Keller Marine & RV President Mike Keller said dealers should offer customers the chance to accessorize their RVs before they ever leave the lot. He said the topic will be discussed frequently at Keller Marine & RV’s annual accessory show, which runs today and tomorrow in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
“I really think the future of RV dealers,” Mike Keller said, “is to make sure they get everything on that RV that the customer needs for whatever the customer is going to do with the RV.”
At the show, dealers will find many aftermarket products they need to stock parts stores and service departments for the coming year.
“The dealer really has the first shot at this because they sold the RV,” Mike Keller said. “They have the first opportunity to sell the customer all the things they will need to go camping. Once they are out the door, they are really hard to get back. Once they leave the dealership, they are like a kid in a candy store because there are so many places to get additional accessories.”
Mike Keller’s father started the distributor show in 1958 after seeing a similar concept in the appliance industry. Numerous things have changed since then, but Mike Keller singled out one aspect in particular: lead time.
“It is almost every day delivery, or a couple of times a week delivery, now,” he said. “The idea of having to buy a bunch of parts off-season now is not really that popular anymore. Now, it is all about finding a deal.”
Keller said the show will offer educational seminars today, but the seminars’ focus has shifted to emphasize dealers’ business operations.
Today’s seminars include workshops discussing driving profits, undercarriages, electrical safety/reliability and backroom success.
Mike Keller said he is expecting plenty of first-time attendees in 2025 after Keller Marine & RV announced in November plans to open a Louisiana warehouse in 2026.
“We are happy to welcome dealers from Louisiana, Mississippi and other areas close to our Hammond, Louisiana, warehouse,” he said. “We want to make them a part of the Keller family and share our story with them. We are a privately held company where they can still call up and talk directly with the owners. We want to make our company work for the dealer.”
Director of Marketing Lori Morrow said she expects 180 to 200 dealers to attend this year.
The daily schedule will be similar to recent years. The show hours are 1 to 8 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The distributor will host hourly cash drawings for attendees on the show floor. Once the show floor closes today, attendees are invited to a tailgate party with food, drinks and festivities.
Patrice and Kevin McCabe of the TV series, “RV There Yet,” will give a presentation to attendees during Tuesday’s lunch.
“They are going to do a presentation on what they have found as consumers of RV products within a dealership,” Morrow said. “They will give dealers some insight, and they are going to have some clips from their show as part of the presentation.”
Mike Keller said he will seek feedback from the dealers in attendance.
“We are always trying to understand dealers better,” he said, “and dealers are trying to understand us and the vendors better. We have to keep the lines of communication open.”
Platinum vendors at the show include Airhead, Carefree of Colorado, Dometic, Energizer, Johnson Outdoors, Lippert, Progress Mfg. and Star Brite. Gold vendors include B&W Trailer Hitches, Camco, First Brands Group, PullRite, Roadmaster, Southwire and Stromberg Carlson.
