RV Weekly

A sales manager for an RV manufacturer called me recently to express his frustration over another blog I had written that questioned why only four manufacturers qualified for the RVDA’s Quality Circle Award this year. To get the award, a manufacturer needs 15 responses with an overall rating of 80 percent. Although I expressed concern that only 577 of the industry’s approximately 3,500 full-time dealers took time to rate their business partners, I surmised the problem rested in achieving an 80 percent score. I dug deep into last year’s results and determined the average score for the industry’s manufacturers was 68.1 — a D in even the most liberal of public schools. The manufacturer said his company received the Quality Circle Award in the past, but not this year. He said the market is changing in that few companies are willing to build quality products, few dealers can sell quality products and fewer consumers know how to buy quality products.  He said it’s a frustrating problem and, based on his explanation, I tend to agree. He said recreation vehicles are among the most price competitive products on the market and that quality is the most difficult component to sell because many times it’s built into the interior or underneath the RV. In other words, customers can’t see it.  By the time they walk through 17 RVs at a consumer show or on a dealer’s lot, all the RVs look the same. And if they all look the same, then price becomes the only factor. Until dealers learn to sell the quality built into the RVs as the key differentiation in justifying a higher price, the manufacturers who invest into building higher quality products continue to be punished. 

The sales manager said that he hears dealers say all the time that quality sells. But, he cautioned that quality can’t EVER sell at the lowest price.  He understands why dealers want manufacturers to build quality products because it’s the dealers who stand in front of customers when something goes wrong. But, the same dealers also insist that manufacturers meet specific price points.  In order to reach those price points, manufacturers have to either absorb the additional costs themselves to create quality, or take the quality out of the product. For example, to meet a particular price point the manufacturer may have to take out an extra stud in the wall or use cheaper base flooring. Perhaps the five-year structural warranty could be reduced to three years. The bottom line, from the manufacturer’s perspective, is that something must give. His company needs to make a profit to be able to invest in retooling costs, market development, dealer support and product innovation. The company must also be able to sell the RVs they build in order to care for and pay the hundreds of families working at the plant. The final frustration for this manufacturer — the issue that really baffles him on one hand and hurts on the other — is that dealers punish quality manufacturers. Dealers continue to do business with companies that knowingly build bad products, fail to stand behind them and deliver horrendous service to their dealer partners.  Why do dealers do that?  Because they can still make money selling the products. So manufacturers who seal test every RV, who ensure label weights are accurate, who engage in durability testing on all units, who invest in complex equipment to ensure tighter fit and finish, who provide overnight parts to dealers at retail markup — those manufacturers are punished for their effort. 

So what kind of message does that send to quality manufacturers and those that could care less about quality or service?  

It appears the only time quality will truly become important is when warranty costs get into the back pockets of dealers and manufacturers.  Until then, maybe a D is all the RV industry can ever expect for selling and servicing a limited use product. As long as manufacturers and dealers continue to make money with lower quality products and less service, does it really matter?

One thing was apparent at the National RV Show: the quality of products from RV manufacturers have increased tremendously across the board since I started in the industry in January 2000. The fit and finish of the units on display was exceptional, so why then does the industry continue to receive a near-failing grade for product quality when customer satisfaction index scores are evaluated? It doesn’t seem fair.

One possible answer was provided by a wholesale distributor who also attended the show.  He agreed that RV manufacturers have made tremendous strides to improve quality in recent years. But he thinks other industries are priming our customers to expect even more.

Consequently, if today’s RV models had been introduced in 2000, customers would be knocked off their feet. But, because their own expectations have also risen drastically, the quality of today’s RVs still fail to meet their standards Why is that?  Who are we being compared to?

What other industry produces a product that can rumble down our nation’s highways loaded to the gills with top notch consumer electronic products, a fully functional bathroom, a fully functional kitchen and hundreds of items in storage.

It appears to me the RV industry is being held to a much higher standard than any other industry when it comes to product quality.  So, if our average customer satisfaction score is a D, what are we being compared to? Where have consumers raised the bar?

The RVs on display in Louisville were of similar quality to the best manufactured homes. Are we being compared to factory-built homes? Or stick-built homes?  Whether built in the factory or not, most homes would fall apart in six minutes if they had to be strapped to a chassis and driven at highway speeds down any Interstate.

I know we are often compared to the auto industry. But Detroit doesn’t provide many bathrooms and kitchens in their vehicles.  Yes 10- to 12-foot automobile or minivan can generally be fixed in a day. But, each community of any size has an auto parts store to augment the inventory of the dealership, so the technician can get parts quickly. If the auto parts stores had to stock the same SKUs as a Home Depot, would auto dealers have the ability to get parts the same afternoon?

I recently had the opportunity to drive a fully-loaded U-Haul down a Wisconsin highway. I was exhausted when the trip was done and, as expected, the rough and tumble of the highway damaged some belongings. But, any motorhome being built in 2006 has better drivability than that U-Haul.

What are the apples-to-apples comparisons that are being made that give us such consistently low satisfaction scores for product quality?  Perhaps a D is the best score we can expect as an industry because consumers can’t make appropriate comparisons. Perhaps we need to better educate our consumers that our units are properly built and work as best they can considering how they designed to be used. 

I’d really be interested in learning what consumers are comparing us to.

Another National RV Trade Show is in the books. Each year, I’m amazed at the level of innovation that comes out of companies in the RV industry – and this year was no different. As the RV Trade Digest staff walked the floor, there were several things that caught our eyes. 

