If Sea Ray started their Owner's Club from scratch, they should definitely....

99% of the time, I'm a reader of posts - realizing (unfortunately) I have too little experience to constructively add here; however, as I was reading it dawned on me the number of sponsors on this site - people laying out cash in support of discussions, learning, and general boating BS with other (mostly) Sea Ray owners. That dedication would be a dream for a manufacturer's owners' club.

Perhaps, aside from the suggested "perk" revamps stated above, the root of a good owners' club can be found in what brings us here. While it may sound rudimentary, but the key is in the apostrophe and "club".

Aside from the technical postings (that are the core of these boards, I believe) what draws us here? For myself, I find I come to read especially in Winter. If SROC wants to build loyalty, be part of my winter support group.

As I stated at the start of this post, I don't contribute/participate much here, but do enjoy feeling a part of this "ClubSeaRay". To be successful, I believe folks downtown should seek to kindle this cohesion.

-Laurence
 
Turtlesboat said:
I agree with Rich. I avoid the Sea Ray section at local boat shows just because of MM. I won't even go to a MM dealer to buy parts. The only connection I have to Sea Ray is through this forum and that's because Rusty took the initiative to engage us on a personal level. And the only reason I even bought a Sea Ray is because of Frank on this forum. The support network for owners does not exist in the NE outside of this forum. It's time for Sea Ray to start walking the docks.
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I wouldn't label the whole NE as a dealer wasteland. I can't comment on Marine Max as I have never dealt with them. I can say though that in the Boston area, Russo Marine has always been good to us and our friends.

Henry
 
Henry Boyd said:
I wouldn't label the whole NE as a dealer wasteland. I can't comment on Marine Max as I have never dealt with them. I can say though that in the Boston area, Russo Marine has always been good to us and our friends.

Henry
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Yes you're right. Russo is the only Sea Ray Dealer in the NE that I would consider buying a Sea Ray from. But after I cruise it home, i'm on my own with everything.
 
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Turtlesboat said:
Here's what I would do, I would hire me (as a cameraman) and Rusty to make a weekly video series covering everything you can think of on a boat, in all kinds of boat models. From how to operation to repairs. Not only could you show off new boats, but you would also take a lot of the mystery out of boat ownership. Call it "In the bilge with Captain Rusty". I think every boat owner in the world would watch it religiously.
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Perfect! Rusty is coming out West for Labor Day and SRL is looking for a photographer. Come on out and join the party! Matt will be getting back to me real soon about some other items, right Matt? As far as the entire SROC goes, I agree that print media is not the best way to go anymore and is an unnecessary cost (not to mention the subscription seems to somehow disappear occasionally). The Sea Ray Launchpad is the way to go since once you are signed up it is emailed to everyone automatically. Forums like CSR and boat clubs like the one I am in that are brand loyal can help act as marketing arms for the company as long as there is a relationship as Rick mentioned already. If the company knows the customer and the customer is familiar with the people representing the company (Like we all are with Rusty), brand loyalty will continue. Points towards cool items are fine but pass them out for attending events like the homecoming (should be an annual event) and the CSR rendezvous. Additional points, of course should go to people that travelled the farthest by air, land and sea. Sponsor regional events where the brand can be promoted and relationships built. SR400DB is right, we have no Sea Ray presence in NorCal and this should be a large market for the brand. I have spoken to you as well as Brad & Tim regarding this and have offered to help in any way within reason. Build the relationships, get the brand back where it belongs and remember that Sea Ray should not just be about new boats since if nobody buys used boats, there will be fewer buying new ones due to the fact they need to hold onto their existing boat that they can't sell. Off of soapbox now...
 
Well I will say this at one time I was interested in ordering some Sea Ray logo clothing and other items, but the price point and the offerings killed that idea. I was interested in some shirts with my boat name and a reasonable facsimile image of a 380 Sea Ray Sundancer my year style, both T-Shirts and Polo shirts, but when it comes to these I like the Pocket T's and the pocket Polo's. I am not of the metro sexual generation which does not like pockets, as far as I am concerned the manufacturing sector only removed pockets as a material cost savings, sort of like removing one olive from every jar.

I was also interested in buying the fitted sheets, until I saw the listed price, I believe there is a business term available for these issues, ROI or some such term as well as others. But, Sea Ray has a goodly number of boats which they have sold, and as much as I hate to state it, I feel the price is escalated to sell on the brand name, whereas a bit lower price, equals more sales. I am not talking about my being so tight wad that it equates to me being some type of *-Mart only shopper, but certainly am not going to be buying at the current offered price.

One other aspect I see as a plus for Sea Ray is all of the free advertising they will also be receiving.
 
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A few scattered thoughts

Personally I like the mag...looks good and I get some questions on what kind of boat do I have.

