Cultivating contacts before you need them...

Gofirstclass

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,690
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
I frequently see members on here asking for a mechanic in a certain area or maybe a place that can do canvas. Often they're in a hurry, at times wanting to fix a broken whateveritis.

I'd like to offer a suggestion to them that I've learned over the many years of boating. That is: Find your sources before you need them, then take good care of them.

As an example: I have a great boat mechanic. Jim owns a marina and boat repair yard and is busy all the time. My boat is the only boat he will make "house calls" on. For everyone else, they have to deliver it to him on a trailer or cruise it to his dock for him to work on it. He's also the only person I will allow to drive the boat without me being on board. He has driven it from my slip to his dock when he replaced the genset last fall.

So why is my boat so special? Well he does like the boat. A lot, but I think the biggest reason is that Jim and I are friends. I take very good care of him and the guys in his shop. About once a month I take in a dozen donuts or a cake. Two or three times in the colder months when they have some spare time on their hands I take them a Mexican meal for lunch.

Is it worth it? I think so. When we had a breakdown on about a month ago on our way to Seattle. I called Jim from where we were on the Columbia trying to sort things out. Almost the first words out of his mouth were "Well get it back here and I'll meet you down at the dock tomorrow morning." None of this "well I'm pretty busy but I think I can get to it next week."

That's the kind of response we all would like to hear, but you don't get that unless you cultivate the relationship. True to his word Jim called me early the next morning and we agreed to meet at the boat at 10:00 a.m. Oh, did I mention that Jim has a key to my boat?

This cultivation costs me about a hundred bucks a year, or maybe a bit more. Is it worth it? Absofreakinlutely. So start looking now for a good mechanic, a good fiberglass guy, a good canvas guy, a diver, a surveyor, or whoever you think you might need. When you find them, get to know them, then take care of them.
 
I just have one example of a close by marine mechanic.... I stored my trailer there talked to the owners they seemed nice just in business for a few years. We didn’t know each other per-say. But if anyone asked me where to go I always said try them out.
Until the other day I took my tohatsu 4hp in there and asked if they could take a quick look at it and they said flat out no.... no explanation nothing. So I said why?.... answer was “it’s not worth my time plus I don’t do tohatsu.... go an hour up the road there is a dealer there”
Not sorry thanks for coming by... just turned around and walked away...

I took it home and fixed it in an hour

So to your point you can get recommendations (and there is a back story here they worked on my boat at another marina but didn’t know me) you can research but until you actually try them the recommendations are worth nothing more than that
 
While relationships are important, I don't really need canvas every year. By the time I need it, the landscape has changed (some new, some old, some gone). What I do find helpful with my marina repair is to do things face to face, rather than phone or email. So I try to order the work in person, pay all the bills in person, etc. I don't spend enough money per year for them to know me by name alone. :) But been around longer than most, so they do tend to recognize me.
 
I get winterized, hauled out and stored indoors at the same place. 7 years now. The day of and day after my haul out / launch - I bring them all coffee and donuts. Small gestures go a LONG way, especially in this day and age.

They know my boat and she is well taken care of. On my last boat, when they had her in the small heated building for a week (will only hold two boats) doing some servicing - they gave me the door codes and 24/7 access to her, allowing me to get some items taken care of.

Common courtesy - isn't so common any more!
 
Little extras (donuts, beer, starbucks, tips) go a long way in an industry where service is not so easy to come by.
 
I don’t buy it.... I think it’s a nice jester ... it’s a kind thing to do... I do it... tips, beer, lunches when I see them in a bar.... and I never expect anything in return... nor would I expect to get something in return... nice people treat other nice people nicely.

I had a harbor master this summer do me a huge favor... it wasn’t because I tipped him before then... it was because He is a nice person and understood my situation

if you’re bribing with money, food or drinks you are wasting your money.... you need to associate with people that are nice... and they are not that hard to find...
 
Last edited:
Gofirstclass said:
I frequently see members on here asking for a mechanic in a certain area or maybe a place that can do canvas. Often they're in a hurry, at times wanting to fix a broken whateveritis.

I'd like to offer a suggestion to them that I've learned over the many years of boating. That is: Find your sources before you need them, then take good care of them.

As an example: I have a great boat mechanic. Jim owns a marina and boat repair yard and is busy all the time. My boat is the only boat he will make "house calls" on. For everyone else, they have to deliver it to him on a trailer or cruise it to his dock for him to work on it. He's also the only person I will allow to drive the boat without me being on board. He has driven it from my slip to his dock when he replaced the genset last fall.

So why is my boat so special? Well he does like the boat. A lot, but I think the biggest reason is that Jim and I are friends. I take very good care of him and the guys in his shop. About once a month I take in a dozen donuts or a cake. Two or three times in the colder months when they have some spare time on their hands I take them a Mexican meal for lunch.

