Your Marina’s Reputation is Built in the Details

Ask most boaters why they remain loyal to a marina, and you’ll hear as many different answers as there are types of boats in a marina. These range from a mix of big-picture and small-detail answers. Location, dock quality, amenities, and how easy it is to get fuel, as well as how clean the bathrooms are and whether the dock staff know their name. While there is a variety, we must keep in mind that detail is important to THEM and needs to be considered.

Those little moments create an overall experience. A clean dock cart at the right time. A quick response on the VHF. A friendly line handler who remembers where you like to tie up. Most seem small, almost trivial, but they add up to satisfied customers, or if missed, could lead to challenges that you had not considered.

The challenge is keeping those details consistent day in and day out. When you’re juggling staffing shortages, unexpected maintenance, and seasonal surges, it’s easy for small operational standards to slip. It’s not usually one big failure that drives customers away, but a series of small touches they’ve come to expect. That’s where a deeper bench of experienced support and having a developed playbook to follow can make a difference.

Professional teams can help by establishing service protocols, training seasonal staff, and tracking performance on touchpoints (KPIs) that matter to customers. They can also spot patterns you might miss. One of their advantages to you is that they bring a fresh set of eyes and the ability to implement proven systems quickly, freeing you up to focus on running the operation. For example, if reviews show guests love your pool but rarely mention your fuel dock, it might be time to look at service speed or upsell opportunities there.

An example we have recently been involved in is a facility that shared amenities with a residential community it was part of. Before we became involved, these amenities were almost forgotten by the marina customers and not used in marketing. Through a few well-planned events and communications, these amenities were quickly able to turn customer sentiment around in a single season. Customers transitioned from viewing the facility as a place to park their boat, with occupancy levels that supported this view, to a vibrant boating community that saw the facility and its amenities as a hidden gem. Customer satisfaction scores skyrocketed and so did the occupancy reports.

The key is remembering that every interaction counts. A dock that’s 99% “ship-shape” but has an overflowing trash can at the end sends a different message than one that’s consistently clean from stem to stern.

If you’re wondering whether small details really make that much difference, the answer is yes, and the payoff shows up in both retention and revenue. If you’d like to discuss how to maintain high standards without increasing your workload, I’m happy to chat.

Written by J Jeremy Parks