I think Sea Ray needs to strive to be the boat of choice again...brand loyalty is good right now but I have noticed some grumbling among other owners. When I got back into boating after a hiatus...Sea Ray was going to be my boat. I Have been mostly pleased with things except for a few issues that eventually got resolved. Sea Ray needs to back their dealers more and not make them go to the individual suppliers for warranty work, it creates an abandonment issue. Something happens to my truck radio - I don't go to Sony to fix my Radio - I go to a Ford dealership that will fix everything on the vehicle. I had to get Sea Ray involved in an A/C issue - all at once it was solved. It would have been nice if I didn't have to take that route. I appreciated the help but it was late coming.

I get a few pointy nosed Viking, Bertram etc owners giving us the " that's a nice little boat look" instead of "Oh you have a Sea Ray", we need to change that...I think the Sea Ray brand is still suffering from a Brunswick hangover.
 
Turtlesboat said:
Yes you're right. Russo is the only Sea Ray Dealer in the NE that I would consider buying a Sea Ray from. But after I cruise it home, i'm on my own with everything.
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While more Mid-Atlantic, Prince William Marine is an excellent dealer and facility in the DC Metro area. They are a big reason I have bought two SeaRays.
 
WDCboater said:
While more Mid-Atlantic, Prince William Marine is an excellent dealer and facility in the DC Metro area. They are a big reason I have bought two SeaRays.
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Yes, I've heard of stories of great sea ray dealers that are helpful and even answer questions and will order parts for you, even goes as far as accepting money to do work on your boat. I think people tell these stories to us NY'ers to drive us crazy.
 
Let me add one other thing here. Matt, it is good that you are at least "trying". We want to be heard. You appear to be headed in that direction. Heck, I don't even know if there are any other SR employees on here (save Rusty) - they don't make it obvious if they are. Provided you follow through on what you seem to be trying to do, you are already making great strides toward you're end goal. But realize if you don't, it will be a HUGE slap in he face. We all know you won't be able to do it alone, but you could have a large group to support you if your bosses don't listen to you. We have so many ideas from various, diverse backgrounds. We can definitely give you tons of suggestions.

Oh, and one more thing you could do. SR could offer one-line, basic, images of each model, so that we could take the file to a local retailer to have our own images embroidered on clothing a with our boat's name. I would think that it would be little work for SR to do and it would get more free advertising out there too.

Let's all at least give Matt some props for trying.
 
I love the "in the bilge with Capt. Rusty" idea. That could very easily go viral and it's a great idea. Honestly, I have never been more loyal to Sea Ray than I have since I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of one Capt. Rusty Higgins. The knowledge of and devotion/passion he has for the brand is infectious.

I would especially appreciate the give-and-take between Mike and Rusty in the bilge. A funnier pair you will never meet.
 
Converse48 said:
I love the "in the bilge with Capt. Rusty" idea. That could very easily go viral and it's a great idea. Honestly, I have never been more loyal to Sea Ray than I have since I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of one Capt. Rusty Higgins. The knowledge of and devotion/passion he has for the brand is infectious.

I would especially appreciate the give-and-take between Mike and Rusty in the bilge. A funnier pair you will never meet.
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+1!

My dad is the reason I fell in love with SR. Rusty is the reason I've stayed in love with SR! Hope everyone there truly "gets" how valuable and important he is to ownership loyalty and retention.
 
matthewmiller01 said:
Let me add one other thing here. Matt, it is good that you are at least "trying". We want to be heard. You appear to be headed in that direction. Heck, I don't even know if there are any other SR employees on here (save Rusty) - they don't make it obvious if they are. Provided you follow through on what you seem to be trying to do, you are already making great strides toward you're end goal. But realize if you don't, it will be a HUGE slap in he face. We all know you won't be able to do it alone, but you could have a large group to support you if your bosses don't listen to you. We have so many ideas from various, diverse backgrounds. We can definitely give you tons of suggestions.
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FWIW
Some of us had an opportunity to meet and speak with Tim Schiek, President of Sea Ray and Brad Anderson, Vice President Marketing and Planning, Brunswick Recreational Boats (Matt's boss) for a couple of hours when they attended the Atlantic City Rendezvous a couple of weeks ago. Trust me when I say that the bosses are listening. They are listening very, very closely.
 
Dealer reputation is why we bought our Sea Ray. Prince William outside DC is great and I feel sorry for those that do not have the same access or experience.

I second using points on merchandise. How about getting points when buying from our host of this site as well, he deserves it! You should consider having BOE run a store for you with merchandise, OEM parts and accessories.

You should also consider a guaranteed price trade up program. You could reduce the initial depreciation curve and infect a lot of us with 2 footitis, while increasing sales volume of new boats.
 
