RV Weekly

People who know me best will agree I sometimes have a twisted mind, which might explain why I get such a chuckle out of the products offered by Despair, Inc.

Everyone has seen those motivational posters featuring a beautiful color photo and a few brief words of encouragement regarding attitude, leadership, priorities, teamwork, etc.  People can find them in almost every office as managers seek cheap ways to gently motivate their employees.

Enter Despair, Inc., and it’s series of trademarked “Demotivators.” These hillarious posters, calendars and greeting cards look identical to the common motivational products. But they’re sure to garner a second glance in any office.

For example, imagine a stunning photo of a salmon leaping up a waterfall into the mouth of a waiting bear. The caption reads “Ambition: The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly.”

How about a photo of a surfer paddling over a wave near the shadow of a large shark? The caption reads “Change: It’s a short trip from riding the waves of change to being torn apart by the jaws of defeat.”

There’s a beautiful river scene at sunset with the caption “Despair: It’s always darkest before it goes pitch black.”

There’s a image of the Paris skyline with the caption “Effort: Hard work never killed anybody, but it is illegal in some places.”

I think my favorite is the image of a large snowball rolling down a hill with the caption “Teamwork: A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.”

Or, perhaps, it’s the image of a young quarterback being pummeled by a tackle. The caption reads “Success: Some people dream of success while other people live to crush those dreams.”

There are nearly 100 soul-crushing demotivators available at www.despair.com. Regardless of whether you’re having a good day or a bad day, these brilliant products are sure to bring a smile to your face.

If you want to order one, it’s easy.  Just click on the Disservice button on the website. You’ll be directed to a page showing a disinterested woman wearing a headset with the caption “Customer Disservice: We’re not satisfied until you’re not satisfied.”

But for real fun, check out the answers to their frequently asked questions. Some of the responses will leave you laughing hysterically. What’s your favorite Demotivator?

With stunned sadness, the RV industry is reacting to the news of Sunline Coach Company’s decision to shut its doors after 42 years. That sadness will soon turn to anger. The fact that a company with a reputation for producing quality trailers — in a market where trailer sales are up 20 percent — would abruptly shut its doors, will not sit well with dealers or consumers. It’s yet another black eye for an industry already struggling with the issue of improving customer satisfaction. The fact that the closing was kept secret from employees and dealers is inexcusable. Today, more than 150 people are left wondering where their Thanksgiving meal will come from. If there is a bright side, the news hit before the National RV Show so dealers left without product to sell can canvass other manufacturers in a few weeks to replenish their inventories. In looking how this story has played out, there is a lot to be angry about. Dealers were informed today, Wednesday, Nov. 15, that the company had shut its doors. But if Sunline’s attorney is to be believed, the decision to close was made Thursday, Nov. 9 and employees were told they lost their jobs Nov. 10. The company’s website remained operational – and, in fact, still is — lending false hope to dealers and potential customers that the rumors circulating about Sunline’s demise were unfounded.

This is just another example of a manufacturer failing to walk the talk in calling RV dealers their “partners.” The partners who helped the company build its brand for 42 years and provided 100 percent of Sunline’s revenue were the absolute last to know the plant was shuttered. There can be no excuse. Now, the company’s assets will be liquidated to satisfy a single primary creditor and a single secondary creditor. Who is left hanging in the wind? Dealers who faithfully sold the company’s products for years and the component suppliers who faithfully delivered equipment and honored the company’s warranties. The customers will be cared for by dealers and suppliers who must act to protect their own reputations as Sunline’s corporate executives parachute out of sight. So far, executives of the industry’s major trade associations have been tight-lipped about what Sunline’s demise means for the industry. But, I’ll go on record saying Sunline’s action stinks. If RV dealers and suppliers can’t count on honesty from manufacturers, especially in areas where the future of their businesses are at stake, then maybe the industry needs to do some internal policing. Perhaps a fund needs to be set up similar to the way Go RVing is funded. Any manufacturer wishing to acquire a seal from RVIA for its products must pay a certain amount into a long-term care fund that will help dealers cover warranty issues in the event the firm goes belly up.

