# Who has the TOMA for Marine Businesses in Pensacola?



## CoFlafisherman (Apr 2, 2008)

When it comes to businesses in the Marine Industry, within the Pensacola region, who's captured the most mental real estate? Who hasTop of Mind Awareness, TOMA, within this community? I have spent 30 years watching this community grow and not one marine business pops into my head first as being the go to business. I know many marine businesses within this region, however, no one stands out as the "Top Dog" or "Go To Guys" when it comes to boating needs.

This question is for all boat owners out there: 

Who is the first business that comes to mind when you need boat parts, boat service, boat accessories, etc.?

CoFlaFisherman


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## Voodoo Lounge (Sep 28, 2007)

?? Edgewater Marine??, but I'm just a little piss ant


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## freespool50 (Sep 29, 2007)

my take on the answer to your question is that the marine industry as a whole is too fractious. there are too many boat brands to count. there are multiple yamaha, mercury, evinrude, tohatsu, nissan, yanmar, mann, caterpillar, cummins dealers in the area. did i forget a few? sorry. its not like having a mercedes, bmw or chevy/ford. the main players are limited. even the independent shops have some notoriety in their respective area. when it comes to marine, there are just too many possibilities for supply/service for one boat, let alone the many different brands out there. 

my .01 worth (.02 after taxes)


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## CoFlafisherman (Apr 2, 2008)

Thank you Freespool, I appreciate that insight. You mentioned the independent shopshaving notoriety in their respective area. As you are well aware, there are many choices when it comes tohaving yourboat fixed, serviced, worked on in some way, or simply buying a new boat, here in the Pensacola area. How does the independent "Marine Business" owner become the business everyone goes to when that need presents itself? Certainly the local industry is saturated and people could go almost anywhere to spend their money on that need, who does this local community go to for those needs?

Why don't any of those businesses want to be the first business people think of when those needs arise?


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## Voodoo Lounge (Sep 28, 2007)

The marine world has taken a serious turn for the worse, between fuel prices, insurance and the cost of living, it seems like everybody has limited funds available for recreation. There are marine businesses folding all around me, and I'm a little skeptical about next season too. As far as advertising, it's a tough pill to swallow when there's little to no work! Seems to me most of the advertising, be it good or bad, is in good old word of mouth. I know thats how I get a good majority of my work. I know the bigger establishments get co-op dollars for advertising, but that doesnt happen for us peeons

I hope you get your answer here, maybe I'll see a comment or something thats takes my minimal advertising budget and heads it in a different direction!


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## DOUBLE "D" & LV (Oct 2, 2007)

Same here Tony. We do not advertiseas tokeep overhead down. Since there are so many different brands, and with the business the way it is, one has to be well versed in several brands to keep in business. With the way the marine industry works, for a dealership to find a mechanic that is well versed in all aspects is hard to do. I have not worked at a dealership that has specialized mechanics as in the auto industry. As far as the Q at hand, one will have varying answers because all the dealerships and independant repair shops have not been tried by all the people. So, based on someones limited experiences with all the places to go, it is very hard to get a good answer. I have heard and read goodand bad things about most all the repair places around. This does not mean that the place is bad, just that someone had a bad experience and someone else fixed the problem. This may be dueto various reasons including training, experience, or lack of whatever. I think we all try to do the best, but some are limited.


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## CoFlafisherman (Apr 2, 2008)

Thanks Tony and Double "D", both are great responses. I hear both of you saying that you stick with word of mouth for your advertising. Good ol' word of mouth is how most businesses grew in this country so it is great, however, it is slow and like you both know, it could be bad word of mouth or good. There is no controlling that word after it leaves your business. Tony ran down a list of brands for motors, Yamaha, Mercury, Evinrude. Would both of you agree that at least 2 of those three names come up every time you think of boat engines? How did they get you to think of them first? I was in a dilema recently where I needed an oil change and some other servicing done on my boat. I do not have a trailor so I would need to find someone who could come pick up my boat or at least let me bring it to their trailor to get it back to the shop. I live in Gulf Breeze and of course I thought of Gulf Breeze Marine since they are 1/4 mile away from my house. However, I still called places in Pensacola. No one could pick it up at a ramp for me, so I settled. After the work was done I looked around some more and finally found one that I could have called and compared prices since they would put it on a trailor for me. If the company I found after the work was done had been making sure everyone in town knew their name I would have probably gone to them first before going to the business 1/4 mile from my house. So I do agree that word of mouth is great, however, other marketing methods are needed in order to maintain that mental real estate or TOMA, and the customers coming into their business.

Steve


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## freespool50 (Sep 29, 2007)

steve,you just gave your answer. as was stated by either tony or doubl d, there are too many dealers spread out to try all of them. you tried one, and i suppose by your response, it wasnt the right choice for your situation. so, you realized after the fact that you needed to go with some other shop. well theres your answer. you got on a public forum could have called out that other shop and gave it some "notoriety". good ole word of mouth advertising. 

i too have limited my advertising. my business is growing by word of mouth and my and some others work at placing cards on mercedes parked at public places. the card placement has worked great. used to in the past a business could call up tallahassee and get a list of all the boat/car registrations for a given county and then handpick which boats/cars he wanted to send a card/letter to. well, thanks to the patriot act, we cant do that anymore. at least not directly anyway. so this was a great loss for a means of direct advertising. 

at first i thought you had a business, but from your last post, you just wanted to be informed by some other business? 

but i will state this, that the BEST way for a business to maintain good word of mouth is SERVICE. i cant say that enough. in these tough times, if you are not already a meek, humble person ready to eat crow or do just about whatever is needed to keep and attract new customers, then your business will suffer a slow death. even during tough times, folks still wont be willing to shell out money for a recreational item if at all unless they LIKE AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT who they are dealing with. so all you business owners out there who have employees, are you having regular pep talks with them to make sure they have the proper attitude to not only retain, but attract more customers? my contention is that if i am going to spend a dollar, then i am going to spend it with someone i HEARD gives great service and doesnt cost any more than the other guy whose employees could seem to care less whether i service with them or not.

again, my .01 (.02 after taxes)


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## CoFlafisherman (Apr 2, 2008)

Actually the service was great and I got doen what I needed, no complaints. I would definately do business with them again. However, I am all about spreading it out since I do want to see the small businesses in this area succeed. So next time I will probably find another shop to take care of it now that I have researched this industry.

I will always agree that word of mouth advertising is great. The only downfall is that it is slow and it is uncontrolable. The only controlable word of mouth out there is radio. Making sure you focus your message on consistancy, frequency, and tie it to an emotional trigger, your business will succeed. 

I work in marketing. I work with business owners helping them find their key message and then help them create a media schedule that will give them a measurable ROI, knowing if their marketing dollars are working or not. The one thing I have learned in this business is that most business owners like to "spray and pray" with their marketing dollars. Meaning that they spread their marketing dollars all over the place and pray that something comes of it. Why not pick one media, measure the ROI, if it's working, then and only then do you add another media to the mix.

Businesses can grow when it's slow, it just comes down to who wants to be on top and work through the hard times with intelligence and key messaging.

By the way, check out my post in the Inshore Reports, my daughter caufght her first redfish tonight, 24 inches/5 pounds.

CoFlaFisherman


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