Dealership Management

Dealers convened again this month for the Dealership Insights Forum. Following last month’s discussion about starting service off on the right foot, this month dealers shared best practices for improving service back-end processes.   Here are some key insights from this month’s discussion.   What can dealers do to ensure customer satisfaction at every point? […]

Read the 2024 RV Industry Trends Report For More RV Industry Statistics For more insights like this, read our RV Industry Trends Report. In this report, we share data-driven insights from leading industry organizations and experts, to help dealers like you navigate the road ahead.    

Navigating your dealership’s marketing strategy can feel a lot like navigating an area as wide and diverse as the open road or ocean.   RVs, for instance, can be everything from a weekend camper’s cozy retreat to a luxury home on wheels for the committed road tripper. Marine products range from small dinghies perfect for […]

If you’re a dealership owner or manager looking to improve the skills and engagement of your employees, you may want to consider dealership peer-to-peer training. After all, the biggest asset a dealership has is its employees, and a strong, well-trained team is likely to be more engaged and invested in the success of the dealership.   […]

At IDS, women play an integral role in helping RV, trailer, and marine dealerships run their dealership management software efficiently and provide a seamless customer experience for them.   From customer success coordinators to sales engineers and professional services directors, the women at IDS bring unique perspectives and skill sets to their roles. And they […]

If you’re thinking about changing dealership management systems (DMS), you’re not alone. Many dealers realize that their manual processes or non-industry-specific software create inefficiencies and hold back growth. But switching your DMS can seem like an overwhelming task… so, when is the right time?   Odds are, if you’re thinking about this issue, that’s a […]

  During the off-season, you don’t have to sit back and wait for things to get busy again.   Instead, you can take steps to both grow sales and position your dealership for a stronger busy season next year.   In this guide, we’ll examine five best practices for how to make the most of […]

  Your dealership sells fun and adventure. Whether you’re serving someone looking to buy a boat for fishing trips or an RV for road trips, you’re helping customers lift stress and enjoy life. But as a dealership leader, you can’t always take that easygoing front-end sales approach to your back-end operations. The reality is that […]

When’s the last time you evaluated the amount of time it takes to service a unit at your dealership?   If you’re not tracking how long it takes, you may be missing out on opportunities to increase your dealership’s revenue, productivity, and – most importantly – customer satisfaction. After all, the last thing a customer […]

The representation of women in the Marine industry has increased significantly over the last decade on all fronts. There are more women today working in marine dealerships, more women involved in maritime trading and logistics associations, and more female customers as well. In fact, since the pandemic, women are driving the majority of the purchase […]

Hiring the right Service Writer (or Service Advisor) can be tricky, given how sensitive their job is. After all, they are in contact with your customers more than anyone else, and it’s their responsibility to ensure that your customers’ equipment servicing needs are properly looked after.   It’s an important job, and if mishandled, it […]

Data is a very broad term that encompasses every part of your dealership.   Merriam-Webster defines data as:   “Facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something.” Meanwhile, “data mining” is defined as, “the practice of searching through large amounts of computerized data to find useful patterns or trends.”   If you’re […]

The RV industry has typically been a male-dominated one. But the times are changing and we’re seeing more women step into management roles at dealerships, manufacturers, dealer associations, and more. We teamed up with the RV Women’s Alliance to ask RV industry women for their insights on the state of the RV industry today and […]

Like any other part of business growth, creating a consistently good customer experience at your dealership requires that you have a strategy.   But before diving into the steps for defining a customer experience strategy, we need to debunk a couple of common customer experience myths.   Click to jump to section: Busting Customer Experience […]

Do you want to get even more people to enjoy the RV or Marine lifestyle? Are you looking to open (or have already opened) more than one location? Opening a new location is an exciting endeavor, but it comes with unique challenges. A big part of it is managing your brand effectively. According to a […]

RV and Marine dealers are in the business of creating a lifestyle of positivity and freedom for their customers. But, what about the lifestyle of employees within the dealership? After all, front-line employees are the ones dealing with customers day-to-day, so setting them up for success matters. Here are some tips on creating employee goals […]

What makes you or any other dealer successful? There are many answers to this question, but the simplest one is your longevity. If you are able to consistently weather storms like the economic downturn of 2008 and others, while remaining profitable, then you can safely consider yourself a successful dealer. However, the word “consistently” is […]