Boating-Industry Insider » Top 100 Dealers

Boating Industry’s 2009 Top 100 Photo Gallery

Matt Gruhn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:09:30 +0000

Welcome to the photo showcase for the 2009 Boating Industry Top 100 Dealers Club 100 Gala, brought to you by the Leadership Alliance and Boating Industry magazine. This gallery showcases the entire event, held on Nov. 18, 2009, from the cocktail reception through the awards and the after Top 100 networking event. You can view all of the photos and download, for free, any individual photos you’d like. Just click on the photo you want to download and save it to your desktop. You can also add comments to the gallery if you’d like. And as always, feel free to contact the Boating Industry staff for further questions or needs by e-mailing or calling Managing Editor Jon Mohr at jmohr@affinitygroup.com or 763/383-4466. Read more >>

The importance of “family time”

Liz Walz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:13:16 +0000

When we ask dealers to write about their employee relations strategies in Boating Industry’s Top 100 Dealer Application, many talk about the “family” atmosphere they try to create. Of course, a good percentage of dealerships are literally family-run operations, so that’s no surprise. But the “family” philosophy has also been adopted by lots of companies without a single blood relative in the bunch. Read more >>

How to be a smart company

Liz Walz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:55:44 +0000

The Boating Industry editorial team just finished evaluating this year’s Top 100 Dealer applications, and we were invigorated to learn that several have acquired competitors or land for future expansion, and all have continued to invest in improving their current operation.

The ultimate Top 100 Dealers nomination

Matt Gruhn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:13:33 +0000

The nomination process built into the Top 100 Dealers Program is a critical component to the success of the ranking’s creation each year. We receive thousands of dealer nominations, and they help us find the dealers that are regarded as among the best by third-party companies. The nominations come in from boat builders, engine manufacturers, service providers — all sectors of the industry. And while we don’t require these nominations for our editorial team to consider a dealer that applies, they do help validate the character of the dealers we’re considering. Especially when they arrive as unsolicited testimonials from a particular dealer’s customer, as was the case with the e-mail I recently received from Kathy Kaufmann. Read more >>

Black belt attitude

Liz Walz — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:47:35 +0000

Last September, I became a black belt in martial arts, and lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how the philosophies we use in the dojo apply in the business world. I’ve found, for example, that I’m definitely not in the same shape I was when I first tied the black belt around my waist. Work and home have been busy, which has translated into less time in the dojo. When you’ve just spent three years building up to your black belt “final exam,” martial arts classes feel easy. These days … not so much. Regardless of the difficulty of these classes, as a black belt, I’m expected to act like a leader, to set an example for my peers and to face challenges and obstacles with a positive, fighting spirit. I can’t give up even when my arms are burning on our fifth set of push-ups. I can’t complain even when I’m wiped out after the first two rounds of sparring. And I certainly can’t let a tough day at the office impact the kind of training partner I am for my peers. Read more >>