RVIA’s RV aftermarket webinar series concluded on Thursday with a dealer panel moderated by Norco Industries Aftermarket Sales Manager John Hawkins. Panelists included Ray Schwantner, director of fixed operations at Mike Thompson’s RV; Wayne Micallef, parts director at Campers Inn RV; and Larry Besse, general manager at Primeaux RV.
Supply Chain
The three panelists confirmed that, with the surge in RV travel this summer due to the pandemic, sales are high and keeping inventory on the shelves is a challenge. Hitches and air conditioners were listed among some of the most difficult items to keep in stock. To solve supply chain issues, the dealers said they have expanded their supplier/distributor networks and have in some cases hoarded the products they noticed that were harder to come by.
“If you think you need five air conditioners and someone offers you 10, buy the 10,” Schwantner said.
The panelists agreed that, for the most part, consumers have been understanding of the supply shortages, especially when sales staff are transparent about why they do not have the requested part and reassure the customer that they will get it.
Marketing
Hawkins asked the panelists how they incorporate social media into their marketing strategies. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter are among the platforms the panelists mentioned using. They all reaffirmed Curtis Coleman’s point from Wednesday’s session that rather than use social media to advertise products outright, they use the various platforms to sell the lifestyle benefits associated with the product.
The panelists also said they use different social media platforms to reach the consumer in different ways. Besse said that Primeaux uses Youtube to promote how-to videos. Micallef said that Campers Inn uses Facebook to promote the RV lifestyle, Twitter to highlight when customers are buying units and Instagram to combine the two strategies. Micallef also said that his social media tries to balance the frequency with which they post on social media.
“They’re not every day. I don’t think we’re overwhelming anyone with what we’re putting out there, but we are posting something every week,” Micallef said.
The panelists all agreed that they would appreciate getting social media content from suppliers, too, to boost marketing efforts.
Training Opportunities During Pandemic
The three panelists expressed gratitude for how business has boomed and for the future. But they also expressed varying degrees of regret about all of the in-person events that have been canceled for the next few months.
“I don’t know what kind of participation we’re going to see in a virtual show,” Besse said. “I know we always participated in any convention because we feel it’s a lot of information offered. Every time we send someone, they come back with a wealth of knowledge, so we’re pretty upset about that, but that’s the world we live in right now.”
“The virtual show’s not like a regular show,” Micallef added. “You go to the show because you like going to the show.”
Hawkins asked if the panelists would be willing to travel to a show at this time if certain guidelines and procedures were in place to better ensure the health and safety of the participants, and they all agreed they would. Hawkins followed up by asking whether the panelists would feel comfortable having representatives come to the dealerships to educate staff about new products, and again the three panelists agreed that they would welcome any such opportunity.
Final Thoughts
The webinar series concluded up with RVIA Executive Vice President James Ashurst reading a statement by Tom Manning and thanking organizers and participants for attending the virtual conference.
“This is your association. RVIA is your association,” Ashurst said. “We work at your direction. We allocate resources based on the direction that we get from our member companies.”
