What happened to outside finance? That is a question that still gets raised, even today at industry meetings everywhere. At the Manufactured Housing Institute winter meeting, you could hear the anger in a voice as that question was raised yet again.

The reason for the losses is both complex and simple at the same time. Making and servicing these types of loans is complex if it is going to be done right. Very few people involved in finance have the right industry knowledge to make and service these loans properly, and very few people with the industry knowledge have the right finance knowledge and expertise to cross over into lending.

The lack of knowledge on the part of most lenders created the perfect opportunity for industry people to take advantage of the situation, and many did. Unrestrained greed caused the losses.

Owner funded financing works because it is unlikely that anyone would knowingly structure a deal to take advantage of themselves. The only hitch is learning how the other side of the operation needs to work. Once a captive finance operation is properly structured and run as a finance operation, there is no limit to what can be accomplished.

It is no secret that the RV industry has long been one that has not produced the best RVs that could be built. RVs are not fuel efficient and are gas and diesel hogs on the highway.

It is not necessary to list the multitude of problems and deficiencies that are too often found in RVs. Nor is it necessary to determine the number of times that owners have stated strongly, "I wish that the people who: designed, built, engineered, fabricated, repaired, conceived this RV had to live in, drive, use, repair, be safe in, or be responsible for this RV."

The facts are that the RV industry has concentrated on the production and sale of RVs that are not as good, environmentally friendly or energy efficient as they can be.

Further, the consumers have reluctantly and /or enthusiastically accepted and purchased RVs that are not what they really want and need. Yes, the consumers are also responsible for the RVs that they purchase. If we, the consumers, did not buy the RVs that are being produced then the manufacturers would be forced to build better RVs.

A dealer asked me for a new report that would calculate salesman's commissions. I sat with the office manager to learn the method used, and was shown a report that had been in use for years, but was hard to read and run.

I looked carefully at the old report, and found that it was based on Gross Margin in the deal, multiplied by a certain percentage. I didn't think too much about it until I looked carefully at the way Gross Margin was calculated. It was simply Selling Price less simple Cost of the unit. I asked the office manager how over-allowances were handled. When he responded with a blank stare and, "What is an over-allowance?" I knew we were in trouble.

A little work soon revealed the extent of the problem. The trades were being booked at the proper values, because Lightspeed did that automatically, but the report that the office manager created had ignored this adjusting entry, paying salesmen instead on the inflated sales price of many units. Total cost to the dealership? About $60,000 in excess pay per year.

Though they've been online for years, the idea of widgets as marketing tools is a relatively new concept. Downloadable, web-based applications are free to the consumer and inexpensive to distribute (no more costly to produce than an online display ad).

And since they carry an ad message wherever they go, widgets allow marketers to actively engage consumers who already have interest in their brand.

Here’s your chance. Be the first dealer in your market to really execute social media the right way.

Being the first will provide you with a significant advantage in your market.

First, most of your competitors won’t have the expertise or the resources to implement a good program. Lets face it, you can find a direct mail company on every corner but there aren’t many people who really understand social media.

Second, most dealers don’t understand social media and will go down the wrong path, leading to frustration and very little ROI.

If you believe in relationship selling, you'll love social media.

In 1963, Dr. Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute developed the first prototype of a computer pointing device which could allow a user to navigate on a computer screen without the use of a keyboard.  This new invention was quickly dubbed “mouse” because of the tail-like wire that protruded from it.
 
Since then, the mouse has quickly become almost a necessity when dealing with any computer running a modern operating system, such as Microsoft Windows®. 
 
In the RV business however, the mouse occasionally becomes troublesome for non-windows users when upgrading from an older DOS-based dealership software system to a modern Windows®-based one.   This transition is typically toughest in the parts and service departments because many employees were trained years ago on computer systems requiring little or no mouse movement. 
 
If you are one of those people that don’t consider the mouse to be an improvement, don’t get discouraged.  Microsoft didn’t forget about mouse-haters everywhere and has built in a variety of keyboard commands that allow non-mouse users to do practically everything that their mouse wielding co-workers can.

Is it possible, practical, feasible, workable, achievable or desireable to revamp, rework, recreate, restructure, redesign and restablish the RV industry?

If the answer is "yes," how might the cooperation of key components, leaders and followers be achieved, focused, and utilized to the greatest advantage for all concerned? What must be done to gain agreement among the different factions of the industry? Can leaders meet and set goals and objectives that will be accepted and incorporated by the industry and by consumers?

If the answer is "no," then will the industry survive, prosper, succeed and/or continue while producing and offering less than the best quality RVs and less than the consumers deserve? Will the weakest companies fail, as in the past, due in part to inferior quality products, poor design and weak management?

My contention is that both the consumer and the producers must rethink their positions and develop a more constructive RV industry.

In future articles in this series I intend to draw upon my own experience of >50 years in RVing and 77 years of life to offer some constructive suggestions toward achieving an improved RV industrial footprint.

What a difference a year makes! This year -- our industry’s Centennial year -- is off to a strong start with much promising news indicating that the RV market is indeed on the road to recovery. This has sparked a contagious sense of optimism about our future that lies in stark contrast to the doubt and fear of early 2009.

Importantly, stories about the RV industry’s turnaround are appearing in the national media, with The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, Fox Business Network and the Associated Press all reporting on the upturn in RV sales.

