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The yachting industry is changing significantly in the past 20-30 years. Boats and yachting holidays were predominantly something that was mostly considered by people who were exposed to a yachting culture of some kind. The internet, clearly changed this game and it keeps changing it at speed.

We recently wrote an article on the topic of how the ‘the airbnbs of yachting’ are going to chance and improve boat ownership, however, the game is changing for yacht charters and even smaller and local boat rentals (those hiring boats by the hour or day rather than the more standard charter week).

For over 15 years we have produced market research and analysis on the yachting industry observing how the demographic and the phsycographic of the yachting market was changing. On top of that we were always strongly involved in the more topographic analysis of users behaviour on a variety of websites and companies selling yachts, yacht charters, boat rentals, marine supplies etc..

The experience of these two combined analytical points of view enabled us to get to the point and write a simple list of the most common and most widespread mistakes done in the yacht charter business.

(The ones that follow are in no particular order of priority)

1) Underestimating the importance of the web

This is a common mistake for yacht charter companies that has been done and it is still done countless times. It goes from slow loading websites (See How to make it faster), to horrific user experience, all the way to terrible spelling or amateurish photography. Yachts and Yachting related services unlike many other products are simply not as easy to find in a physical shop the highest the internet penetration becomes and with the generational change this because a make or break element of a lot of yachting or boating related businesses both operating in B2C and in B2B. I can’t even being to tell you how many times we have heard the sentence, “my clients don’t buy a boat because they see it on the web“.  While this statement might have been somewhat true some time ago, it’s also true that when it comes to high ticket purchases no single source of information is the only one that makes a client purchase decision exclusively.

2) Assuming a certain degree of sailing knowledge for granted

Another very common mistake in the yacht charter business, we have made ourselves, is to assume that people that take an interest in yachting or boating have a certain degree of sailing or marine knowledge.  Everybody starts somewhere and in many countries more than others the last thing that you want to do is make a client feel dumb for not knowing something or worse assume and he/she/they will behave based on your assumption they know something that they might not. Simple example: You charter a big boat you can load 50 people on them.  No you don’t if it is a private yacht most likely you’ll be limited to 12 guests not matter how big it actually is. If you have worked with yacht charter I am sure you have answered this question hundreds of times.

Oyster Yachts in troubled waters

3) Selling the asset(boat) rental time instead of the experience of boating in the specific navigation area.

This is probably the most common mistake to date. Leisure boats are not cars people do not rent them to go from A to B and yet, there still are lots of sites out there that feature a list of boat and no mention of itinerary and the experience on board. Especially in the most commercial segment of the market.

4) Asking for large deposits

Nowadays insurance companies are very sophisticated and there is no reason why a deposit can’t be substituted by an insurance product. (Needless to say this point does not apply to crewed charter that won’t need a deposit bu only to bareboat charters). It surely will add to the overall cost but it will lower the barrier to purchase a week worth of charter especially in the mid/lower segment of the market of weekly charters in the £800-4500/week range.

Yacht Charter contract

5) Relying on non-digitalised legal contracts

Again we are in 2018 and a lot of yacht charter companies and operators already have this process in place. Digital legal charter contracts that is, it easier it is faster and it is very efficient if your clients are not sitting at their desk most of the time.

Yacht Charter Credit Card

6) Not accepting credit cards or using advanced consumer financing options

Accepting credit cards has a cost attached to it but it also makes it faster and easier for a client to book and deposit initial sums. Nowadays, credit card processing devices are mobile and incredibly inexpensive to acquire and set-up, and yet a lot of charter operators still do not accept them and make their sale process much longer and more difficult.

7) Choosing the wrong crew or skipper

On a crewed charter the crew makes a very significant part of the experience. Regardless, of whether it is only 1 skipper or a crew of 3 or more even the most discreet crew will always interact with the guests a great deal during any given charter period. The captain/skipper and his/her crew have a very delicate job as they have to reassure the guests about navigation even when the seas are rough but at the same time provide for all reasonable (and sometimes unconventional) requests. Languages are a big plus because a good knowledge of the guest language will assure nothing is lost in translation, but character is even more important especially for the crew members that are in charge and might have to take unpopular decision to avoid unnecessary risks when needed.

