The LA Boat Show, Anyone Bother to go?

[Wake Bandits]

I don't think that the Boat Mfgs have realized yet that boats don't sell themselves any more.

Those days are way, way over. I think the dealers are wishing that hard fact of butt naked truth away.

Didn't see anything in the way of salesmanship from anyone.
You'd think a dealer rep would talk the services the dealer/MFG offered, perhaps talk a bit of what boat they had that would fit the customers needs, trades,, perhaps a re-refurbishment of the boat the potential customer already had with the excellent gel and glass shop on premises. We and our group of boaters didn't see nor hear any of that.

We've been interested in a new Tige'. We buy a new boat every three to four years.
Figured we'd get a closer look at the Tige' dealers line when we received the service special card and took the boat in.

None of our Tige' owning neighbors got the card, nor did we.
If anything puts warm bodies in a dealer show room that certainly would.

In all sincerity, I really think boat dealers haven't woke up to the cold hard fact boats don't sell themselves anymore,, and they ain't gonna wake up one morning and that's all changed.
It's gonna be that way for the better part of our lifetimes.

[Domsz06]

I went and met Rick Correll. The show sucked IMO, but Rick was a nice guy and it was great to talk to him. He invited me down to the factory to take a tour, so I'm going to do that in April I hope.

[Jeffe]

I went there, did a few quick laps & wasn't impressed at all & than assisted in selling some wake gear at a friends shop that had a booth there.

Surprisingly, they absolutely killed it in selling product.

[gman]

It was sad. A number of boat manuf were not there. Last year the show was about 1/2 the size as in previous years. this year it was about 30% smaller than last year.

[brett22i]

Lets face it, boats are not selling and if they are you have to give it away. The days of going to the boat show and and picking out any boat and signing your life away are long gone. It cost amazing amounts of money and preperation to do a decent boat show. Since most markets where boat sales are in the toilet, most dealers are simply skipping the shows because of cost. Even if they sold one boat it might cover the boat shows expense, so whats the point?
Boat shows used to be where you got to see all the new boat designs and if you were a real buyer, its where you went to get a good deal. The whole point was to go get educated on the boats by the sales person and then pull the trigger. The internet is the "new" boat show. You can visit any boat manufacturer on your computer, read forums all day long from 14 year kids telling you why their friends dad's next door neighbors cousins boat that he has never been on is the best.
I think dealers have realized boat shows are exactly just that, "a show", and the sales that used to come from them have weakened over the past 6-8 years making them an expense to cut out.

[wallacmc]

Many valid points, but IMHO, the boat show is still the only place where someone with a busy schedule can get a crap load of reasearch done while also seeing all of the different products next to each other with their own eyes. My wife and I just bought a new tige, but that came after three boat shows worth of research and getting to know the different dealers. When we went the first time, we had never heard of Tige, because all of my family runs runabouts. If not for the show, we would not have made as good of a decision and probably wouldn't have felt comfortable making a decision. I understand the shortsighted reasons for not participating in a show, but dealers need to realize, as mine does, that there is much more value in a show than selling boats that weekend. The sale of my 2010 began in 2007. I guess some dealers are better and smarter than others.

[H2O-PoPo]

I went to the LA Boat show and was VERY impressed by the Tige dealer from Corona, CA. I believe his name was rick? The owner spent a lot of time with me and my girlfriend and answered all of our questions and told us a lot about his dealership. Very low pressure and a VERY impressive and pleasant experience.

I was very happy with the local Tige dealership and their display of boats and staff.



The show as a whole was much smaller and a little disappointing considering the drive.

[murphini]

Ditto. My 2008 purchase of my Tige started in 2005, seeing the different boats in person. Amazing how much different they are to get into/walk around and understand the layout.

Our company also exhibits at tradeshows (software, not boats), so I know the expense in gearing up to make a good show. I can only imagine the expense of shipping boats instead of just a tradeshow booth.

I hope the shows make it affordable for the boat dealers to exhibit because the 2011-2013 sales are starting right now. good luck