Boating Industry Insider Podcast

Are you a sales detective, or still stuck peddling products while spewing out features and specs? Today the highest performing salespeople aren't solution selling. They're actively engaged in problem finding, taking prospects through a discovery process. In this Boating Industry Insider episode, host David Gee talks with technologist, inventor and serial sales platform start-up leader Lief Larson...

Boat sales. Everyone's favorite subject, right?! Jack Ellis, founder of Florida-based marketing and data-services company Info-Link doesn't sell boats for a living. But he does track boat sales for a living. And in this Boating Industry Insider podcast episode from the recent Miami International Boat Show host David Gee will ask Jack about the last couple of years in the recreational boating indus...

How has the shared access model of boat clubs impacted overall recreational boating participation and boat ownership? Why are the demographics of boat club members different than that of the general boating owning population? What has fueled the growth of Freedom Boat Club? Join Boating Industry Insider host David Gee as he interviews Freedom Boat Club President Cecil Cohn from the Miami Internati...

Everything you wanted to know about marinas, and didn't even know to ask. Boating Industry Insider host David Gee is joined by Dan Cowens, the architect of Oasis Marinas’ vision to provide high-quality marina management services around the world. Dan pulled from his 25+ years in hospitality management to build the customer-centric philosophy at Oasis. Under Cowens' direction, Oasis Marinas grew fr...

The new year is bringing new changes for boat shows, as Discover Boating uses the 2023 boat show season to continue their multi-channel, industry lifestyle branding efforts. The goal? Connecting more directly with a much broader group of potential boaters. Boating Industry Insider host David Gee is joined by Ellen Bradley, Chief Brand Officer and SVP of Marketing and Communications for NMMA, as we...

Request Brunswick's Dave Foulkes and Aine Denari Inventory challenges, rising prices, rising inflation, rising interest rates, and demand questions. Those are things the recreational boating industry is grappling with, and Boating Industry Insider host David Gee discusses them with Brunswick CEO Dave Foulkes and President of Brunswick Boat Group, Aine Denari. If they're concerned, they're not show...

Now is a great time to think about boosting your dealership's revenue, and one way to do that is by offering - or expanding - extended warranty protection programs. Join host David Gee as he welcomes Jay Demaske, Vice President of Dealer/Agent Relations at United States Warranty Corporation/Eagle Extended Service Protection Corporation. They'll talk about why this time of year in particular is cri...

Globally, the electric boating industry generated $5 billion in revenue in 2021, and Allied Market Research is predicting a massive, 12.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the foreseeable future. In this latest Boating Industry Insider podcast episode, David Gee speaks to Vision Marine Technologies CEO Alex Mongeon. He is a former powerboat racer turned electric boat manufacturer, and has so...

Many of the hundreds of thousands of new boaters who have taken to the water since the pandemic are not only new to boat ownership but have not had any prior boating experience at all. How has this changed the dynamic of boating, particularly when it comes to safety? What can boat builders, dealers, trade association professionals and even experienced citizen boaters do to make boating safer for e...

What does the recreational boating industry look like right now from the perspective of someone who deals with dozens of dealers on a daily basis? That's what we wanted to know, so we asked Myril Shaw, COO of Dealer Profit Services, a full-service F&I and compliance services company, to join host David Gee for this Boating Industry Insider podcast episode. The two talk about some of the challe...

Imagine spending five years with your wife in a 21-foot boat with an 8'x3' cabin, on a trip through 19 countries, covering some 18,000 miles. That's what Stephen Ladd did - and he - and the marriage - survived, though the boat did not. The author of the solo adventure story Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat is back at it, detailing a new adventure with a new book, The Five-Year Voyage. Teaming up with...

There is a growing consensus among auto industry executives and analysts that a tipping point is fast approaching for the mass adoption of electric vehicles because of falling battery costs, improving battery technology, pressure from regulators and generous government subsidies. Will electric boats be far behind? They certainly made a big splash at the recent Miami International Boat Show. There...

