Salesmanship

The next generation buyer...
What will they want from their RV experience?

Bob Zagami

Now that everyone agrees that the baby boomers and their children represent significant growth opportunities for the RV industry, what are we going to do about it?

The status quo will not work with future generations of RV consumers. This will be a demanding group of technology literate and instant gratification high achievers. They will be mobile and free spending and will expect an extremely high level of customer service and products that deliver on promises made.

This is a generation of workers that has rejected long-term employment with one company and wouldn't think of living in the same house for an entire lifetime. They think and act differently than the customer you have been used to seeing in your showroom. They are a generation of risk takers with personal finances and discretionary income.

They are quick to make a decision, and quick to change again if the decision is wrong.

This is a disposable generation, one that is used to technological developments that obsolete their toys every few years, and in some cases, months.

Loyalty may not be a word in their vocabulary. They grew up without war and did not have to sacrifice much, if anything, along the way.

The success of our economic boom can be a positive or negative factor when they begin to explore and invest in the RV lifestyle.

Invest is the appropriate word to describe their potential love/hate relationship with the RV lifestyle.

They have the time and money to invest in the towables and motorized units that will attract them to a lifestyle that can bring so much joy and happiness to their family experience. Whether they are a family of two or twelve, the RV industry has an opportunity to attract this next generation buyer to a lifetime of pleasure and comfort on the open road.

Likewise, if the experience -- the very first experience -- does not meet the expectations that this generation will impose on those they seek to share their discretionary income with; it could be a disaster.

The industry's Go RVing campaign continues to showcase the RV lifestyle to millions of people in various media outlets. Everyone agrees that the campaign is bringing new people into RV shows and dealer showrooms. Many of these people will be converted from prospects to customers and they will drive off the lot with an RV that they fully expect to provide them with years of trouble-free enjoyment and hassle-free experiences when using the product.

They will not invest in a second RV if the first RV is not perfect.

They will not bring their friends and families into the lifestyle if the lifestyle creates pain and problems.

Let's look at some of the issues that we should be concerned with when we attempt to build the products that will create customers for life and keep them RVing once they start.

The RV is a home:

For the most part, the next generation buyer never grew up in an apartment or rental property. Their families owned homes, and in many cases, more than one. They will look at an RV as a home. They will want all the fun things they have come to enjoy from their home and will focus on the kitchen and bath areas.

As we all know, the kitchen and bath areas of new homes is expansive. This is what the consumer is demanding. My wife is a professional kitchen and bath designer and owns her own showroom. Her prospects are the same people we hope to bring into the RV lifestyle; they are the next generation RV buyers. They are very demanding.

Her clients are your future prospects. They want large kitchens and baths in new homes and insist on having them in remodeling older homes.

RV kitchens have improved in recent years, but the RV bathroom is woefully behind the times. I'm not an RV designer and I know that there are space constraints in RVs, but the industry must get more creative and better understand the requirements of the next generation buyer.

In the past, RV consumers accepted small bathrooms and tight spaces. They were a more tolerant group than those who will be coming through your doors in the future.

Look at the bathrooms in today's new homes. Many have a whirlpool tub, along with a shower. Many include a bidet to complement the toilet.

When was the last time you saw a full-size bathtub in an RV? Sure, you can find them in $500,000 motorcoaches, but certainly not in your typical travel trailer or motorhome.

Instead of trying to figure out how many slide-outs can be put into an RV, use the extra weight capacity afforded by newer chassis to change layouts and include a larger bathroom. These bathrooms should include home like appointments and room to turn around without catching your clothing on the drawer pull or knocking the tissue holder off the wall.

Safety:

This technology-literate group of prospects knows that they can find anything they want on the Internet. They will find more information about more products than you ever dreamed possible.

They will find good information and they will find bad information.

RV oriented chat rooms, bulletin boards and consumer advocate sights will overwhelm them and make them candidates for information overload. However, this is an information generation. They will know how to sort through the technology maze and develop a matrix of features and specifications that will serve as the starting point of their analysis and negotiations as they make their first RV purchase.

Safety is an issue that must be addressed by consumers, dealers and manufacturers. It is no longer an issue that will be swept under the rug or never discussed at all.

The next generation buyer knows where to find information. They are also well educated. The industry must take a leading role on educating the consumer on the safe way to invest in the RV lifestyle.

The consumer must be taught about tire loads and weight distribution issues. They must know they are driving or towing a house on wheels and it requires a different skill set that must be learned and practiced.

The RV industry makes great products, but often doesn't tell the person buying the product how to use it safely. Suppliers must educate manufacturers, manufacturers must educate dealers and dealers must educate consumers.

Future products must be engineered to be safe, from the tires to the roof. That safety must be conveyed to buyers. Failure to do so will result in a lot of first time buyers who never come back to buy a second unit.

Financing:

I am amazed at the financing options the industry is so quick to thrust upon new entrants to the RV lifestyle.

Instead of seeing how far you stretch out a payment schedule to get a low monthly payment, you must concentrate on educating the consumer to purchase the RV that they can truly afford.

A consumer that gets saddled with a 10, 12 or 15 year note on a new RV is an excellent candidate to become disillusioned with our industry.

If the customer tries to upgrade the unit in a year or two, they will learn the pain of low payments has put them into a no-win situation to trade-in for a new unit. This isn't like buying a house that will appreciate in value and you can turn over every few years. Which by the way, is exactly what the next generation buyer has been doing. They will expect the same from our industry unless we educate them on appropriate financing for an investment that will depreciate in value.

There's nothing wrong with depreciating value, as long as the customer understands it.

If the customer cannot get out of a bad financing deal, then they cannot buy a new RV.

I personally think that many of the long-term financing arrangements, some extending up to twenty years, are having a negative impact on our industry. When a customer experiences a bad financial arrangement that does not allow them to trade or sell their existing RV, then they are telling that story to many people who will never get involved with the RV industry.

If the customer buys an RV that they can afford, then they will become a repeat customer. The automobile industry figured this out early when long-term financing kept buyers out of the dealer showrooms for years. They quickly adopted new leasing programs that benefited the consumer and the dealer. The consumer benefited through low monthly payments. The dealer benefited by getting slightly used vehicles back to sell at higher profits.

That business model is not going to work in the RV industry. People don't have to have RVs; they do have to have cars.

Financing companies don't benefit from a long-term loan to a borderline prospect. Neither does the RV industry.

The RV industry is rich in heritage and history. Let's make sure the future is better than the past. The next generation buyer is different than past generations. The next generation attitude of the RV industry will determine our success or failure in dealing with this buyer.

Good luck and good selling.

RVN