats at every boat show the costs would be spread pretty thin and the customer of each boat would probably be paying for less than a man day of lost production but I suspect they do not sell that many.
I would rather have to make a bit of effort to achieve my purchase and have the guys back in the yard working on making a good job of my boat than pay an extra few thousand quid so the boat show visitors feel good about their visitor experience.

 

[E39mad]

Hard to get paid staff, but if you look after your owners it shouldn't be hard to get them to help you.

I, and several other Rustler owners gladly help them each year. We are not sales people, but being owners we generally can tell if someone is seriously in the boat buying mood or not.

We do it because we like talking to others about our passion. I can assure you that the rates we charge are not a financial burden to the builder.

As an ex new yacht salesman (nearly 6 years with one company -broker for 18 months previously in the 1990's) the quality of staff varied from very good to poor. Owners were OK but many would just bleat on how good the boat was without qualifying the viewer.

I would try and ask roughly the following questions of everyone who came aboard:

Do you have a boat at present? - show some interest if yes
If yes where abouts do you sail? - try and understand requirements
Are you looking to change/buy in the next 12 months?

Depending upon the answers is whether I spend more time with them or whether I politely ask them to have a look around and move onto the next potential.

 

[maxi77]

I spent the best part of 25 years stand manning of quite a few shows each year at varying levels. All of my employers were very aware of how much the exercise cost and expected me to use my time as effectively as possible. It never ceases to amaze me how badly some stands are run at so many shows, especially those where they will only take a few orders over the period of the show, like boat stands, engine stands and electronic manufacturers. As several here have pointed out poor treatment of punters loses sales even if they would never be made at the show.

 

[jonic]

When I used to sell new boats in 2004, we worked out it cost us £400 per hour, yes per hour, to be there.

The tricks, lies and scams some people pulled in order to spend half an hour of one of those precious and expensive hours on board, deep in conversation about a yacht that they would never buy, were outrageous.

You know who you are

I know of one Co. who spent 65k exhibiting a boat and promptly went bust soon after the show.

Which is why I only sell used boats

 

[LittleSister]

When I used to sell new boats in 2004, we worked out it cost us £400 per hour, yes per hour, to be there....

Surely that's all the more reason it should be done properly, and anyone who might be a potential buyer is encouraged and not discouraged?

Unless an inviting and encouraging ambience is created, it's likely to be £400 an hour down the drain. Even if it costs more to put on a proper show - say £420 or £450 an hour - this is more likely to be a worthwhile investment.

And while it's true that if engineers and managers are at the show they're not building boats, if no-one at the show is selling boats, there's not much point in building them!

 

[gjgm]

As an ex new yacht salesman (nearly 6 years with one company -broker for 18 months previously in the 1990's) the quality of staff varied from very good to poor. Owners were OK but many would just bleat on how good the boat was without qualifying the viewer.

I would try and ask roughly the following questions of everyone who came aboard:

Do you have a boat at present? - show some interest if yes
If yes where abouts do you sail? - try and understand requirements
Are you looking to change/buy in the next 12 months?

Depending upon the answers is whether I spend more time with them or whether I politely ask them to have a look around and move onto the next potential.

I can see the rationale, but if someone starts with that I switch off totally.
So, you arrive pretty obviously having come off a boat, and they start... do you own a boat?
No, numb nuts, I just happen to spend my leisure hours in charity clothing shops hoping to find sailing clothes so I can get on your boat....
Sharpen up a tad ,boys ....

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

When I used to sell new boats in 2004, we worked out it cost us £400 per hour, yes per hour, to be there.

The tricks, lies and scams some people pulled in order to spend half an hour of one of those precious and expensive hours on board, deep in conversation about a yacht that they would never buy, were outrageous.

You know who you are

I know of one Co. who spent 65k exhibiting a boat and promptly went bust soon after the show.

Which is why I only sell used boats

The boat show is 10 days long as is open for about 85 hours.
About £6k for each cruising boat, so £70 per hour excluding staff cost and expenses.

How do you spend £330 per hour on staff? I would have done it for half that?

 

[Quandary]

The boat show is 10 days long as is open for about 85 hours.
About £6k for each cruising boat, so £70 per hour excluding staff cost and expenses.

How do you spend £330 per hour on staff? Would have done it for way less?

Surely the exhibitors need to take something along to exhibit if they are going to give you the entertainment you expect, do you think that does not cost anything.

 

[gjgm]

So Cornish Crabber take half the yard up to the boat shows to spend their time entertaining potential customers, good on them. But they are a commercial company not a charity so somebody has to pay for all those weeks of time when the guys are entertaining boat show visitors and not making boats.
I wonder who pays for all that time?
If they sell a hundred boats at every boat show the costs would be spread pretty thin and the customer of each boat would probably be paying for less than a man day of lost production but I suspect they do not sell that many.
I would rather have to make a bit of effort to achieve my purchase and have the guys back in the yard working on making a good job of my boat than pay an extra few thousand quid so the boat show visitors feel good about their visitor experience.

So, are you saying you have ordered one, or decided not to order one, or quite what was your purchase ?
Or have you travelled to the yard and "wasted" vital management time, and even more vital construction time... Part of the experience.. it is YOUR boat. Dont know if the plastic French and German stuff offer it, but all the small or prestigious boys do.
If you were buying a brand new boat... wouldnt you get warm and fuzzy about it?

