MRAA adds Boatyard as Partner Member, Service Efficiency sponsor

by Boatyard 24 Mar 2022 17:55 PDT

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced today that Boatyard has joined the MRAA as a Partner Member and was named the official Service Efficiency sponsor for its Spotlight program in March. This month's Spotlight delivers insights, strategies and best practices for boat dealers to employ in their efforts to get service customers back on the water faster.

Boatyard helps dealers shorten their Repair Event Cycle Time (RECT) through their flagship product, the Boatyard customer communication platform. This platform works in conjunction with dealership management software to help dealers offer a modern customer experience for boat owners, all while reducing the amount of work required by their teams. Current customers of Boatyard save up to 8 hours of work a week by:

• Proactively communicating with customers through one-click messages and status updates
• Directly sharing photos and videos of jobs from the Boatyard Pro field app
• Centralizing an order timeline and internal notes to reduce errors
• Automating reminders for digital quotes and invoices to help reduce accounts receivable
• Collecting credit card information and document signatures up front through their robust online booking tool and custom mobile apps

"At Boatyard, we help our customers offer an incredible and personal experience for their boaters long after the sale has closed, particularly when it comes to service. It is equally important that we help service teams save time and cut the administrative backlog that is currently required just to keep their departments running," said Katy Judge Fairman, Director of Business Development for Boatyard. "There could be no better partner for us than the team at MRAA, who work tirelessly to help improve results for service teams and to raise awareness of the incredible experiences our industry can provide."

The MRAA Service Efficiency Spotlight program includes a comprehensive portal to help dealerships address the emerging topic of RECT, which in effect measures the amount of time that it takes for dealerships to complete service work. These cycle times have increased significantly since the onset of the pandemic, due in large part to the perfect storm of supply chain issues, lack of available technicians and a significant increase in demand and pressure on dealership service departments.

"The downside consequence of the significant growth our industry has experienced has certainly been the length of time it's taking to get parts and get boats serviced and back on the water," says Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. "This focus on helping dealers create more efficiencies, implement best practices and ultimately get customer boats serviced, we expect, will help dealers make more money in service, and we are so appreciative of Boatyard's support of this important effort."

The MRAA's service department resources, which come to life through articles, blogs, templates, case studies and best practices, can be found at www.MRAA.com/ImproveRECT.