WDCboater said:
While more Mid-Atlantic, Prince William Marine is an excellent dealer and facility in the DC Metro area. They are a big reason I have bought two SeaRays.
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That's why their #1. They aren't allowed to be number one a gain.

They put up with me when I gave them punch lists over and over again for the deficiencies on my new boat. Never made me feel intimidated like some dealers will. Like, how dare you make me aware of this problem.

The thing about PWM is you have to be in the family. If you are an outsider, unless you need parts, service will only help you when all their customers are satisfied. Since they have customers keeping them busy all the time, they can't help an outsider and make one of their owners wait.

Their parts and sales departments are always helpful and friendly, no matter who you are. But being a PWM boat owner you can qualify for a discount.They may get a bad rap for being expensive, but they stand behind their boats and owners. That is priceless.

PWM goes back to the beginning of Sea Ray since 1959

One time I broke down in my old Stingray back in 1995. I was able to get back through the occoquan at idle. This was before they moved where they are now. I bought new belts from their parts department and a mechanic overheard me talking. Instead of my day being over he lent me tools from his shop. I fixed the belts with my friends and I were able to get back on the water for the day. Knowing what I know now, I'm pretty sure it was Carlton's son Doug. He and his whole team are good hard working people.
 
Converse48 said:
I love the "in the bilge with Capt. Rusty" idea. That could very easily go viral and it's a great idea. Honestly, I have never been more loyal to Sea Ray than I have since I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of one Capt. Rusty Higgins. The knowledge of and devotion/passion he has for the brand is infectious.

I would especially appreciate the give-and-take between Mike and Rusty in the bilge. A funnier pair you will never meet.
Click to expand...

It'd be like Pleasure Boater, with captain Ted, and the Beachcomber. Only much cooler, because its Sea Ray.
 
Yep, Capt Ted and Capt Rusty look about the same. We had to grease up Rusty to get him in a couple of engine rooms.
 
You guys might be onto something--

Making Rusty the equivalent of "Subway Jared" or John Griviskis from Ship Shape TV and putting a real face to the Sea Ray brand would be a stroke of marketing genius...have him appear at all the boat shows, equipment and trade shows, doing the In The Bilge With Captain Rusty videos, a How Can I Make Your Boating Better video series, short videos on Launchpad, a regular contributor to SRL mag, distinguished guest at functions like the Atlantic City Rendezvous, contributor to all of the boating forums, etc., etc., etc.

When someone said Sea Ray, you would think of Captain "How Can I Make Your Boating Better" Rusty Higgins. He could hold classes on boat operations, offer a Train Your Spouse class at SR in Florida. If one were to pursue this concept, the possibilities are endless for creating a positive brand image, building brand awareness, reinforcing brand loyalty, and creating top of mind awareness in customers and potential customers, while not alienating the "older" boating crowd who are looking to buy new boats or without alienating those folks who support the used Sea Ray market by purchasing a pre-owned vessel.
 
Matthew -- thanks for the perspective. I certainly understand and appreciate the importance of sincerity, and soliciting input isn't some vain exercise in showmanship. This forum provides a direct connection to a large constituency of Sea Ray owners, which has enormous value. With that said, CSR is one of many, many constituencies in the Sea Ray universe, each with it's own unique makeup and characteristics. Part of my job is to weigh and balance all the inputs, run them up against our company strategy and company resources and select the best path forward. I'm confident that the program we end up with won't please everyone and that it will take longer than most of us want it to. But I'm also confident you'll see distinct aspects that make a meaningful contribution to helping Sea Ray owners enjoy their boats, regardless of what year it is or where they bought it. -- Matt
 
John_Gault said:
99% of the time, I'm a reader of posts - realizing (unfortunately) I have too little experience to constructively add here; however, as I was reading it dawned on me the number of sponsors on this site - people laying out cash in support of discussions, learning, and general boating BS with other (mostly) Sea Ray owners. That dedication would be a dream for a manufacturer's owners' club.

Perhaps, aside from the suggested "perk" revamps stated above, the root of a good owners' club can be found in what brings us here. While it may sound rudimentary, but the key is in the apostrophe and "club".

Aside from the technical postings (that are the core of these boards, I believe) what draws us here? For myself, I find I come to read especially in Winter. If SROC wants to build loyalty, be part of my winter support group.

As I stated at the start of this post, I don't contribute/participate much here, but do enjoy feeling a part of this "ClubSeaRay". To be successful, I believe folks downtown should seek to kindle this cohesion.

-Laurence
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John - Great points. We're definitely interested in fostering community, however I want to be clear that we have no intention of trying to replicate or takeaway from any of the existing vibrant online Sea Ray communities. We admire what the owners of CSR and similar communities have accomplished and we don't want to intrude on it. That said, fostering community is certainly one of our core aims as we evaluate the program.
 
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