This coverage echoes themes and storylines promoted by RVIA in our outreach to the media – that the industry is a leading economic indicator with rising shipments boding well for the general economy, that RVing has remained popular with Americans throughout the economic downturn, and that RVing offers great value. These are all very powerful messages for potential buyers to hear as we approach the important spring and summer selling season.

Our new Go RVing television ads are set to the classic Western tune of “Back in the Saddle Again.” It is a song of friendship, community and enjoying the great outdoors -- perfect for promoting RVing. It is also a very fitting theme song for our industry because as 2010 begins we are saddling up once again, ready to ride toward better days and a brighter future.

As I covered in last week’s blog “Always Fly First or Business Class When Traveling the Internet – Part 1,” RV Dealerships have become increasingly reliant on the Internet in recent years, but many dealerships fail to realize the importance of using the proper bandwidth and network components to keep their businesses running successfully. 

Your network is only as strong as its weakest link.  Just because your dealership has made the jump to a business level Internet connection such as a T1, doesn’t mean that your network will suddenly be lightning fast.  

Last week, I mentioned that Systems 2000 typically recommends to our dealers Cisco, SonicWALL, Netgear, Netopia, and Watchguard network component brands.  Lately, I have received a lot of questions about specific models we felt worked the best.  To answer this, we recommend the Cisco ASA 5505 Router.  This router not only operates as a typical high-end router, but also as a VPN and Firewall.  The ASA 5505 is easy to configure, and although other models could possibly save you $150 in upfront costs, the reliability and scalability of this piece of hardware will pay for itself ten-fold with fewer tech visits.

You will want to limit your employees from using “unnecessary” real time streaming video and audio to greatly improve the Internet experience for your entire dealership...

By Jonathan Randall, director of sales and marketing for Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation

I’m excited to let the readers of RV Daily Report know that Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) will begin posting commentary and industry insights on a monthly basis to this site as a guest blogger. You will see posts from various members of our management team featuring what we hope to be interesting and relevant information.

We look forward to this opportunity because it provides us with an excellent forum to connect with you – our industry partners and customers. This blog is a first for FCCC, and we’re eager to begin using the medium as a way to communicate.

I am no fan of the hyper-regulating Environmental Protection Agency, which I consider to be among the most powerfully destructive federal government agencies in existence. So I wasn't surprised at yesterday's announcement that the agency had imposed a $2.1 million fine -- supported by the U.S. Department of Justice -- on Cummins for violating the Clean Air Act.

Who is really at fault here?  Is it Cummins for making the engines and relying upon manufacturers to order the correct parts that pertain to the vehicles they are buying and building? Or is it manufacturers looking to cut costs that failed to order the extra parts assuming the engines themselves were in complete compliance upon arrival at the OEM's plant, even without the add-on exhaust equipment? 

For an administration claiming unprecedented success at creating or "saving" jobs in the private sector, I wonder how many jobs will be impacted at Cummins thanks to the government action to siphon $2.1 million from the company's bank account.

RV Dealerships have become increasing more reliant on the Internet in recent years.  Dealerships rely on Internet leads to fuel up to 60% of their unit sales, RV Parts and Service departments almost exclusively use the Internet to place online parts orders or submit warranty claims, and there's a growing trend is to use hosted or web-based DMS servers to reduce overall IT costs.

As dealers make decisions as to the services they wish to incorporate into their website, internal processes, or DMS software, software companies often hear the complaint that their Internet service is unreliable, slow, or down right non-existent.  I have yet to see a case where these issues are not easily resolved; in fact the hardest part is just trying figure out what the dealership is paying for.   Like understanding the restrictions on your frequent flyer miles, your bandwidth may only be available when that first class customer isn't using it.

Don't fly coach. Business-class Internet connections come with many features that average Internet connections do not.  The first and most obvious benefit of this connection is the increased upload and download speeds.  Upload is when you take data, such as pictures, and copy them from your computer to your website or some other computer.  Download is when you copy data from another computer to your local machine or server.   Be aware that you may have purchased slower upload speeds than download.   Upload speeds are more important in a dealership since you are trying to move those all-important pictures onto the Internet as quickly as possible. 

In a shop I looked at recently I found 1,300 ROs open and unpaid in the system. One thousand three hundred! I looked for the units, and found 98. In other words, over 1,200 ROs with no unit to be found, and never paid. Total revenue involved? About $300,000.

Further study found that about 1/3 of these missing units were customer pay, 1/3 were internal, and 1/3 were warranty.

Tthere was a substantial group that were simple theft (customer got the keys and drove away). Poor control over the delivery process had cost this shop $70,000.

So why did this loss of $300,000 happen? Mostly because of poor controls. You, the service manager, must be constantly checking to see that you get paid for every piece of work you do. And that fork-lift time for the sales department? Bill it.

Two consecutive studies on consumer "touch points" done by DoubleClick ROI have found that Internet users cite websites above all other factors as having an influence on their purchase decisions. Of the website types mentioned, consumers are most likely to turn to corporate websites to gather information during the purchase process.

Usability and ease of access to relevant information are vital influencers on the purchase decision. One should remember that a website is not a catalog. The easier it is to find the information they seek, the easier it is for a consumer to act on it.