When people visit your marina for the first time, what do they see? The answer to this question is important because your guest’s experience determines whether they will become your customer. Fortunately, Signal Connect works with marina owners up and down the east and west coasts, and they’ve shared some tips with us. The advice these marine professionals gave us is for marina owners to make sure they make a lasting impression… and make it a good one. We took this great advice and present it here as a step-by-step formula for conducting a marina tour and more. Enjoy!
Successful Marina Tours: Step by Step
If you haven’t put much thought into a marina tour, you might be surprised at how much goes into it. The goal is to impress potential guests. (Let’s not forget that you’re competing against other marinas for these customers’ dollars! ) Whether your visitor is in for a short stay or plans to be there a while, your marina needs to be in top form. In other words, appearances are everything, and your entire marina has to be on its game. You have to think about every aspect of how a potential clients arrives at your business, and what they will see when they do.
Potential customers who arrive by vehicle should be greeted with:
- Professional signage
- Proper attention to landscaping
- Lawns and flower beds edged and free of weeds
- Litter removed from lawn and parking lot
- Empty or near-empty trash cans
- Lot, curbs, and sidewalks swept clean
When potential guests arrive by boat, these people should see:
- A welcome exterior
- Professional signage
- Well-marked and maintained entrance
- Well-maintained fuel
- Courteous, uniformed employees
- Litter-free marina waters
- Tidy docks
Guests and potential guests should be greeted by the following when entering the marina building:
- A well-maintained dock master’s office
- Freshly-painted and well-maintained buildings and structures
- Clean grounds with no litter or trash strewn about
- Clean windows
- Recently-waxed floors
- Organized displays with current inventory
- Courteous, informative, and responsive staff
- A fresh cup of coffee (or bottle of water) on a clean counter
When all of these things, and more, are in order, you’re sure to make an excellent impression on anyone visiting your marina for the first time.
Customer Service and Your Marina Tour
Your marina tour might begin throughout your property, but it doesn’t end there. How you and your staff interact with potential guests plays a huge part in whether those folks will become your customers. Providing friendly customer service is a huge part of the day-to-day operations of any marina. It also plays an even bigger role in a marina owner’s long-term success. Here’s the catch: while the average marina owner might have the big things covered, it’s often those small, often-overlooked details that can leave a negative impression on a potential customer. This can quickly sink what could have been a sale.
Here is a typical interaction that a potential marina guest could have, along with areas where the marina staff could stumble:
- After taking a tour of the facilities, the potential guest would like to speak with the dockmaster.
- While an employee goes to get the dockmaster, another employee can be heard speaking over the marine radio.
- Is that employee aware that his/her voice is being broadcast throughout the marina?
- Is he/she speaking like a competent professional? Or is your employee being crude or even vulgar over the radio?
- Good or bad, this experience can leave a bad impression on the potential guest as well as any other guests who pick up on that chatter.
At this point, the dockmaster arrives to greet the potential marina guest. What might seem like an average, ordinary interaction in the marina’s day-to-day is actually a pivotal moment for this business. It literally can make or break whether this person decided to become a guest or not.
- Does the dockmaster greet the guest with good eye contact and a firm hand shake?
- When the dockmaster escorts the guest into his/her office, is that office clean and professional looking?
- Does the office have comfortable chairs and a relaxing, distraction-free atmosphere?
- Is the dockmaster able to speak with the guest without being interrupted or taking calls/texts in the guest’s presence?
The answers to these questions have a huge impact on whether that potential customer will decided to become a guest at your marina.
Customer Service and the Marina Tour
After talking with the guest, the dockmaster decides to take him/her on an official marina tour. Granted, the potential guest has already gotten a good luck at the place from either the parking lot or the docks. He/she has not been on an official tour of the property, though. This is important, because it’s your opportunity to sell your marina and its amenities and services to potential guests. How good is the dockmaster and the rest of your staff at marketing your marina? That’s an extremely important question every marina owner must answer.
Here are just some of the things potential guests should see on their marina tour:
- Clean and fully maintained restrooms and shower facilities
- Good air circulation
- Minimal humidity
- Fresh smells
- Spotless floors
As you walk past the boatyard, here are some things that will impress potential marina guests:
- Neatly stored and organized boats on boat stands and in cradles
- Unused cradles, trailers, and stands are stored elsewhere
Service/parts department reception area is clean and organized - Technicians and operators wearing clean, stain-free uniforms
- Recently-washed marina vehicles
- Your marina work boat free of water and trash in the bilge
Even if they don’t say anything, visitors notice ever little detail – good and bad – of your marina. This is why it’s so important to make sure every square foot of your property is in the best shape it can be. If you don’t believe this, check online reviews of yours and your competitors’ marinas. You might be surprised at how certain things affect a customer’s experience.
The Best Marina for Attracting Guests
A marina tour is more than just showing people what your property has. It’s about giving them a good idea of what they’ll experience while staying at your marina. Guests are looking for clean, well-maintained facilities with exciting amenities and a professional staff. Your marina has one chance to be this place, and that’s when the guest comes to visit for the first time. In other words, it’s in the first impression, and you only have one chance to make it. Make sure every aspect of your marina is kept in its best possible condition for visitors. These are the first, important steps to creating long-term relationships between guests and marinas.
DIRECTV for Marina Properties
When it comes to marinas, amenities are everything. This is why every marina should offer DIRECTV on its property. This satellite TV service is the perfect addition to the bar, restaurant, and/or clubhouse on your property. With its many sports packages, your clubhouse will fill with people who are excited who want to watch the big game. They’ll stay longer and order more food and drinks, too. If you own a newer facility that’s incorporates marina real estate, DIRECTV is a great amenity to have in your waterfront property. There are many good reasons to feature DIRECTV at your marina.
DIRECTV for Marina Real Estate with Signal Connect
Signal Connect is the undisputed expert in marine satellite TV, Wi-Fi access points, and cell boosters. Our team has delivered satellite TV services to homes and businesses all across the country. This includes many marinas on the east and west coasts. We can help you, too. It all starts with our reps answering any questions you have about a commercial DIRECTV account. Just give us a call at 888-233-7563. There are no commitments and you don’t have to buy anything. Just let our reps give you all the information you need about DIRECTV for marinas. We look forward to hearing from you!