 

[dunedin]

Can I say that my experience at Southampton was very different. I found the on boat assistance to be generally good and informative.
I didn't spend much time on the big Benetau/Jeannea stands - and none at all at the Bavarias (can see these any time) so cannot comment on them.

But as others have noted the smaller builders don't have big permanent sales teams to man multiple boats, hence many of the people I spoke to were owners brought in for the occasion. All were good and many excellent - with a particular thanks to the gentleman on the Arcona 340.
There are a lot of dreamers walking through, and not an exact science "qualifying" those who are realistic potential customers. But I would say a good show from the boats I visited.

PS. Attended mid week - if serious take a day holiday and avoid weekends

 

[E39mad]

I can see the rationale, but if someone starts with that I switch off totally.
So, you arrive pretty obviously having come off a boat, and they start... do you own a boat?
No, numb nuts, I just happen to spend my leisure hours in charity clothing shops hoping to find sailing clothes so I can get on your boat....
Sharpen up a tad ,boys ....

Give over!

You may not have one because you have just sold or you have no interest in sailing and are on a jolly day trip. Being pleasant with everybody cost nothing. Most people like to speak about their own boat. I didn't sell awb's but quality boats to order!

 

[jonic]

The boat show is 10 days long as is open for about 85 hours.
About £6k for each cruising boat, so £70 per hour excluding staff cost and expenses.

How do you spend £330 per hour on staff? I would have done it for half that?

Catamarans.

Show advertising, staff hotels and subsistence, staff travel, and the big one - purchasing and shipping stock boats over from France. It soon adds up and up and up......

 

[Quandary]

So, are you saying you have ordered one, or decided not to order one, or quite what was your purchase ?
Or have you travelled to the yard and "wasted" vital management time, and even more vital construction time... Part of the experience.. it is YOUR boat. Dont know if the plastic French and German stuff offer it, but all the small or prestigious boys do.
If you were buying a brand new boat... wouldnt you get warm and fuzzy about it?

Can not grasp your point but I suspect you missed mine.
I have no customer interest in Cornish Crabbers and while I know marketing is a complex and expensive procedure I would prefer to buy products where the emphasis was on design and quality manufacture rather than sales. Some of the best yachts have never been exhibited at a boat show, if a product is good enough the discerning customer will find it. The serious buyer is not going to want to stand in line queueing behind a multitude of yachties out for a days bragging. Shows are for entertainment which might include a little light shopping, no one goes there with a massive cheque in their back pocket.

 

[flawed_logic]

I think its a different scenario when talking about the boat show, a very large % would be day out folks, which is fine but hat doesn't happen at your BMW / ford / whichever car dealership. If your serious about buying a boat you would have done a lot of research and contacted the dealers etc. Who's gonna turn up and spend 80k plus on a jount Round the boat show?

 

[Ehecatl]

Boat ShowStands

Went to the Boat show on Thursday, went onto a number of boats that obviously required booking, we were early and even though I said I was not buying but wanted to look, I was allowed on straight away. On one boat we had a very helpful and knowledgeable salesperson allocated to us . he knew from the outset that we were not buying but that did not stop him being attentive and helpful. Early morning, quiet time, maybe that was it. It might also have been attitude and politeness that did it. It is a long show and people will get tired and maybe a p****d off at the manners and approach of some attendees, give them a break. I do not work for anybody in the marine industry and have no connections with any of the exhibitors. I have though worked on exhibition stands.

 

[Resolution]

I can see the rationale, but if someone starts with that I switch off totally.
So, you arrive pretty obviously having come off a boat, and they start... do you own a boat?
No, numb nuts, I just happen to spend my leisure hours in charity clothing shops hoping to find sailing clothes so I can get on your boat....
Sharpen up a tad ,boys ....

OK, so what would you suggest for the opening gambit / assessment process?
Perhaps you can offer some helpful advice for the several occasional salesmen on this forum.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Surely the exhibitors need to take something along to exhibit if they are going to give you the entertainment you expect, do you think that does not cost anything.

I am sorry, I am just a simple chartered accountant.

If you take inventory to a show and bring it back afterwards it doesn't cost you anything. Of course, if you throw it away then that would be a factor, but when I left the show this year there were no yachts in the nearby skips. Did I miss something?

Of course if you are road shipping motorboats then there is a cost, but that serves you right. The cruising yachts are all pretty much sailed in, most by the owners.

 

[jonic]

The cruising yachts are all pretty much sailed in, most by the owners.

Not the AWB's when I was doing it.

Road transport from France mast down and uncommissioned, then commissioned in various dealerships along the south coast and sailed in by staff or delivery skippers.

 

[maxi77]

I am sorry, I am just a simple chartered accountant.

If you take inventory to a show and bring it back afterwards it doesn't cost you anything. Of course, if you throw it away then that would be a factor, but when I left the show this year there were no yachts in the nearby skips. Did I miss something?

Of course if you are road shipping motorboats then there is a cost, but that serves you right. The cruising yachts are all pretty much sailed in, most by the owners.

The organisers of these things charge an arn leg, the other arm and the other leg too just for the space, Then you find that the stand fitting electricity supply, internet connection food, drink etc all cast ammounts that make the sort of prices that chandlers ask us yauchties for look like absolute bl**dy bargains.

I used to do some of the big airshows and big companies today for Farnborough and the like will be parting with very big sums in millions just for 10 days or so.

 

[Jacana]

A few years ago I took a well heeled (no pun intended) client to SBS who had every intention of buying a powerboat for cash. Incredibly no-one took him seriously, and he left empty handed. This is not a new phenomenon.