Full-Time RVers Spill the Beans: How Dealers Can Do Better

Researching this column was very interesting. What was challenging was figuring out how to write truthfully about what each person I spoke with said about RV dealerships. They said that everyone they met on the road talked about how they hated their dealer and that, “once they sell you the RV, they don’t want to give you the time of day.”

Only you know if that’s true for your dealership, but just like high school, your reputations are made or broken by hearsay. Beware: People talk a lot on the road and are highly social media savvy. You are selling far more than an RV unit, you are selling the entire experience and everything that goes with it – which includes whatever goes wrong.

Fair? Considering that each unit is made of thousands of components that are manufactured all over the world, perhaps not. But you are the people who take the blame.

The Story Begins

Mindy E. and Rick W. sold their home in the Pacific Northwest and bought a 2018 40-foot Class A diesel Tiffin. They both work remotely and decided to travel around the United States. Mindy is highly organized and writes rules and manuals for medical device companies. She’s the plan-ahead person. Rick grew up on a farm and can fix anything. That has become a very important skill to have as an RV owner on the road. For half of his life, he was an aerospace engineer and the other half, a 3D designer for video games doing art direction and creating content. We spoke for almost two hours about how RV dealers can be more proactive to get customers back to their dealerships.

Bob and Judy are in their late 70s, now living in southern Arizona after being full-time RVers for more than seven years. They stopped their full-time on-the-road life about 4.5 years ago when they found the perfect home. They kept their 40-foot diesel Holiday Rambler for the three to four months they escape the Arizona heat and travel to cooler destinations. They pull a Honda CRV or a Lincoln MKX, depending on where they’re heading. According to Judy, having a bath and a half saved their marriage and the pull-outs added to the comfort of traveling together. When they started their travels in 2011, they sold everything they owned and traveled around the U.S. three times, covering over 75,000 miles. They didn’t know what they didn’t know when they set out but loved the journey and found it to be a lot of fun. They also became very resourceful and developed new skills to deal with issues that arose on the road.

Avoiding a Bad Reputation

I asked each person how an RV dealership could better serve their customers beyond selling units. All four said that “word of mouth” (WOM) is everything to full-time people and that WOM is usually very accurate. So, honesty in all forms from a dealership is highly praised and shared online.

First, Mindy talked about understanding why dealerships have issues with parts shortages. The RV companies basically build a house on top of a chassis. All of the components, as you all know, are made by many different manufacturers. Then the dealer is the one that gets blamed when something goes wrong with a part. I imagine you’ve experienced that more than a few times.

RVs are homes and when something vital doesn’t work, people must rent rooms, which gets expensive. Some people lose an entire summer because their unit is sitting on a dealer’s lot waiting for a repair. Also, “Go back to your dealer” doesn’t always work if your dealer is far away, Mindy says.

To combat bad WOM: Order parts quickly. Complete all the things on the “fix it” list that you said you’d fix. If you can’t, recommend someone local to do the work you can’t or don’t have time to do.

This is where honesty becomes important. Mindy (among many others) became deeply frustrated when a dealer promised to order a much-needed part and, weeks later, it still wasn’t in stock. Both couples talked about how people they ran into called the parts manufacturer to find out when the part was sent and discovered it was never ordered by the dealership. So, they ordered their own parts online and then brought them to a dealer or freelance mechanic to install. Many more experienced full-timers carry an assortment of components such as spare fuses, wiper blades, hamster wheels for the AC, an extra water pump, plus a full tool kit.

Rick talked about how helpful RVers are to each other. In a park, if one person pulls out a tool, four other people will come over with their tools to tell him/her four different ways to fix the problem.

Mindy and Rick had a Freightliner part go bad while traveling. They needed a hookup on a dealers’ lot while waiting for a new part, but because of insurance issues, they had to go to a hotel instead. Freightliner, with their Oasis Service Network, now caters to RVs by providing hookups, a barbecue, park benches, a lounge for RV owners and sometimes a dog run. Freightliner also has a specific person to work with RV owners. If you sell a unit with a Freightliner chassis, give the new owner a list of their Oasis locations throughout the U.S. That way, you empower them to get something fixed on the road – and not blame you and your dealership for it going bad.

In Red Bay, Alabama, a cottage industry has developed repairing Tiffin RVs. Many of the mechanics worked for Tiffin and picked up extra part-time work at night and on weekends doing repair work within their specialties such as carpet, cabinets, mechanicals, etc. Some of these employees have started their own businesses. Thanks to WOM, people are finding the right person to work on what’s needed. Some rarely trust dealerships to be able to fix the multitude of problems that arise. Full-timers are, for the most part, aware of the difficulty dealerships have faced with parts shortages and the overwhelming quality control issues from the manufacturers thanks to supply/demand issues during the pandemic from 2020-22. The dealers are overwhelmed, and customers know it. But, if you promise something, do it and do it quickly. If you don’t, people will talk and word gets around.

