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Worried about Checkmate - see comments

Hey guys, the Ottawa boat show really boosted our moral. The response was amazing and almost everybody we talked to said that we MADE the show. We only started selling them in the end of October/beginning of November and yes, I admit, that we don't know everything about them, but we are catching up very fast. One thing we know though is to order them with big engines, silent choice etc...

Doug decided to come and join us for two days and the impact was great. I went down to Bucyrus before we became a dealer and I agree that everybody who wants a dealership should do the same. This week we will be at a local boat show in a shopping mall and we are bringing 4 Checkmates for people to see. Hope the impact will be the same as the Ottawa show.

Thank you Claupie for those great comments. Doug was very happy with the effort we are putting in the rebirth of Checkmate in our area. If anybody from the region is reading this I hope to see you at ''Les Promenades de l'Outaouais''
 
Glad to hear you had good response at the show Ron. We did as well here in St.Louis. Everyone here has some valid points, but in reguards to having dealers "everywhere", I was told that Checkmate will not do that. They are interested in having dealers in the right places, but not so many dealers (like so many other brands) that the dealers are competing against each other with price to try to land the same guy. When that happens, the dealers can't make money. And sorry guys, but anyone who is in business is in that business to make money....period! In boats, cars, motorcycles, RV's, or anything else, if a dealer can't make money because of competition by another dealer, why does he even need to carry the product?? He's better off selling something that nobody else has. When too many dealers realize they can't make money on the product, they drop that line. If enough dealers drop the line, guess what?.....no more product from that manufacturer!! A WELL known brand in performance boats is experiencing that problem as we speak......and they're hurtin' big time! None of us want to see that happen to Checkmate. Get what "you" think is a respectable deal from your local dealer, take your boat to him for service, and guess what? The dealer will give you continued support, you'll be happier, the brand will survive, and when you got o trade or sell your boat, it will be worth more because the dealers aren't being forced to "give away" new boats! Make sense now?

J
 
Well said.. Checkmate has survived 40 years with linited dealers and they will continue to do so. Some manufacturers are even starting to give more and more restrictions about whatelse they can sell. Tne marina where my dad is at sold Fountains and Formulas together for years, then Formula all of a sudden said us or them. And they dropped Fountain that year.
 
Thanks Blizz. What you said is more of an example of the manufacturer trying to monopolize the market through the dealer, which is also arguable. In reguards to what I mentioned, I can give one very strong example. In the late 80's through 05 we sold what became to be a V E R Y popular bass boat brand. They were at the top of their game, they built great boats, they rode very well, and were amongst some of the best performing boats out there. And as the brand grew, we sold TONS of them. They had a great product line and a great offering for the guy wanting a little 16' glass boat, or the tournament guy wanting a 20' boat that would run well over 70MPH. We were a "Top 5" dealer for them for over 8 years in a row. Suddenly in 05, they decided to sign up a new dealer 35 miles from our store. The dealer they signed has no experience whatsoever with bass boats, and they have no customers looking to them for that kind of boat. They built their business on family style pleasure boats and have done very well with that. They totally trashed the market in our area and since we could no longer make any money on their boats....we dropped them. Shortly after that, the "other dealer" also figured out that they had made a bad decision in ever picking up the line, and they dropped them as well. That very prominent brand was NOT represented at one of the largest shows in the midwest in 06. And people noticed! Now that brand has been reduced back to a "cheap", entry level boat, and is struggling to stay alive. Just ONE example of the manfacturer trying to wh**e up the market. It generally ALWAYS ends in disaster for the brand.

J
 
Yeah that seems to have happened a fair bit in the 80's and early 90's. It's funny how some people will buy though. My dad works in the Muskoka area of Ontario which is about 4 hours north of Niagra Falls and 5 times in the last 3 years he's had to deliver boats to Florida. 3 were local customers that spend lots of time down south and 2 were actually Floridians up for the Toronto boat show. And trust me up until about 9-12 months ago that was not very cost effective.
 
