Retaining Loyal Customers

Loyalty programs are nothing new, but one market that has been slow to adopt such an approach to customer retention is the marine industry – until now.
Retail sales companies and online marine outfitters have had points programs in place for years, complete with apps for phones and online portals for tracking balances. Customers are rewarded by these sellers for their return visits with discounts, sales exclusives, special access to new products, and much more.

In an industry that appears to be exploding with innovation, advancement, and change, interest is growing for programs designed to help marinas and marine-based businesses with customer retention.

How Marinas Can Benefit
Marinas with a variety of services and offerings, such as fuel docks, ship’s stores, service departments, storage, and other customer-facing department can especially benefit from rolling out a customer loyalty program.
With discounts offered for accumulated points or repeat spending, customers can achieve free products, services, or discounts that incentivize spending more with the same marina or marine company instead of hopping from a service provider to a different storage facility, only to end up in another marina’s slip in the spring.

Instead of chasing prices across different retail or service providers, customers can bank points or earn savings with just one by enrolling in a marina’s customer loyalty program and use their spending habits to save, which can benefit both parties – the marina and the boat’s owner.
Maintaining a relationship with one facility can also simplify and streamline boat ownership by putting the owner’s maintenance records, sales receipts, and other important information under one roof.

Some marinas have had less formal loyalty programs in place for years, offering discounts on products, like fuel, to loyal, returning customers.
“We’ve had a fuel discount program in place since the late 1990s,” said Roxanne Rockvam, general manager of Rockvam Boat Yards in Spring Park, Minnesota.

Located on Lake Minnetonka just 20 miles outside of Minneapolis, Rockvam Boat Yards offers in-out service, a ship’s store, maintenance and repair, and keeps more than 400 boats in winter storage yearly, so keeping customers on the property for all of their needs can lead to increased sales revenue.

In 2020, Rockvam decided to add to their offerings with additional discounts based on loyalty. Keeping it simple, the facility chose to track rewards using the customer email addresses in their existing point of sale system and a newsletter that also keeps snowbirds and summer residents aware of local happenings.

“We started our Rockvam Rewards program to offer more to boaters,” Rockvam said. “Our goal for the summer was to get people aware of the program and then hopefully keep sales going till Christmas with Rockvam Boat Yards and Lake Minnetonka merchandise.”

According to Rockvam, the response has been terrific. “Our customers also tell us how much they love to get the newsletter.”
For Rockvam, using a customer loyalty program not only helps long-time boaters earn or save, but has also helped introduce new boaters, and even dreamers, to the lifestyle. It has also led to new business, with one newsletter recipient signing up for winter storage for both of their boats.

Emerging Trends
Current trends and rising interest in customer retention and repeat business have also driven software companies like Marina Master to begin offering loyalty program modules for their products.

According to Irena Cadez M.Sc, CEO of Marina Master CRM, her company began investigating interest in customer loyalty programs several years ago when they recognized emerging trends from the boating industry and its customers.

“With our company’s strategy, following and staying on top of the latest trends, customer loyalty is an important part of CRM – customer relationship management,“ Cadez said. “With our customer’s demand focused on specific loyalty programs for their marina’s clients, our flexibility helped to develop and offer our clients/marinas loyalty programs according to their individual requirements and needs.”

In Boston, Massachusetts, Ocean Havens Properties launched their loyalty program through Marina Master’s platform and considers it to have been both an easy process and a successful campaign, even after just one year.
“The Marina Master team incorporated the many features for discounts and perks across the board by each membership tier for transient dockage, merchandise, fuel services, etc.,” said Chuck and Anne Lagasse, principals at Ocean Havens. “This is the first season of the Ocean Havens’ automated loyalty program and it has been well received by our customers.”

Developing a Strategy
Outside of the marine industry, people are surrounded by loyalty and retention programs designed to make spending money with the same company across multiple departments an easy choice.

Whether a boater needs yearly tune-ups and oil changes or a transmission replacement, giving them the incentive to return for other services can lead to long-standing, mutually beneficial relationships.
Along with the potential financial savings, customers who sign up for rewards programs can sometimes feel like they are part of an exclusive club, which can also lead to increased sales and stronger relationships through personalized customer engagement.

By offering more targeted marketing based on loyalty program data, people can feel like they get what they want and need from a business and are saving money at the same time.

“There are all kinds of marketing ideas once you have their name and email,” Rockvam said.

Rewards for returning customers can increase retention and positively impact sales for any business. With customers free to create relationships with multiple providers based on prices and savings, giving clients a reason to return can turn a ship’s store visitor into a storage customer or bring back someone for preventative maintenance so they can use up a discount points balance. As the marine industry continues to grow and innovate customer loyalty programs are also expected to increase in adoption.