Each season, we prepare for our customers to arrive. Not in the sense that we open the doors like a restaurant, but in the concept that during the winter months, we spend a lot of time prepping, making upgrades and adjustments to ensure that “this season” will be the one to remember. But too often, as we get further into the season and our minds are dancing about what’s next, we don’t step back and look at how we are doing now, and what we could be doing to ensure that the hard work of the “off” season is not lost over the remainder of the season. This is where a mid-season check-in, a crucial part of our operations, comes in to reassure your team and your customers that you are constantly evaluating and improving your services.
In 2024, the Mid-Atlantic saw wet slip occupancy at just over 90%, providing an opportunity for growth, especially with transient groups. I will delve into the opportunities surrounding transient groups in future posts. For now, I want to stress the importance of refining and regularly monitoring your SOP on docks. Your dock team plays a crucial role in maintaining these standards, and their efforts are instrumental in our operations.
Each customer you have is important in several areas; the obvious one is the income they can provide to your company. But they are beyond a valuable resource in other areas that can help ensure your facility operates not only in the way you, as owners, are interested, but also, and more importantly, in the way your customers want to interact with you, your team, and your facility. Regularly understanding their use of your facility, including which amenities, services, and touchpoints are essential and which are “nice to have, but not important,” can help you improve the customer experience and ultimately boost your bottom line.
Many marinas that we deal with have amenities like a fuel dock, pools, a restaurant, and a pump-out. All of these provide touchpoints for customers and opportunities that, with a strong SOP in place, enable your team to perform at its peak and deliver an experience that not only encourages customers to return for the following season but also motivates them to bring their friends to your facility as customers later.
As part of our pre-season preparation, we recognize the importance of training the team on the fuel dock to employ proper strategies and controls for fuel sales, as well as the protocols to handle potential challenges that may arise while working on the docks. During these training times, and regularly reviewed during the season, some other concepts that should be worked through are simple communication between customers and the staff, how to best play “air traffic controller” to keep boats and fuel flowing best, regular updates in your monthly newsletter, to your customers about peak times and slower times for fueling to ensure that they can plan accordingly.
Do you currently have the option for your seasonal or annual customers to “sign” for their fuel? This is always something that makes life easier for both parties. You can even offer a slight discount if they keep their credit card on file, allowing you to charge their account for fuel dock sales. If you regularly mark up your fuel sales to credit card customers by 3% to cover your fee, you can offer a 3% discount to those who have that card on file. This will enable them to get off the docks without the process of providing a credit card, having it run, etc. While only minutes, if you think about those minutes as time saved, that they can be on the water, and that a new customer can be at your dock getting fuel, it becomes a win-win.
While the world has gone from talking on the phone to text messaging, the VHF still reigns as the go-to way for communication on the boat. The process is straightforward, but without proper training, a new dockhand can become somewhat overwhelmed, potentially losing valuable time. We have maintained that our goal is to have every person respond to their initial contact within three minutes. Yes, a lot can happen in three minutes, and reality is that most responses happen in under a minute, but we make sure that our team is responding quickly and with a practiced efficiency. We have found that working with the dock team to identify customers by name who are out and where they will return, makes being available to assist more efficient and seamless. During our morning brief, the team reviews customers who are out and likely to return, as well as inbound transients. When the customer arrives, it is an important touchpoint and opportunity to make a lasting first or next impression.
After a long day on the water, having a smiling face at the docks waiting to grab a line is always appreciated. Other touchpoints that are often overlooked can make a lasting impression and lead to improved guest satisfaction. As the dock person is there to greet the customer and assist with docking, it’s a good idea to have a dock cart ready at the head of the dock and ask if they’ll need one to unload. A simple win. Asking how their day on the water went and listening is a fantastic way to learn a lot. We always suggest that the dock team either share notes on customers through a Jot form or send a quick email to a designated email address for team review. Here, the dock team can share if something was noted as being broken (on the customer’s boat), etc. Then a nice follow-up from the manager/dockmaster, noting that the dock team had pointed out that ABC occurred and offering to help coordinate getting it addressed for their next outing. This communication to customers is a simple way to let them subtly understand that the dock team is there not just to keep the facility looking nice, but to help ensure their time on their boat is enjoyable.
Pumping out of boats is an art form in its own right. I’m somewhat being facetious, but if you have ever been involved in the challenges that can occur when doing one, the results can be disastrous to the team members involved. For this reason, we strive to coordinate any assisted pump-outs at our facilities during times when customers are not around. We also aim to complete them early in the mornings to minimize the impact on customers going out on the water. To achieve this, the team creates another touchpoint: regularly checking with customers or scheduling pump outs. This ensures that customers are aware of the service and can plan accordingly. If scheduled in advance, it can also minimize the impact on their schedule.
Customers are at your facility to enjoy their boats. That is as obvious a statement as I can make. But there is always the time that is spent at the facility, making sure that time is well spent and that you are offering amenities to your customers that are of interest in the experience, and also your efforts (and expenses).
If you have a pool, you can appreciate the significant expense, but often we walk by to see it empty and just costing money. A few simple strategies that we have found to be impactful include adjusting the pool’s operating hours to match your customers’ usage times. Typically, a pool is open from late morning to late afternoon. By having the lifeguard provide an overview of customer numbers for a few weeks on the deck, hourly, while they are taking their water samples (not while people are in the pool), we can start to frame a usage pattern. From here, you can also share a brief survey asking about when people are looking to use the pool, share the responses, and make adjustments based on the feedback. Consider partnering with a local restaurant or catering group to add lite fare on a few evenings when you’re open later. This could also attract families looking for something different to do at the pool, by keeping in mind that careful observation and communication allow you to modify your offering at the pool to accommodate your customers’ needs best.
Another component of our mid-season process at each marina is a walkthrough and review of the facility. Yes, many of us do daily dock walks, weekly property reviews, etc. This is a more formal version where we are looking for areas of wear and tear, or opportunities from our communication with our customers to create a mid-season maintenance plan. This plan focuses on items that are both time-sensitive and provide the most significant impact on customer experience, while also minimizing the potential negative effects on customer experience. An example would be the creation of a sitting area with shade umbrellas, which is a great piece of feedback that can be addressed during this period. Renovating the bathrooms is a great idea, but it should be planned for rollout next season. However, when opportunities like this arise, take the chance to share the concept and gather feedback, if possible, as it will demonstrate that you are committed to ensuring your facility delivers not only on your vision but also considers their input.
A well-run marina never coasts through the season. By mid-season, your docks should be bustling with excitement and activity. This is the perfect time to do an audit of your SOP, staff habits, and amenity use. Using this information, you can make adjustments that support the goals you set at the start of the season, while implementing ideas gathered from customer interactions. Always remember that minor adjustments based on customer input will have a lasting impact and create trust with your customers, demonstrating that you’re listening to their comments and delivering an inviting experience for the upcoming season.
With all this in mind, what change would you think making now would have the biggest impact for the remainder of the season? What challenges are there to implementing that change? How can you engage your team to ensure this change is implemented in an impactful way without posing a challenge to your customers?
I am a firm believer that learning from each other is a great way for everyone to improve. If you have an idea, please share it. If you have something that would be of interest to learn about now, please reach out. We can discuss it, or I might use it for an upcoming blog.