(0:45) Do you know the mechanism by which each boater came into your marina? It never ceases to amaze me how many businesses have no idea what brings in customers. They allow themselves to fall victim to the lament of John Wanamaker, considered by some to be a pioneer in marketing, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."(0:36) Stop wasting your promotional budget without knowing whether you are getting a return on those dollars. Don't throw your money at poor performing or out-of-date ideas. Instead measure your success. Take back those wasted dollars and use them more creatively to actually generate new business.
(0:30) The first step is to know what you are doing that works and what is falling short. The only sure way to discover this is to ask boaters. It's so simple but so rarely done.
(0:25) Every boater that enters your marina must be asked what brought them there. This should be a required part of every check in, phone inquiry, or request for information. Put it on the check in form with some selections and let the boater check off the one that brought them to you. Customers are happy to tell you and may even elaborate on their favorite source. Of course, sometimes it's easy, just look for their ActiveCaptain hat.
(0:15) Never stop asking. To ensure you are always making the best use of your resources you need to continue to ask the question. This is the only way you can stay on top of changes in the market. Print ads that worked 10 years ago have little impact in today's digital world. New players enter the market offering innovations that can make existing ones obsolete in a heartbeat.
(0:06) Make sure you know what sources are bringing you revenue and which ones can be let go.
(0:02) And that's the marina minute.
