Originally Posted by
Bass Cat Boats
Items like this come up and people have since the Correct Craft indicated things have changed. However, most of the same people are here and more newer ones added. Just last week we spent time on the consumer experience being the difference in any product.
Inside we have Richard in Service, and he’s been there many years, Allan continues in Parts, Stuart is the Production Manager, Dorry is still in Clothing, Daylon has been added to oversee Pts, Serv. & Warr and Clothing. Jackson replaced Jason as Sales Director, as who now has the SE territory of Arkansas straight east. Nathan was added last month as Operations Director, and he was a Bass Cat owner many years in California. Evan is over Purchasing and literally grew up with Dad in his Bass Cat, just as Jackson has his families Pantera Classic. The last three are all in their 20’s as we rebuild. Cody came in 6 years ago and is VP of Finance and Admin. Heather in HR fished every trip in their Puma FTD before her role at HR Director. Others under those people
Ivan did retire in his 70’s and it won’t be long until Allan will retire and slide into a part time role in parts. He still feels like all of you are his, “my people” as he’s forged relationships and expectations over the last decade.
The Sales Managers chair and a Media chair are still open and we are actively pursuing people to fill those roles.
All of that is still under my authority, as it has been for decades.
Quite honestly some things have changed, though not really what folks feel has. For us expectations have changed. As our base grows, people also have improved the amount of direct support and service they expect from us. We have seen those expectations change. Often because they lack dealers service centers beyond the outboard engine. Thankfully all of this is changing today and technical service centers are springing up that will manage electronics, trollers, carpeting and more.
We simply can not provide service to all of the tens of thousands of boats we have built, that’s simply an unrealistic expectation. We try to do things here that dealerships can not. However we also see people wanting things done which we simply don’t have the staff and facilities to perform. Which is why we have dealerships. Quite honestly, Dropping a boat off to have a seat mounted, a worn tire swapped, a lid seal replaced or many items we see on a regular basis we are simply limited on ability due to the sheer volume.
Then we have the ‘favor’ items that “while it’s here”, swap my trolling motor out, replace my graph, add this widget. We don’t build these items and they are not ours to install. To some they forget we are not an aftermarket dealership, we build boats. Often times our staff knows how to install a trolling motor on a 2021 model, however they may not know the wiring, charger or items on a 1995 model. Many of these people were not born when your boat was built.
GelCoat work is another tedious one where we only have a few trained staffers, and we simply do not have the staff or the room. Shucks we know everyone is overloaded with quality people today, and we are no different. We have limitations and we try to manage those daily. We have added two new young staffers into repair training, even then they won’t be up to speed quick, and when they are we won’t be able to do every scratch in your Gelcoat.
Have things changed, quite possibly they have, though it’s not staff and it’s not a lack of intent here. Every day we try to keep outperforming our competitors on taking care of the Bass Cat and Yar-Craft family.
Thank you,
Rick
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