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a dealership can realistically expect to achieve the results it envi- When we first started this thing,a lot of the boat dealers here were
<br /> sioned when the venture began. like,'Oh man,this is really going to cut into our sales:But it really
<br /> "We still believe in it,even though we fell short of our goals,he doesn't,because a lot of people that join the club were not neces-
<br /> says."The boat club customers absolutely loved it." sarily going to be boat owners:'
<br /> The members of Port Harbor's boat club included people who Don Spong has come to the same conclusion. President of
<br /> were new to boating,some who liked the freedom of using a pon- Nautical Toys International,a company based in Tampa that licens-
<br /> toon one day and ski boat the next,and others who could just no es its expertise and infrastructure to people looking to open a boat
<br /> longer afford to be owners. club,Spong started his first
<br /> As a boat dealer,Soucy was understandably concerned that pro- club in 1993 and was one
<br /> viding his dealership's customers-some of whom might be poten- of the industry's pioneers.
<br /> tial boat buyers-an alternative to boat ownership would cost the He says that half the mem- .,*
<br /> company sales.But in researching that possibility,he found that all bers at the six clubs
<br /> of the other dealers he talked with,many in his own 20 Group,told Nautical Toys currently 6"" "
<br /> him that, in their experience, boat clubs helped sales rather than works with are previous ,
<br /> hurt them. boat owners,but the other M..... F
<br /> "Everyone that I've talked to that was in a boat-club-rich area half are new to boating.
<br /> like Virginia Beach,North Carolina,places like that,said that boat "They have never
<br /> clubs-not ones that they owned,but the neighboring boat-club owned a boat and proba-
<br /> company-only helped their business,"Soucy says. bly would never even buy
<br /> One of two things would invariably happen to the club mem- a boat if it wasn't for a boat club,"Spong says."We have people that
<br /> bers,Soucy was told.Either they loved boating so much that they will come in and tell us,'I've been thinking about buying a boat,but
<br /> would end up buying their own boats to escape the club's access before I spend thirty or forty thousand dollars,I want to make sure
<br /> restrictions,or they had a bad experience,usually because the boats that I'm doing the right thing.So I'm only going to be in the club
<br /> were shoddy or poorly maintained,and left the club to buy a bet- for a year.'They'll tell you this on the front end.A lot of those peo-
<br /> ter boat of their own.
<br /> Not all dealers see it that way.Frank Fahringer,business devel-
<br /> opment manager of Carefree Boat Clubs,says he's encountered a
<br /> number of dealerships that simply do not want to do business with
<br /> him. Fahringer, who has operated a boat club in Virginia since MARINE
<br /> 2002, and whose company licenses the Carefree system to otherDEllikER
<br /> locations,has met dealers who"look at us like we stole right out of
<br /> their pocket. 0 P P O R T UNIT TIIE S OPEN
<br /> "Some boat dealers get it,"Fahringer says."We've had very good
<br /> luck in finding boat dealer partners that would work with us, and
<br /> we've found some that are absolutely against us,because they see us
<br /> as everybody that joins the club is a potential lost sale for them.And
<br /> that's just not the case.I mean there are some,I will not tell you a ti{)L
<br /> story.There are some people that would have bought a boat if we ,,DI) ik �,
<br /> were not available But most of our members were not going to buy �; �'� �
<br /> boats,at least not right away.It's just too big a commitment." _ ,t l i,' 1 I
<br /> LS
<br /> Carefree prefers to work with the dealerships near its loca- IS I
<br /> tions.Fahringer says the company's District of Columbia location '
<br /> has a strong working relationship with Prince William Marina,
<br /> buying boats and parts and getting its service work done there.
<br /> The dealership gives the club good deals for its business and, in
<br /> return, Carefree promotes Prince William to members who are _ -
<br /> looking to buy boats.
<br /> "The idea is that our members will graduate from the club and
<br /> buy boats,"Fahringer says. "So we want them to buy boats from
<br /> our partners.We absolutely do"
<br /> Church believes that, for the most part, potential boat club
<br /> members are not drawn from the same pool as people interested in CAREFREE
<br /> buying boats."Somebody may be all hot and heavy about buying Contact:
<br /> a boat but then look at the boat club as a better deal,that may hap- Frank Fahringer
<br /> pen,"he says."But somebody that's going to buy a boat probably 75 7.8 70.12 70 BOAT CLUB
<br /> isn't interested in a boat club because of the restrictions attached.
<br /> Frank@carefreeboats.com
<br /> www.carefreeboats.com
<br /> www.boating-industry.com MARCH 2010-Boating Industry 33
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