One of Sunline’s executives has gone on record saying they hope a buyer will be found and the company can get back to business as usual. But, after deliberately and secretively screwing their staff, dealers, suppliers and customers – Sunline would need a 100 percent change in management.

Suppliers and manufacturers are accustomed to the shakedown that takes place at every RV trade show around the country, but the scam taking place at the Kentucky Expo Center this year over wireless Internet access appears almost criminal.

Businesses have the ability to sign up for a wireless Internet connection at the blazing speed of 256 kilobytes per second – five times faster than dial-up – for the bargain price of $595 for three days of service. That’s nearly $200 per day.

That price is so out of line with reality, I thought it had to be a typo. But, no, the vendor supplying the service defended his charges. Here’s what Dennis DeMinter, the event coordinator at CCPI, e-mailed to me:

$595 is our wireless price. Our wired price for a 256k connection is $100 more. There is the cost of having technicians at the site to handle problems that might occur. Labor for placement of access points plus administrative costs to process the service is needed. We pay for this service year around whether any one uses it or not. Our overhead at a convention center is much greater than the overhead of a hotel. If you would like to place and order, please feel free to fax the order to the fax number at the top of the form. If not, we are sorry that you are disappointed and hope that you will still have a great show.

Hmmm. You would think a high-class facility like the Kentucky Expo Center would recognize that most people attending trade shows in 2006 would need to check their e-mail, or that most vendors displaying products would use the Internet to access their company’s website or gather more information for people visiting the booths. You would think the Expo Center would have the foresight to install the equipment one time and divide that cost into the fees charged for renting the facility. Apparently not.

McDonald’s restaurants selling $4 happy meals can provide FREE high-speed wireless Internet access to its customers. Rest stops in Iowa can provide FREE high-speed wireless Internet access to travelers. Hotels renting rooms for $59 a night can provide FREE high-speed wireless Internet access.

But, apparently, the hillbillies in Louisville haven’t figured out how to do it. You know, some airports (which cover the same amount of ground as the Kentucky Expo Center) offer FREE high-speed wireless Internet access. Even those airports that want to stick it to the travelers charge only $8.95 or less for a day of wireless Internet access.

But, not at the Kentucky Expo Center! There are nearly 400 manufacturers and suppliers that will be exhibiting at the show. They are already paying enormous amounts of money to lease space on the show floor, lay down carpeting, move boxes and – amazingly – pay union wages to have someone plug in a power cord to a power strip (something most people figure out how to do on their own by age 7).

If only 100 of the manufacturers and suppliers opt to take advantage of wireless Internet access, CCPI will rake in nearly $60,000 over the three-day period. That sounds like price gouging to me.

Nobody knows for sure whether RV dealers attending the event will also have to pay $200 per day for wireless Internet access, but bring your credit card just in case.

Businesses who agree that CCPI is engaging in price gouging can download a complaint form from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, Division of Consumer Protection by clicking here.

Because CCPI is headquartered in Seattle and providing service in Kentucky (apparently there are no companies in Kentucky that can provide wireless Internet access), it also becomes an interstate business transaction. Businesses can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by clicking here.

The opportunity to gather an entire industry together for three days of intense business activity should not be an excuse for other companies to leech onto our manufacturers and suppliers and deplete them of hard-earned cash that could be better spent on product development than on Internet access.

So, what are we to think of the announcement that the RV Dealers Association is only giving out four Quality Circle Awards at the National RV Show this year?