The great reshuffling. Reexamining our relationship to work. Employees quitting who don't feel valued. In his Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System Ralf Specht - an innovative corporate brand strategist known for his work with global companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Coca Cola, General Motors, and Nestle - provides an approach to align value-creating emplo...

In this edition of Boating Industry Insider, content director and editor-in-chief David Gee introduces us to Roberta Matuson, President of Matuson Consulting. Her clients include General Motors, Microsoft, as well as many smaller privately-held businesses. She’s the author of six books, including her most recent, "Can We Talk: Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work". In this...

It seems like everyone is hiring these days, and diversity is one of the top recruitment goals in 2021. But according to Martin G. Moore—a leadership performance expert, author and co-founder of Your CEO Mentor—diversity doesn’t help your company if you can’t leverage the value. “Having a diverse team is important, but if you want to actually make use of that diversity, you must truly engage and i...

Americans aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re quitting their jobs at record levels. So, how can you battle employee turnover and create a more engaged and loyal workforce? In this episode we interview Heather Younger - the founder of employee engagement and leadership development firm Employee Fanatix - and hear about her new book called The Art of Caring Leadership. She argues that if you are lo...

It's National Safe Boating Week (and month), just before the start of peak boating season, but actually it's appropriate to talk about safe boating any time. Joining Boating Industry content director David Gee in this episode is Jim Emmons, Executive Director, Water Sports Foundation. Jim is also the former WSIA President and U.S. Coast Guard National Boating Safety Advisory Council Chairman. He w...

Chad Lyon was recently named to head the Marine group at Wells Fargo Distribution Finance, part of Wells Fargo & Company. The news follows the retirement of industry veteran Bruce Van Wagoner after 45 years in the industry and 33 years with Distribution Finance (DF). Shortly after the announcement, Boating Industry Content Director David Gee spoke with Chad via Zoom about his first thoughts af...

The towboat segment has been one of the shining stars of the recreational boating industry when it comes to year over year growth. But as Correct Craft CEO Bill Yeargin points out in this Boating Industry Insider episode with David Gee, the category only recently returned to pre-recession unit sales levels in 2020. In this wide-ranging discussion with an industry leader, find out when Yeargin thin...

Pontoons these days offer better engineering, improved fuel efficiency, increased speed and space and all-around versatility. And that all comes at a higher cost of course. Some pontoon manufacturers are trying to mitigate sticker shock by offering different levels of pontoon lines that target different price points, from entry-level to high luxury. Others, such as Anthem Marine and Avalon, are of...

There’s no denying that the sterndrive no longer holds the place in the recreational boating industry it once did. However, there are plenty of manufacturers, dealers and customers who still see value in the sterndrive market, and that’s why Ilmor, Mercury Marine and Volvo Penta continue to invest, iterate and improve their sterndrive offerings. In this Boating Industry Insider episode, content di...

In the modern workplace, disabilities are more common than we may know. Yet too often, a stigma still exists when it comes to employing people with disabilities. According to Tova Sherman—a CEO, TED Speaker, and thought leader with more than 25 years of experience in diversity and inclusion—educating your existing team is crucial to a ensuring a thriving workplace filled with diverse people. “Disa...

After a year of global disruption, leaders who want to stay relevant are transforming the way they manage and interact with their teams. As we hear in this Boating Industry podcast episode with Content Director David Gee, leadership expert Dan Pontefract says humility is one of the most essential leadership trends of 2021. “To put it bluntly, stop making everything solely about you. It’s time to b...

Matt O’Hara owns and operates Freedom Boat Club located at Queen Boat Co. on Lake George, New York, in the Adirondack region of the state, about 200 miles from New York City. As David Gee finds out in this edition of Boating Industry Insider, O’Hara didn’t aspire to be a boating business owner. In fact, he didn’t even grow up boating. He was introduced to Lake George, the "Queen of the American La...

What does the future of marine audio look like? Are there new developments in the pipeline? What are the hot segments in high-end marine audio at the moment? In this Boating Industry Insider episode, join Jeremy Bale, National Brand Manager, KICKER Marine Audio, as he talks with Boating Industry Content Director David Gee about the current – and future – state of marine audio. They’ll discuss how...