How McKee RV Closed the Communication Gap on Their Team and With Customers

McKee RV is a good, honest family-owned business. Jon McKee is the General Manager at McKee RV. His parents founded the company in 1993.

When they started out, they were a full-line Chevrolet and GM dealer. They carried Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac—”the whole enchilada”. Over time, they made the transition towards focusing on RVs. Now, they stock 16 manufacturers, towables, drivables, and in between. In recent years, they have gained a strong customer base for higher-end models. Now, they are the #2 Super C dealer in the nation.

“It seems that we’re always in the growing phase. Every year, we’ve been able to achieve goals that we didn’t think were achievable when we started.

We have a lot of repeat business. You know, we’ve had customers that bought six coaches in one year, but then I just had a customer pick up today that’s bought five coaches over the course of three years. That’s a sign to me that we do go the extra mile, and they are pleased with the services that they receive.”

Their beginnings as an auto dealership have given the McKee RV team a unique communication benchmark throughout the sales and service cycles. We chatted with Jon to learn about how they create a high-caliber customer experience.

Streamlining communication

In his day-to-day work, Jon does a little bit of everything: putting deals together with the manufacturers, loading the inventory, updating the inventory pricing, assisting with sales quotes, and doing a little bit of accounting.

“One of our biggest headaches that we always had before we had IDS was the communication. I think at any dealership, whether it’s cars, boats, or RVs—makes no difference—communication is one of the biggest issues. IDS has helped tremendously with the communication between sales, service, and accounting. It really helps streamline things.”

Setting a higher benchmark for customer satisfaction

The RV industry still has a lot of catch-up to do with the auto industry in terms of both technology and processes.

“Coming from the car industry and over into the RV industry, you know, one of the biggest things that we learned over time is that the RV industry is just not where auto is. That’s within technology but also with satisfaction. To be able to deliver quality service to a consumer that has invested X amount of dollars into a purchase.

So that’s been one of the biggest headaches—being able to improve on it is a day-to-day thing. You’re never done. Every day, we’re looking for additional avenues to be able to give them better service.”

Short-term growing pains for long-term gains

After transitioning to focus on selling RVs, the McKee family saw a need for management software designed specifically for the RV industry.

“When we moved over to IDS, we came from Autosoft. They were the Stone Age. So, when we went to IDS, I was a little fearful, a little timid, because there were so many things that the software could do.

Well, you know what? Older dealerships, you know, always find it difficult to go ahead and teach old dogs new tricks. But it’s definitely worth the investment in the time to do it.”

Like any tool, you need to use it properly to get the best results.

“It’s not an autopilot deal. [The software] is only as good as the information that the department is putting in. If they’re only putting in half the effort, then they’re only going to get half the return.”

Keeping detailed customer service records

“It’s all about data. You have to input data to be able to track it, to know you’re selling, and where you’re slacking.

It may take you a little bit longer at the get-go, but you no longer have to go rifling through an endless number of documents and papers—you can simply have everything all digitalized. This allows you to be able to look at each and every customer and see the entire history of what they purchased, what they traded, how many visits to the service department.

It helps tremendously because whether it’s a $5000 unit or a $1,000,000 unit, when you do trade for one of those customer coaches, now we can provide a full history report to the new buyer.

When you compare it to the automotive side, you also have third-party companies that can provide you with a history report. Right now, the RV industry can’t do that. So having IDS and the ability to track all that—it’s very beneficial.”

Closing the cracks in communication on your team

To improve communication with your customers, you need to improve communication within your team as well.

“The number one reason why we switched to IDS was the integration between sales and service: service notifications, service backgrounds, you know, managing technician hours, and the ability to customize and input the information pertaining to that work order.

At the end of the day, the job isn’t done when the work order is completed. You still have to collect on it, submit it, and claim it. IDS is set up to allow you to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks.

It just makes it so much more seamless.”