Running the Business
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Features
How To Achieve an Accurate Inventory Count Without a Yearly Count
It is July and still a few months before your parts department will be processing the annual counting of the…
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Trust First, Sale Second: The RV Sales Strategy That Actually Works
There are so many things that could cause stress for the average RV customer today. Interest rates are still quite…
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Pets Create an Experiential Retail Experience for Customers
Experiential retail is the current buzzword for creating sales and repeat business through positive and unforgettable in-store experiences. I have…
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How RV Dealerships Can Meet Modern Buyer Expectations
Shopping for an RV can be exciting and fun, but also stressful to customers, as they weigh the plusses and…
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How Suppliers, Customers & Staff Can Shape Your RV Parts Strategy
For this month’s column, I believe it is worth looking at your parts and accessories operations from the standpoint of…
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How Managers Can Solve Conflict Between Employees
“Sort it out on your own” is no longer an option for businesses when employees are in conflict. Management goals…
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Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Strategies To Drive Workplace Performance
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, fostering a culture of innovation is a must. Creating such an environment requires attention…
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Avoid Issues by Paying Attention to the Natural Order
There’s a natural order to the universe. For example, we don’t float off the earth because of gravity. There will…
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How To Increase RV Retail Sales With Smart Product Displays
Every day you have likely experienced newbie RVers coming into your dealership. Some people know what they want and need,…
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Sustainability of Parts & Accessories Inventories
Sustainability is the special theme for March’s issue of RV PRO, so I have dedicated my column to assist you…
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Best Practices for Preventing Internal Fraud
“My employee would never steal from me! He/She has been a loyal employee for 10 years and is like part…
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Navigating the Road of RV Insurance: Protecting Your Customers’ Home on Wheels
Large-scale weather events around the country are a stark reminder of the power of nature, as well as protecting what…
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Be Prepared With This Data Breach Response Plan
As a business owner/dealer, you have an obligation to protect customers’ personal information. This is called personally identifiable information (PII)…
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RV PRO Roundup: Employee Appreciation & Boosting Company Culture
Employee Appreciation Day, established in 1995, is celebrated annually on the first Friday in March (in 2025, it fell on…
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Creating a Successful RV Show Brand Presence
RV shows offer a unique opportunity to connect intimately with future buyers and customers who are ready to purchase. While…
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How To Go From CRM to DMS
In today’s RV world, managing just customer relationships isn’t enough; your dealership needs a system that brings everything together, making…
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Win Over the Customer First
There is one scenario at RV dealerships that might be at the heart of losing more deals than any I…
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The 5 Steps of Finances
This month’s column focuses on the financial aspects of managing your parts and accessories operations. So that we are on…
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Grab These Cycle Count Bargains
This month’s special theme is centered on the two-for-one concept, so I have decided to piggyback on that theme for…
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The Habit Hack: The Power of Clarity at Work
Imagine a team starting a project with energy and optimism. Ideas are flying, everyone’s ready to contribute and the excitement…
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Effectively Managing Downtime in Sales
Unfortunately, there are many things a salesperson cannot control when they go to work each day. They have no control…
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POPs That POP!
What do people remember when they think of your dealership? Service is always No. 1, whether it’s exceptionally good or,…
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Costs of Doing Business in 2025
The state of the industry is the primary theme of this month’s issue of RV PRO. Like most other industries,…
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The Habit Hack: Rewire Your Brain for Better Customer Service
Companies invest millions of dollars in training each year. Yet even after extensive education and successful performance in a classroom…
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Keeping Tabs on Fast-Moving Inventory Items
The primary theme of last month’s issue of RV PRO was the recognition of RV industry professionals who qualify as…
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Using Listening To Increase Presence & Evolve Your Leadership
Being present in today’s world is more difficult than it has ever been before. Everyone is constantly bombarded by emails,…
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Reading Your Customers’ Body Language Cues
In these slow economic times for the RV business, salespeople are under constant pressure to find a competitive edge against…
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Leveraging Social Media Marketing To Connect With Your Ideal Customer
Are you looking for new ideas to connect with your ideal customer and grow an audience of brand fans? Social…
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It’s Not Too Late To Fa La La
I got my start in visual merchandising working for large department stores. We would start planning for the holiday season…
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What Are Your New Year Plans?
In a few weeks, we will bid adieu to 2024 and greet the new year of 2025. As in the…
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How Emotional Connection Can Make You a Better Leader
Navigating leadership brings a unique set of challenges and opportunities. A young executive, Sarah, faced complaints from her team who…
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A Step-by-Step Guide to Navigating Difficult Conversations
“I don’t like confrontation, but I’m tired of his abuse. He signed me up for another committee without asking.” “I…
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Workplace Violence: Reducing the Risk
A disgruntled employee opened fire at a small Philadelphia-area business earlier this year, killing two fellow workers and injuring three…
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Understanding the Preapproval Process
Purchasing an RV involves significant financial commitments and detailed decision-making. Streamlining this process is essential for an efficient transaction for…
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Leveraging AIAs for Dealership Success
As shoppers spend more time online, the success of RV dealerships increasingly hinges on their ability to connect with potential…
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Your Personnel Need Your Personal Attention
In many of my columns since 2005, I have presented the importance of turning your parts and accessories inventories with…
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Battling ‘Outsider Syndrome’ in the Family Business
Productive employees make profitable companies. Every employer would like to cultivate an effective team that goes the extra mile to…
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Baby, It’s Cold Outside!
