RVBusiness, January/February 2021

Q A Conversations from page 48 one of my favorite quotes And that is It is not the strongest of the species that survive nor is it the most intelligent It is the most adaptable of the species that survive Most events are either what I call IMC in my control or BMC beyond my control Often we allow ourselves to get stressed over items that are beyond our control Either way if its beyond my control if its a BMC item I think the best response is to adapt as correctly and quickly as possible So am I facing all of the same challenges as everyone else Certainly But we try not to stress on that too much We try to focus on what we do about it and how we adapt to the realities of the situation RVB So how might things play out by next springs show season Regan You know we moved our show from next February to March because we did not think we could supply it with inventory We canceled an outdoor show in September of this year for the same reason with a weeks supply of inventory Its gotten better but that is a major concern What will the supply chain look like for us If we go into February or March and we have a vaccine and we are allowed to do RV shows will we have enough units to display at the shows That is a valid question Ferrando We relied a lot on shows this year But with the consumer demand where it is and the limited inventory theres not really a need right now A D V E R T I S E R S I N D E X Advertiser Page Website Advertiser Page Website Airxcel Back Cover airxcel com American Technology Components 78 atcomp com Bauer Products 67 www bauerproducts com bluetooth Brown Brown Insurance 20 bbinsservices com Camco 13 www camco net Contoure 69 www contoureusa com Dealership ToolKit 26 dealershiptoolkit com Dexter Axle 33 www dexteraxle com Dometic 7 dometic com dometicforbusiness Eberspaecher 77 www eberspaecher na com Elwell Corporation 79 ellwellcorp com Equalizer Systems 41 www equalizersystems com Forest River Inc 23 www forestriverinc com Freightliner Custom Chassis 9 legendaryexcellence com Furrion 15 www furrion com Furrion 17 www furrion com Go Power 75 gpelectric com rvc Grand Design RV 11 granddesignrv com rvbusiness Icon Direct 99 icondirect com Jayco 55 jayco com Lagun USA 18 www lagunusa com LaVanture Products 73 www lavanture com Lippert Components 19 lippertcomponents com While every effort is made to maintain accuracy and completeness last minute changes may occasionally result in omissions or errors 98 RVBusiness J A N U A R Y F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 Lippert Components 37 lippertcomponents com MBA Insurance Inc 84 www mbainsurance net MCD 2 www mcdinnovations com NTP Stag 27 www ntpstag com Panel Solutions Group 39 www panelsolutionsgroup com Performance Brokerage Services 81 performancebrokerageservices com Protective 5 protectiveassetprotection com Ranger Distribution Inc 83 ontime@ rangerdistribution com RV Invoice Writer 96 www rvinvoicewriter com RVT com 71 rvt com mediaplanner Spader 42 spader com training Star Fleet Trucking Inc 31 starfleettrucking com Statistical Surveys 93 statisticalsurveys com Thermo Tec 22 thermotec com Thetford 85 norcold com Thor Industries 29 thorindustries com The Towne Law Firm P C 45 www townelaw com Trim Lok 49 www trimlok com Troyer Products 43 www troyerproducts com Venture RV 53 venture rv com WFCO Electronics 87 wfcoelectronics com Winnebago Hike 57 winnebago com Winnebago Industries 24 25 winnebagoind com to do shows And while we too are seeing a lot more younger consumers looking for hassle free online experiences we definitely have to concentrate on dealing with all these brand new customers coming in who are often very green I mean they havent even thought about RVing Usually even our new buyers in the past have had some RV experience Now you have people that have never thought about it They dont even know if they need a hitch Weve got to really slow down with the sales people in spite of the Covid related store closings and staff cutbacks that weve had and reinvest to make sure we give a great new product orientation so that these new customers know how to use it and they dont have a horrible experience Shepherd Yes I think the dynamics have definitely changed in the way that the customer shops Everything was already moving in that direction but I think the pandemic has sped up the process So many people are shopping online now they know when they come in what they want But then you have a lot of these newbies who are buying because of their friends and they really dont have a clue We have that situation where theyll come in and they want to see everything on the lot because they have no idea what they want Their friends have one so they want one all of a sudden So you definitely have to slow down the demonstration portion of it because they dont all listen Then theres the phone calls coming back after they leave because they swear you didnt show them how to use something and its just that they dont remember Thats another dynamic So the service desk is busy dealing with customers that they just sold to trying to help walk them through something while theyre on their first camp out RVB All things considered then finding a way to work with these newbies seems to be a major priority for the industry right now doesnt it Brunoforte Yes My greatest concern is how we are going to take care of these people And because many of them are very new to RVing we should expect that they will have very unrealistic expectations as far as how their vehicle performs and what service follows afterwards Here we are in a time where its hard to find good people and we have this tremendous growth in our consumer base That will be I feel our greatest challenge satisfying those customers and meeting their service and performance expectations Hirsch Deb I couldnt agree more I think that where the industry needs the best quality were having the greatest challenges including parts issues And for us I cant remember when our service departments have been as stressed as they are now So when you see the variety of issues that the surge in business has created much of it is service related And as an industry were going to have to go ahead and respond very diligently to satisfy both our new and more seasoned buyers RVB