Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502180004
SECTION: BOAT SHOW PAGE: BS-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Gone, for the most part, are ads and illustrations that show scantily clad women as an adornment for a boat. Instead, you are likely to see a woman at the wheel of the craft.
Rick Fulmer, president of Four Winns, said the division of Outboard Marine Corp. that he heads had adjusted its advertsing to make certain that it did not discriminate against women buyers.
"We wanted everyone to imagine themselves as boaters," he said. "We have tried to position our marketing so that women are seen as not only boaters but boat owners. We stopped using models and began using ordinary people in our advertisements."
It is all part of a new trend for an industry that has begun to realize that women represent a tremendous buying force.
"There's never been a better time to sell and market our boats to women," said Arlene Sloan, president of International Women in Boating, an organization that promotes the boating industry's awareness of women as potential boat buyers. "Women compose more than 60 percent of the American work force. We're begining to view the woman buyer as having the same potential as did the auto industry."
Based on statistics obtained from American auto manufacturers, women not only handle the finances in five out of every six American households, they purchase more than half of all new cars annually. By the year 2000, they are expected to account for 60 percent of new car sales.
The automobile industry's efforts to market to women serves as a good example for marine manufacturers and dealers desiring to target the female buyer, Sloan said. Automobile manufacturers developed specific marketing programs aimed at women. Some even surveyed women as to their preferences in how automobiles should be built to better serve their needs. Many automobile dealerships have hired women sales people.
Boating isn't that far along, but it is heading in that direction, said Mike Fielder, of Advantage Marine in Roanoke.
Fielder said it remains fairly rare for a women to come in and buy a boat without the involvement of a man, but there is no question that women have a major say when a couple or family buys a boat. Other dealers agree.
"Women are very important to this business," said George Welch, owner of Bay Roc Marina and Yacht Club on Smith Mountain Lake. "If you haven't sold her, you're probably in trouble. That is even true when selling bass boats if you eliminate the hard-core tournament fisherman."
If a woman comes into a boat dealership or to the boat show and claims just to be riding around with her husband or boy friend, don't believe her," said Mike Racliff of Conrad Brothers Marine, a marine on Claytor Lake.
"Because women have an input into what you are selling and as a salesman you should recognize that," he said.
"I don't think people ever have realized how large a part women play in the boating market," said Jeff Tice of Shoreline Marina on Smith Mountain Lake. "I don't see them taking a larger role, I see them being recognized for a role that they have had all along."
Some boat dealerships in Virginia have added women sales people to their staff. Angler's Choice, a new boat dealership in Martinsville has both a woman president and a woman sales manager.
"It's important for boat dealerships to have females on staff," said Diane Graul, marketing and sales manager for Full-Tilt Marine, one of four related dealerships in the Chesapeake Bay area.
"The impact of having female sales staff is wonderful. But where to find good sales women is a tough question," Graul said.
Dealers can make mistakes in attempting to sell to women, she said. One big mistake is not regarding women as serious buyers. Another is to assume that women are interested only in certain features of the boat, or that they are not interested in the boat's mechanics and operation.
"Women don't want to be treated as if they're mechanically unaware," Graul said.
Women do regard a boat purchase differently than do men, said Graul. For a married woman, purchasing a boat can be seen as providing more time with spouse and family.
"If a single female is purchasing a boat, her need is confidence. She needs to know she can do this. It's easier for a female customer to believe a female sales person who says, 'I can operate a boat, so can you. I've sold a lot of trailerable boats to women.'
"Also with the single female, bigger is not better. They tend to go smaller."
One segment of boating where female participation is high is in personal watercraft, said Pete Jordan, sales manager at Webster Marine on Smith Mountain Lake. Jordan estimated that 25 percent of the 205 personal watercraft Webster sold last year were purchased by woman.
by CNB