First of all, Fleetwood deserves kudos for its new innovative units. Seven of the 18 motorhomes on display in Louisville were new since the company held its Dealer Days event in Las Vegas 90 days earlier. In fact, Fleetwood met its pre-show order goal on Day One and they met their entire show goal for their new Jamboree entry level Type C in just three hours. This is a company that has clearly turned the corner.

National RV introduced a telescoping slideout room which gives RVers the same amount of space inside the bedroom when the unit is extended, but much more space to move around the bedroom with the slideout retracted.

Whoever came up with the idea to give away fishing poles at the CrossRoads display deserves a big bonus. On the busiest day of the show, those things could be seen everywhere. I later learned the company passed out only 500 poles, but it seemed like 5,000 people were carrying them around the show.

Robin Industries “Fifth Wheel Barrow” promises to make it much easier for one person to install and remove a fifth wheel hitch. The company will soon introduce a universal adapter allowing it to be attached to any hitch. Users simply twist the handles to extend a wheel which allows them to easily transport the hitch from the truck to the storage area.

Gulf Stream’s SuperNova Type C offers an amazing 15,000-pound towing capacity and blurs the line between Type A and Type C units. With an exclusive arrangement to build the unit on an International chassis, they should be able to score big with this unit for some time. The curved euro-style cabinets and three-zone living areas with 7-foot interior height will make it a market buster.

Mighty Winnebago will make waves with its new entry-level Type A motorhomes, the 2007 Vista and Sunstar. These moderately-priced units offer a look and feel of mid-price units with exceptional storage. In fact, by raising the bed, the company has created a storage cavern in back. They also offer a child seat tether anchor in the dinette, something I’ve not seen before in a motorhome.

Carefree of Colorado’s Paramount awning adeptly slides up and over slideout rooms. It can be partially extended to protect a slideout, extended further to keep sunlight out of the living area or fully extended to create an outdoor patio. Best of all, wind sensors detect movement of the awning before retracting the device rather than relying upon a wind dial on the roof.

As usual, the Outlook breakfast was a star-studded event that provided a great review of the current Go RVing program and the RVIA’s exceptional public relations effort – both of which are helping to cement RVing as a family-friendly experience in the minds of millions of Americans. The staff did a great job of busting several myths that raise unwarranted objections in the minds of consumers.

But, in talking with others, several people commented that although an appearance by Timmy and Lassie was fun, there needs to be more industry outlook in the Outlook breakfast. They feel the event would be an ideal opportunity to address long-term market, economic and demographic trends in greater detail. Several who also attended RVIA’s annual meeting suggested using a single, motivating keynote speaker to get the troops pumped up for the show and the year ahead. 

It has become painfully apparent, however, that 70 percent of the business done at the show is completed in the first 8.5 hours. Another 25 percent of business activity takes place on Day Two. Many people – especially those paying for exhibit space – feel something needs to be done about Day Three.

Attendance has dwindled so much on the last day that time that most chief executives and senior managers leave the show entirely. Some companies even bring in the tear-down staff early to collect business cards from the dozen or so people who may stop by and inquire about products.

Day Three is mostly an opportunity for manufacturers and suppliers to check out competitive products.  The return on investment of time, effort, energy and money for an extra day at the show is limited.

Perhaps RVDA and RVIA can join forces to create a compelling educational program for Day Three on par with the Learning Center agenda offered at the RVDA Expo in Las Vegas. That would give East Coast dealers an incentive to send more staff to major trade show and it would increase attendance to the point booth staff would actually have something to do besides endure the agonizing wait to the closing bell.

What did you think of this year’s National RV show?  Sound off in the RV Trade Digest forums by clicking here.

As a massive winter storm slammed across the Midwest last week, hundreds of people attending the National RV Show wondered if they could get home safely, if at all, Thursday night. But, rather than close the event early to give people a head start in their travels, show officials instead opted to comb the show floor with clipboards in hand itching to issue “citations” to any exhibitor who dared pack up a brochure 20 minutes before the show’s official end.

By noon Thursday, most RV dealers had already seen the weather maps on the Internet or on any of a dozen television stations broadcasting warnings about the impending storm. Not being the type to mince words, the dealers uttered a collective “damn, we’re outta here” and skedaddled before the first traces of freezing rain drizzled onto the Interstate highways. Fortunately for the dealers, nobody was around to threaten them with all sorts of sanctions to keep them locked into near-empty show floors.

The rest of the industry didn’t fare as well. Which begs the question: At the National RV Show, who is the customer?  Is it the dealers who left hours before the show closed, if not Wednesday night?  Is it the manufacturers that pay enormous sums of money to participate in the show so their staff members can play football in the exhibit halls on Day Three?  Is it the suppliers – who pay even more money per square foot for space than manufacturers do – so their staff members can twiddle their thumbs and engage each other in conversation about football, fly fishing and, of course, the weather? Or is RVIA the customer who sets the rules, establishes prices and coordinates the logistical details of the show? Once the “customer” is determined, we’d be in a better position to understand who is supposed to be serving whom at the show. 

As employers, RV manufacturers and suppliers have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of their staff.  They also have a fiduciary responsibility to protect their company’s equipment and assets. It’s hard to do both either in white-out conditions or on ice-laden highways. But, one thing is certain. When a major winter storm is descending upon the area, the last thing exhibitors concerned about safety need are threats of financial sanctions or punishment next year with booth placement in outer Siberia or Hall 900, whichever is furthest from the action.

In the future, when winter storms threaten the show, we hope the RVIA Show Committee will meet in emergency session and do the right thing by closing the event early. It’s hard to imagine that anyone would object – especially on Day Three.