First of all, well-deserved kudos must be extended to Home and Park, Monaco, Tiffin and Winnebago Industries for achieving the coveted award. Nu-Wa also received special recognition, but didn’t meet all the qualifications for a full-blown award. What are these stringent qualifications that prevented the RV industry’s 99 other manufacturers from receiving the award? According to the release issued by the RVDA, to qualify for a Quality Circle Award a manufacturer must have:

• 15 returned evaluations from dealers
• Overall ratings of 80 percent or higher

This year, RVDA received 1,845 evaluations from 577 dealers. Is it complacency that prevented the RVDA’s other 1,000 member dealers from returning a single survey? I would hope not. I’d like to think that all RV dealers recognize the Quality Circle Award as an excellent way to recognize manufacturers that make great business partners by producing quality products and providing quality support.

We operate in an industry where nearly 400,000 recreation vehicles are manufactured by 103 companies (an average of 3,800 units per company). It would seem reasonable to me that each manufacturer produces enough units to generate at least one response from 15 of their dealer customers. So, the problem must rest with the 80 percent score – and that’s sad. RVDA’s evaluation form asks dealers to rate their manufacturers in four broad areas: sales, product, management and support. Those areas are broken down into 24 categories that evaluate things like dealer agreements, sales training, territories, competitive product design, product quality, access to top management, fair policies, parts delivery, warranty payments and product support. Failing to qualify for the award means the manufactures can’t generate a low-B grade among their own business partners – people they depend upon for their own economic livelihood. I suppose one could argue that a score of 80 percent represents an above average grade and that a whole bunch of manufactures are content to operate in the middle. In other words, they are willing to “C” their future. Oh, if that were true, I’m sure many RV dealers would be very happy. I don’t have the actual results of the 2006 dealer survey, but looking at last year’s results provides a disturbing glimpse of the foundation supporting our industry’s stagnant customer service scores. In the 24 categories, The AVERAGE score was:

• 75 – 80 in five categories
• 70 – 74 in three categories
• 65 – 69 in nine categories
• 60 – 64 in six categories
• 50 – 54 in one category

In fact, the AVERAGE average score was 68.1. That’s a D. And it means that half the RV industry’s manufacturers score below D-level in 24 critical business areas as graded, not by consumers, but by their own business partners.

RVDA performs a valuable service in recognizing those manufacturers making the effort to provide quality products and service. Perhaps they’d provide an equally valuable service awarding onions to the stinkers – those companies achieving the lowest scores on the Quality Circle survey.

I had one of those “Doh!, why didn’t I think of that” moments after reading the Halloween story out of Moriarty, N.M., last weekend.

The staff at RV Sales had developed a brilliant plan for attracting families – especially families with young children – to the dealership. On Halloween night, they arranged 40 RVs in a circle around their sales lot. Each of the “homes” was staffed by costumed adults and teenagers who eagerly gave out candy to costumed children as they canvassed the “neighborhood.”

“Trick-or-Treat Trailer-to-Trailer” has become a major community event, according to an article appearing in the Mountain View Telegraph. So big, in fact, that extra law enforcement staff are required to handle the crowds. Okay, dealers, when was the last time any of your sales events required police officers to direct traffic?

This is not just an RV Sales event, the entire community has taken ownership of it. Candy is donated and volunteers step forward to help staff the stations and run the event. The children must pay a $1 admission or bring a can of food, all of which is donated to a local charity. The staff sets up a haunted house, too, to raise even more money $1 at a time. I can’t imagine a better event to invoke goodwill in the community.

Parents can bring their children to a safe environment to trick-or-treat at dozens of homes without having to walk a mile and a half. All parents need to worry about is hyperactive children, not traffic, perverts and poisoned candy.

Best of all, this event is a brilliant sales bonanza for the dealership. It’s a great way to get a thousand families to check out close-out models or new inventory. It also helps set the tone that RV Sales is a great place for family fun. Campgrounds, which are normally closed by Halloween, often host similar events in the summer. But, I’ve not heard of an RV dealership opening its doors for such a community service.

I’ll gladly tip my hat to Kay Wilks and Kathy Chowning, the RV Sales staff charged with planning the successful annual events. Whatever they are paid, it’s not enough for coming up with this type of marketing brilliance.