What a great debut show show we had – well set up and stocked by Tom Bettle and ably assisted by Viv Sullivan.

We met lots of our existing customers and began relationships with new ones too.

We had a lot of fun.

Happy Hour officially started on day 1 at 17.00 hours – but it did get earlier each day

We financed our largest deal to date – the show Bavaria Vision 42 show boat for Clipper Marine – this will be in the Med from the beginning of November

Herefordshire friends came and said hello and showed us their latest fashion purchases

And we met new customers and acquaintances from the RORC racing circuit who were looking to replace their existing fast boat with an even quicker boat

Some of our regulars were being sorely tempted to upgrade to bigger boats

Promarine Finance were pleased to join the RNLI during the show

And old friends visited to remind us of funny rhymes and talk about CQS and the 2017 Fastnet

“I wish I were a glow worm
A glow worm’s never glum
How can you be grumpy
When the sun shines out your bum” Robo 2017

Many of you are like me, passionate boaters. This crazy industry we work in is far more than a job and it is way more than just lifestyle.

We go to work because we get drawn back to the boats that we love being around and we can’t escape the industry no matter how hard we try.

For those that have that passion London International Boat Show is something of an institution that has been part of our annual diary for far longer than the marine industry has been our careers.

None of my family had an interest in boats, but I still dragged my father to Earls Court every year where as a young boy I dreamed of one day being the captain of one of the beautiful yachts on display.

Perhaps it was no surprise that I joined the industry. My aspirations were a little high and I joined not as a captain, but as a sales man for one of the major French brands and upsold to an Italian counterpart that was sold by the same dealership.

Actually, I joined relatively late in my career. I stood on the back of a rather nice 42’ Italian flybridge and asked the two directors of the business for a job. Slightly bemused as to what an IT salesman knew about selling boats I convinced the two bosses to give me a chance by offering my services free of charge for the duration of that boat show and, with some moderate success during that show, for me the rest is history.

That was at Southampton Boat Show in 2002 and so I was destined to work at the last London Boat Show held at the iconic Earls Court. That January show in 2003 still stays in my memory. Watching as another tube load of visitors arrived and like a swarm they headed around the hall. The celebratory exhibitors party was something else, but so was the whole atmosphere. Earls Court will always be a very special venue for the London Boat Show.

But, then came Excel…

The show had to move, it was bursting at the seams. But we didn’t want it to and we all huffed and humbugged our way to East London for that first year.

My word it seemed vast! Two enormous halls with anyone and everyone that dipped a toe in the UK marine industry clamouring for the buyer’s attention.

There is no getting away from the fact that Excel has no soul compared with Earls Court and so we really did huff and humbug, but we started selling boats. Lots of boats.

Over the coming years the London Boat Show became a place to do deals. Our French power boat stand went from strength to strength and I know that those of my competitors did equally well.

Yet we still huffed and humbugged and we still reminisced.

Perhaps we are just all old grey and grumpy, but whilst we grumbled about going we all did well.

And then the financial crash came and many of our bubbles burst. Many of us still here today are here because we changed tack and adapted to the needs of the reducing numbers of buyers.

Inevitably the London International Boat Show downsized. There is no doubting that it lost some of its “International” flare and I am as guilty as anyone that I blamed National Boat Shows. “There costs are too high”, “There’s another bloody jewellery stand”… However in fairness they did a fabulous job in keeping a dwindling show on track and making sure that as many of the buyers out there still came.

We huffed and we humbugged, but we still exhibited and we still sold some boats and we still filled out lead books for the season ahead.

Ten years on from that last “mega show” of 2007 and we have all just recovered from another ten days at Excel. We are greyer still and now even grumpier and we still huff and humbug about the trek to docklands and our ten days of no daylight.

The same people are full of the same bravado and the same people are full of doom, but we are back and we are still filling our lead books and taking some orders.

For the first time in my marine industry career I was no longer selling boats at the show, but instead I was there firstly to meet the exhibitors and explain a bit more about Promarine Finance and how we may be able help close deals, but my main role was to be available to quote your customers whenever you needed me.

Whilst show footfall did at times feel rather low I was kept busy by a number of you. Perhaps numbers may have been down, but quality of buyers up?