I'm not saying that it's totally wrong for a dealer to sell a boat out of his territory. We all know that's going to happen from time to time. But when the "out of territory" dealer intentionalloy cuts off the NU+$ of the "local" dealer just to take a deal.....that's wrong. And it happens all too often. Then the guy who buys a new boat from WAY far away, generally expects the local guy (who he DIDN'T spend his money with to buy the boat) to answer to his beck and call for service just like that servicing dealers "sale" customers.

J
 
Ya i hear ya.. If you have a local guy try to use him but if you don't have a local dealer then it really doesn't matter where you buy it because your not gonna travel 5+ hours for sevrice anyway your gonna go to your local guy.
 
Here's a question for ya say i'm a current checkie owner looking to upgrade. My dealer is about 45min-1hr away but now there is a new dealer 15mins away who do you use your local guy or your old dealership.
 
What are we playing here, stump the dealer? LOL Tough question! My first question would be why are there 2 dealers an hour apart? Is the older dealer closing up shop? Is he just getting out of the brand, but has a few boats left to sell? I guess it would be up to the guy spending the money. But whoever he buys from, he needs to give his service business to the same guy. If not, that's his choice, but he needs to understand that if he uses the "other guy" for service, he's probably going to have to wait in line behind that dealers "sale" customers. What's fair is fair ya know? There's alot to be said as well for the guy who just goes shopping for a price tag, and doesn't ever consider all the things he may need from the dealer AFTER the sale. OR...will that dealer even be there when you need him? What's his history like? What do current and/or past customers say about the place? Those things are important, but it doesn't seem to matter until the customer needs something.

J
 
Blizz said:
Here's a question for ya say i'm a current checkie owner looking to upgrade. My dealer is about 45min-1hr away but now there is a new dealer 15mins away who do you use your local guy or your old dealership.
Click to expand...

it's all about establishing relationships - that's my take. If you have an
established trusting business relationship then I go the extra mile, as I'd
expect my clients would do the same. Return clients and referrals are the
heart of a good business and I suspect that is the case for many who do
business successfully... If they treat ya right, go back!
 
Blizz said:
Here's a question for ya say i'm a current checkie owner looking to upgrade. My dealer is about 45min-1hr away but now there is a new dealer 15mins away who do you use your local guy or your old dealership.
Click to expand...

Go to whichever dealer is going to give you the better deal. As far as needing service down the road, go to whoever you want to, whether you bought the boat from them or not, if they don't want to work on your boat, then go to the next closest authorized merc dealer.....It's your $$$$$, your in charge!

-Craig
 
Hello Blizz, the new dealer you are talking about is surely us. We are now the only authorised Checkmate dealer in this area and we will gladly help you out with service and we will do it like you bought it here. We are very committed (don't know if you saw our booth at the Ottawa boat show) and we are happy when we see a Checkmate owner. What model do you own and where do you ride it.
 
Ron all of my boats are at the family cottage about 6 hours west of you in the Parry Sound/Muskoka area. I was not singling you out as i've seen dealership very close like this before, i was also unaware thet the Perth dealer got out. If i decide to purchase new boats/motors again for my local use i will definitly look you up as it seems you are a very dedicated dealer which seems to be rare nowadays.
 
Fellas, send Kip a PM or give the factory a call to find your local dealer.

Last I heard there isn't currently one in Ontario but I'm sure that will be rectified in time.
 
Also great to see a full page ad in the April Powerboat magazine. Another move in the right direction.
 
Chris said:
Fellas, send Kip a PM or give the factory a call to find your local dealer.

Last I heard there isn't currently one in Ontario but I'm sure that will be rectified in time.
Click to expand...

worried about checkmate no; i wish they would export it to europe with a dealer/importer.

love to buy checkmate. but the repair and spare parts is an issue for me....
 
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