As I’m writing this, the temperature in Portland, Oregon, is nearing 103 degrees. For all of you that think it’s…
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RECTifying Your Operations, Part 3
Editor’s note: This is the third part of a series highlighting repair event cycle time (RECT). Part 1 appeared in…
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Being Present: A Key to Effective Leadership & an Emergent Culture
The world is transforming faster than ever. Many employees and leaders are feeling overwhelmed by rapidly evolving markets, a new…
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The Importance of Follow-Through in Sales
There are many steps that need to happen correctly for salespeople to close a deal with customers when the weather…
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RECTifying Your Operations, Part 2
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a series highlighting repair event cycle time (RECT). Part 1 appeared in…
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How a ‘Chief People Officer’ Can Help Your RV Company
If there is anything we have learned from the chaos of the past few years, it is this: Every business…
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How To Create a Culture That People Don’t Want To Leave
Do you have a Negative Nancy (NN) or Toxic Tim (TT) that you’re keeping longer than you should? Would you…
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Wake Up Before They Go Go …
You can thank or curse me later for the earworm, but for now, please read on for some ideas on…
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RECTifying Your Operations, Part 1
Repair event cycle time (RECT) is a popular topic of interest within the RV industry. Recent articles in RV PRO…
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Employee Pay-for-Performance Plans That Get Results
Skilled workers are hard to find — and keep. Little wonder employers are taking a fresh look at so-called “pay-for-performance”…
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Turn Sold Customers Into Repeat Fans of Your Brand With CRM Automation
A lot of people can go through your dealership on any given day, both online and at your brick-and-mortar. When…
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Converting Cash Deals by Overcoming Cash Buyers’ Financing Objections
In RV dealerships, the finance department guides customers through purchasing and offers various financing options to suit their needs. However,…
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Adjust Presentations To Fit Your Customer’s ‘Type’
As I talk to some of the best RV salespeople in RV dealerships across the country, I find one common…
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SMI: Some Minimizing Ideas
In the May issue of RV PRO, I invited you to tune in to this June issue’s column for methods…
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Unlocking the Power of Organizational Culture
Dealing with troubling workplace environments can be difficult. It’s not always clear what the deeper issue is, and the friction…
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SMI: Are You Exceeding Your Towing Capacity?
For those unfamiliar with the term SMI, it stands for “slow-moving inventory,” a phrase that I developed many years ago…
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How To Actively Listen to Your Customers
If you were to ask customers what their number one complaint is when working with a salesperson, what do you…
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Is Your Dealership a Drive-By?
I live about 20 minutes south of downtown Portland, Oregon. Within 25 minutes in all directions are about 25 RV…
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Understanding PVR & How It Can Improve F&I Revenue
Q: What is PVR, and why is it important for RV dealerships to track? A: PVR, or “per vehicle retailed,”…
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The Importance of a Properly Structured Reinsurance Company for RV Dealerships
In the ever-evolving landscape of RV sales and services, RV dealerships are continuously seeking ways to maximize profitability and manage…
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Refresh Your Dealership for Spring
It’s that dreaded time of year again – spring cleaning! If you had a parent who insisted on a thorough…
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Sustaining Your Parts & Accessories Customer Base
There has been substantial focus on the topic of sustainability in various media. Many corporations have established a sustainability officer/manager…
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RV Dealer Websites: Why You Can’t Just Set It & Forget It
Your dealership’s online presence is just as important as your physical location. Often, your website is a potential customer’s initial…
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The Benefits of Building Customer Trust
Of all the things salespeople need to learn when working with customers, the one thing often missed when dealerships train…
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The Law of the Dinosaur: If It Is Dying, Let It Die
“The dinosaur’s eloquent lesson is that if some bigness is good, an overabundance of bigness is not necessarily better.” —…
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Hate To Wait
America’s attention span changed when “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” started in 1968 and ran for 140 episodes until 1973. For…
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Understanding Your Dealership Management System
What Does It Do? A dealership management system can provide reports of parts and accessories inventory performance that can –…
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The 4 Components of a Hybrid Training Approach
The digital age has brought access to information at an immeasurable rate and has shifted the way many people learn,…
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Stand Out at RV Shows
If you ever feel like you’re not getting enough exercise, walk an RV show at a local expo or convention…
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The Make-or-Break Moment With Customers
Many RV dealerships in the United States have at least a general sales process they like their staff to follow…
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Motivating Staff to Keep Things Tidy
A new year calls for a fresh, new feeling in your store. Imagine spring cleaning – but in February. The…
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Working With Social Media Influencers
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-growing tools to leverage sales and growth. Are you taking advantage of it? Let’s…
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