Being available to come to your stand at a moment’s notice certainly seemed to help in customer confidence and if the number of quotes I did for your customers and the number of quotes that have come through our website is anything to go by your lead books should be bulging and it looks like many of you will have a strong season ahead.

Beyond the number of your customers that I met another gauge of the show for me was how busy the small inflatables and tender stands were. Tenders are purchased by the owners of larger boats and on one stand, despite a quiet middle few days of the show, the final sales numbers were impressive to say the least. I couldn’t resist and on visiting the stand found both sales guys busy with customers and another waiting. Five minutes later the order pad was out. £800 of inflatable or £800,000 of luxury yacht. You never lose that buzz from doing a deal!

So, through going grey, huffs and humbugs. Through rain, snow, tube strikes and man flu, the show must go on. And so it does.
Promarine Finance can help you close some of those leads you took.

We understand your buyers as we are boaters and we understand you as we have sold boats too. Most of you know where we excel (pardon the pun) and in those circumstances use us and you may win a deal that would have walked away otherwise.

I very much hope to be of assistance over the coming season and will see many of you before, but if not, …See you at Southampton!

Tom Bettle, Business Director, Promarine Finance

It’s just a month until the start of the 2017 London International Boat Show.

If you are attending as an exhibitor then no doubt you are extremely busy with last minute preparations and final detail in order to kick off 2017 on a high note.

This year Promarine Finance will have staff available throughout the show to provide immediate stand side assistance to any dealer who needs it, but we’d like to offer a little bit extra to help you sell more boats.

If you are displaying boats or engines that broadly sit between about £4,500 and £45,000 then please send us the details and we will provide finance examples for the hulls or cowlings.

These examples will be bold and simple with fine print only needed to be displayed on a desk card or stand side spec sheet.

If you don’t wish for full finance examples, but do wish to let buyers know that finance is available then we can also offer “Finance me” hull transfers complete with other point of sale material such as flyers.

Let us know prior to Thursday 22nd December if you need any finance examples or additional point of sale material.

For stand side assistance during the show, call or text Tom on 07720 214 831 or email tom@marine-finance.org

British Marine have published several quotes from UK marine industry leaders all saying positive things about their show results. The link to the page is below.

British Marine “Europe’s first Boat Show of the year draws to a close amidst reports of excellent sales” boat show review.

British Marine tell us that “90,328 people visited the show and strong sales have been reported throughout the duration of the Show, with many companies reporting an increase on last year’s figures including numerous multi-million pound deals.”

Did exhibitors make the most of the London Boat Show? Could they have achieved more sales, and if so how? asks Stuart Austin, Director of Promarine Finance

When I visited the show on Tuesday and Wednesday I was shocked to see how few visitors were there. This was not just my impression but was confirmed by many of the exhibitors I spoke with. In fact exhibitors had a lot of spare time and shared many views with me about their own sales performance and how they perceive my company, Promarine Finance, in the market.

I heard the same comments repeated numerous times and so I have decided to address those comments in this article.

Customers are Not Buying Boats

Well only you know how much this applies to your business.

All my Customers Pay Cash

This is what you expect if you only offer your customers a cash payment option?

But the 2nd statement really does tie in with the 1st. Your customers can only pay you cash if you don’t offer an alternative but currently it appears customers are not buying boats from you. Or certainly not buying enough boats at the right price.

So do potential customers have the cash and why are they not buying boats? How can you tell which customers have cash and which will buy? I don’t think you can and I don’t think you should try to find out.

It is worth considering the options that might address statements 1 and 2 above to add sales to your business.

Discounting

In 1991 the machine tool suppliers in the UK were not selling machine tools. When I asked them why, suppliers told me customers could not afford their machine tools. The suppliers’ solution was to discount their products until customers could afford to buy them, but in reality price was not the issue. So yes, this approach can win sales but will damage your profits and long term business plan because the discount will need to be massive. What does this strategy do for your product?

Supplier Credit Terms

Is an option if you can afford to give credit to customers allowing them to delay payment. Can be damaging to cash flow and you have exposure to customer credit risk. Are you a bank or do you want to be like one?

Finance

It is not surprising that I recommend finance as the best, if not the only workable solution. Most luxury items are sold with finance because it works e.g. cars, motor bikes, watches, houses, holidayImage result for audi r8 homes, motor homes, caravans, conservatories etc. So why not give customers the option to pay for their boat by spreading the cost of the boat?