Is it worth it? I think so. When we had a breakdown on about a month ago on our way to Seattle. I called Jim from where we were on the Columbia trying to sort things out. Almost the first words out of his mouth were "Well get it back here and I'll meet you down at the dock tomorrow morning." None of this "well I'm pretty busy but I think I can get to it next week."

That's the kind of response we all would like to hear, but you don't get that unless you cultivate the relationship. True to his word Jim called me early the next morning and we agreed to meet at the boat at 10:00 a.m. Oh, did I mention that Jim has a key to my boat?

This cultivation costs me about a hundred bucks a year, or maybe a bit more. Is it worth it? Absofreakinlutely. So start looking now for a good mechanic, a good fiberglass guy, a good canvas guy, a diver, a surveyor, or whoever you think you might need. When you find them, get to know them, then take care of them.
Click to expand...
I'm with you GFC. Every time I went by my CAT dealer for parts when I owned OSD, I took a bag of sausage or chicken biscuits. I would walk in and they would say "hello Carter, how are you"? When I needed my 58's power steering ram rebuild (definitely not a CAT part!), they did it for gratis and wouldn't let me pay...
 
Boat Washer
Diver
Electrician
Air Conditioning guy
General Mechanic

When we are on the boat, we have traveled considerable distance and are there for extended time.

When the AC quits working -- our guy will be out same day or early the next morning. Normal time to schedule a visit might be 1-2 weeks depending on the season.

While back we pulled into a marina in North Carolina. Had an issue, our mechanic in Florida spent 30 minutes with me on the phone (right then) walking me through what to check to try to isolate the problem.

Last summer with a Hurricane coming, the slip we were in was not going to work. Only option was take the boat 20+ miles for haul out. Logistics were we had to move the boat and a car to bring us back. Called the guy who washes the boat, he dropped everything and came over. Helped us stripped the boat then rode with me as crew while I moved the boat and my wife took the rental car.

I highly value the people who do work on the boat and I want them to know that.

I don't look at it as a tip, rather a thank you with a Christmas card.
 
In manufacturing I have done every incentive there is.... I just don’t buy it.... no one remembers what the company gave them 6 months ago or yesterday for that matter.... I think in your case @FootballFan you respect your support and they respect you. Your gift card didn’t get him on the phone to help you....your relationship did.

I guess what I am saying is the gift isn’t what is working it’s you
 
Blueone said:
In manufacturing I have done every incentive there is.... I just don’t buy it.... no one remembers what the company gave them 6 months ago or yesterday for that matter.... I think in your case @FootballFan you respect your support and they respect you. Your gift card didn’t get him on the phone to help you....your relationship did.

I guess what I am saying is the gift isn’t what is working it’s you
Click to expand...

I have to agree to a point. I have customers that no matter how many times I’ve pulled a rabbit out of a hat, they’re bitching the next time they find a new rabbit.

The ones that do remember and appreciate are my favorites and I don’t groan when I see them on my caller ID.

That said I do tip the marina guys and tend to round up bills when it’s cash.
 
The relationship is a result of how you treat people not how you tip people.
A nice gesture from time to time is thoughtful but that’s not the sugar.
The sugar is respect, appreciation, gratefulness, and a compliment from time to time.
Referring business doesn’t hurt either.
 
I think some of you might have glossed over this statement I wrote....
"So why is my boat so special? Well he does like the boat. A lot, but I think the biggest reason is that Jim and I are friends."

It took a few years to get to that point and I hope it lasts a long time after we've sold the boat.
 
Blueone said:
I just have one example of a close by marine mechanic.... I stored my trailer there talked to the owners they seemed nice just in business for a few years. We didn’t know each other per-say. But if anyone asked me where to go I always said try them out.
Until the other day I took my tohatsu 4hp in there and asked if they could take a quick look at it and they said flat out no.... no explanation nothing. So I said why?.... answer was “it’s not worth my time plus I don’t do tohatsu.... go an hour up the road there is a dealer there”
Not sorry thanks for coming by... just turned around and walked away...

I took it home and fixed it in an hour

So to your point you can get recommendations (and there is a back story here they worked on my boat at another marina but didn’t know me) you can research but until you actually try them the recommendations are worth nothing more than that
Click to expand...

The irony is those same people I believe you were talking about would do anything humanly possible to help me out. Even though my Boating style has changed and I no longer do much business at all with them, if I have trouble with one of my engines they are on the phone with me in minutes and helping me troubleshoot it.

Life is full of relationships, some good some bad. In the past I would take the whole crew out for pizza lunch sometimes. Bring a case of beer for the quitting time fridge. Those things mean a lot.

Teddy Roosevelt said people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Small gestures to let folks that work on your boats know that you care go a hell of a long way.
 
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