According to Mindy and Rick, home manufacturers such as Tiffin have opened an area on their properties for people to hook up while they are waiting for parts and service on their units. These are safe, basic spaces with Wi-Fi, showers, bathrooms, electricity and pets are allowed.

If you have some space, consider doing the same in your lot for customers who have to wait for repairs that keep them off the road. Thanks to WOM, you will start getting appreciative reviews that will be read by thousands of RVers.

Servicing Customers on the Road

When I asked Judy and Bob about an RV dealership offering a barbecue/beer event, Judy came up with some giveaways that would entice full-timers far more than food and drink.

Words of wisdom from Judy:

• • When someone is already on the road, trying to upsell a customer who is there for a repair or to buy something in the parts/accessories area is irritating. A hard sell is not welcome.
  • If you want to “sweeten the deal” some items that would be very appreciated are a windshield screen, window shades, a complete black and grey tank dump kit, upgraded washer/dryer combo, or a nice tire cover kit to prevent sun damage.
  • While men are most often looking at the engines, women are interested in finding out they can keep dishes and accessories from landing on the floor of their rig. This may sound sexist, but it is often true. Show them how to put grippy shelf liner between plates and on the shelves – and give them a set of the rubber liners or sell them. Sell Melamine dishes. Or offer a set for free for purchases over a certain amount.
  • Some other things you can carry and/or offer your better customers: cookware, utensils, plates, collapsible storage containers, insulated carriers for the endless potluck dinners at RV parks and potholders. Museum putty is always a welcome addition on your checkout service or parts desk.

Suggestions from both couples relating to the buying experience:

• • Once again, be honest. Learn more about the customer/s and what would be best for their specific needs. Even if they seem to have a lot of money, marble floors may not be the lifestyle they are hoping for while on the road.
  • Be honest about what units can be pulled by what type of car or truck. Make sure your sales associates know this information cold or give them cheat sheets to refer to when working with customers.
  • Make sure you sell them the right trailer for their car or whatever they are towing. Also, make sure the customers get the correct electrical connections for the rear lights on their rig and towbar. Once again, if a cheat sheet is needed, I’m sure the customer will appreciate the correct advice.
  • Give them a list of places where they can park their rig and where they can unhook their trailer and put it once they get to a place. The trailer for their car doesn’t always fit in the allotted space for their rig and car.
  • Have a list of RV groups printed out that your customers can take on the road with them. Included in that group: Escapees, Boondockers Welcome, Good Sam, Fulltime Families, Girl Camper (for women traveling alone), and Family Motorcoach Association (FMCA).
  • Teach them the following:
    • How to hook up their trailer
    • How to tow their car safely and successfully
    • How to take care of the hookups and clean out the tanks
    • How to drive the rig!
  • Offer short instructional videos for every aspect of the RV experience. Make sure whoever is on the video makes it informative, real, short and sweet. No need for a fancy opening and ending. Talk about what can go wrong and what to do about it – especially if you’re in the middle of nowhere and going to a dealer or repair shop isn’t viable.
  • Offer a one- or two-day driver training class to everyone of driving age in the rig. You never know if or when the main driver may become incapacitated. Also, teach how to hook up water, electric, sewer – whatever is needed.
  • There are many RV clubs and information sites. Give new RV owners a good list of these as they’ll come to rely on information from these sites as they travel. Let them mentally thank you each time they get online help.
  • Become their source of information while on the road and if you can’t, provide them with a list of resources they can carry with them. Include (if possible) mobile RV tech people in each state along with respected repair shops.

According to WOM, a man in a van lost his heat in Palm Springs. He tried to fix it himself with no luck. He called around and found a licensed mobile RV tech who specialized in heaters. The tech pulled out the heater, put in a $3 part and charged him $300. It was worth it to the van owner. It beat freezing or spending at least that much in a motel or hotel. As the technician specialized only in heaters, he carried lots of parts for all types of vehicles in his truck.

Customers still feel loyalty to their dealers, and they will go to their dealers for parts when possible. But they will definitely go back to their dealer for service – if their initial experience was good and problems were taken care of in a timely and complete manner.

Rick and Mindy schedule an appointment with their dealer nine months in advance, knowing when they’ll be back in the Pacific Northwest.

If you are getting complaints, look to your staff and training. Your customers’ experience starts with you.