Finance versus Cash

Selling boats for cash means you have got lots of competition.

A well-known iconic motor bike manufacturer surveyed their customers to establish who their main competition was – they found the answer surprisingly was not other motor bike brands but conservatory sales. Customers faced the choice of buying the bike or a conservatory.

The boat you want to sell is in competition with many other items customers want or need.

Offering a finance solution can win incremental business – you will not lose your cash sales but you will pick up additional sales from new customers.

I am Uncomfortable Mentioning Finance

We often hear this stated by sales people who do not choose to finance purchases in their own personal life and are therefore uncomfortable with offering a finance option to their customers. This is probably the single most common objection I come across and to be honest I am still looking for a good solution.

Is the sales person who is not using finance overlooking their own circumstances? Do they have a house a mortgage? Car finance? Credit card? 0% finance purchases?

Should the sales person make a decision to exclude a purchasing option for their customer for whatever reason unless stated by the customer?

I Don’t Want to Suggest to my Customer They Cannot Afford the Boat

Customers will not ask for finance because they may feel uncomfortable too. For the past 5 years or so finance for small boats has not been widely available.

Giving customers the option to spread the cost of a boat is helping them to buy and justify the purchase. £10k over 5 years costs from £250 per month – some customers viewing a boat purchase will view this as a sensible option to cash. If cash is not available or in demand for other purchases the finance option can win the deal.

Our standard terms are available at the link below which is also on our web page.

Promarine Loan Calculator

Promarine Finance is Expensive

Yes, we are compared to the established marine finance players and we cannot compete on price with them, nor do we wish to.

Promarine Finance is a relatively small, independent business that is predominantly looking to finance boats that the banks will not finance. Our marine mortgages start from £3k and go up to £70k and can be underwritten in less than 30 minutes. We have a different business model!

Lower Rate Option Available

We recognise that there are some customers who are purchasing boats that fall outside the marine bank lenders criteria and that these customers have the option to borrow from other sources at lower rates than we can offer. In recognition of the rate objections raised at the Boat Show, we are now introducing a lower rate finance option for a trial period.

Qualification Criteria for our New Rate Subject to Credit Approval

New boat
55% loan to value
Max term 5 years
£10k now £250 pm over 5 years

How should I introduce finance?

We have a different take on selling finance.

Most finance schemes usually lend the full value of the item and offer a minimum deposit. These schemes are nearly always subsidised by the manufacturer or retailer. Eg car finance, household goods.

Our average loan amount is approximately 50% of the boat value. This suggests to me that our customers are using Promarine Finance to top up their purchasing power or alternatively allowing them to keep more cash in the bank. We all want a financial safety net.

So with this in mind, I am suggesting boats costing from £12k to £20k could be advertised at £250 per month (£10k over 5 years at the new discounted scheme) with a range of deposits from £2k to £10k.

Similarly boats with a cost of £18k to £25k can be advertised at £375 per month (£15k over 5 years) with deposits from £3k to £10k or even at £250 per month using the £10k example above.

And this format can be used for more expensive boats too.

More expensive boats of say £30k can be illustrated with loan amounts of £15k or £20k

We are looking at ways to help you to get the customer to perceive the cost of the boat in a different way. And a way that will help them justify buying from you.

What about Consumer Credit Licence and Regulation

The Financial Conduct Authority, (FCA website) is now controlling the consumer credit industry and the consumer credit licence is now obsolete.

To offer, promote and introduce finance you need to be authorised to do so by the FCA.

The alternative option, if you work with Promarine Finance, is to display Promarine Finance advertisements rather than your own. You can also display our leaflets.

If the customer has any questions concerning finance then they should contact Promarine Finance.

Alternatively you can register with the FCA for Limited Permission Approval and become more involved in the finance process.

We now have a Twitter account @PromarineInfo and we have been tweeting about finance for boats. We have been using #spreadthecost as our hashtag and we will be continuing to promote financing of boats in this way.

Please do get in contact with me if you want to discuss how we can help you to win more boat sales in 2016. Our aim is to help you build on the success of the London Boat Show for the coming season and beyond.

Stuart Austin