Boat Inspection

8) Little attention to details

It can be about things as small as a car charger (12 Volt lighter plug) for the iPhones to be available onboard so that guests don’t have to run the engine or the generator to charge their phones/mobile devices which costs virtually nothing but says a lot about the company’s attention to details. It can also be about the smaller maintenance issue like making sure the show filters are cleaned between a charter and the other, or even a first (food) provision that takes care of the vegetarian dietary needs of the guests. Small things add up like little gold coins to gain great feedback and happy guests which are without a doubt the best way to grow your yacht charter business.

Yacht Charter Guests

9) Not establishing guests priorities and preferences

The same navigation area can offer completely different experiences depending on what your preferences are. You can prefer to lay in the sun and swim to clubbing and fancy dining, or you might be more interested in discovering historical treasures and hidden spots. A yacht charter should always be a personalised experience (unless of course the route is pre-set) and the crew and the charter company should always take into consideration the specific interests of the people on board, all of them, not just the one signing the checks.

Yachting Images and Video production

10) Underestimating the power of videos

One specific yacht charter company’s marketing success is almost entirely based on videos and it proves this point exactly. The Yacht Week’s indeed is one

 

The yachting industry is changing significantly in the past 20-30 years. Boats and yachting holidays were predominantly something that was mostly considered by people who were exposed to a yachting culture of some kind. The internet, clearly changed this game and it keeps changing it at speed.

We recently wrote an article on the topic of how the ‘the airbnbs of yachting’ are going to chance and improve boat ownership, however, the game is changing for yacht charters and even smaller and local boat rentals (those hiring boats by the hour or day rather than the more standard charter week).

For over 15 years we have produced market research and analysis on the yachting industry observing how the demographic and the phsycographic of the yachting market was changing. On top of that we were always strongly involved in the more topographic analysis of users behaviour on a variety of websites and companies selling yachts, yacht charters, boat rentals, marine supplies etc..

The experience of these two combined analytical points of view enabled us to get to the point and write a simple list of the most common and most widespread mistakes done in the yacht charter business.

(The ones that follow are in no particular order of priority)

1) Underestimating the importance of the web

This is a common mistake for yacht charter companies that has been done and it is still done countless times. It goes from slow loading websites (See How to make it faster), to horrific user experience, all the way to terrible spelling or amateurish photography. Yachts and Yachting related services unlike many other products are simply not as easy to find in a physical shop the highest the internet penetration becomes and with the generational change this because a make or break element of a lot of yachting or boating related businesses both operating in B2C and in B2B. I can’t even being to tell you how many times we have heard the sentence, “my clients don’t buy a boat because they see it on the web“.  While this statement might have been somewhat true some time ago, it’s also true that when it comes to high ticket purchases no single source of information is the only one that makes a client purchase decision exclusively.

2) Assuming a certain degree of sailing knowledge for granted

Another very common mistake in the yacht charter business, we have made ourselves, is to assume that people that take an interest in yachting or boating have a certain degree of sailing or marine knowledge.  Everybody starts somewhere and in many countries more than others the last thing that you want to do is make a client feel dumb for not knowing something or worse assume and he/she/they will behave based on your assumption they know something that they might not. Simple example: You charter a big boat you can load 50 people on them.  No you don’t if it is a private yacht most likely you’ll be limited to 12 guests not matter how big it actually is. If you have worked with yacht charter I am sure you have answered this question hundreds of times.

Oyster Yachts in troubled waters

3) Selling the asset(boat) rental time instead of the experience of boating in the specific navigation area.

This is probably the most common mistake to date. Leisure boats are not cars people do not rent them to go from A to B and yet, there still are lots of sites out there that feature a list of boat and no mention of itinerary and the experience on board. Especially in the most commercial segment of the market.

4) Asking for large deposits

Nowadays insurance companies are very sophisticated and there is no reason why a deposit can’t be substituted by an insurance product. (Needless to say this point does not apply to crewed charter that won’t need a deposit bu only to bareboat charters). It surely will add to the overall cost but it will lower the barrier to purchase a week worth of charter especially in the mid/lower segment of the market of weekly charters in the £800-4500/week range.

Yacht Charter contract

5) Relying on non-digitalised legal contracts

Again we are in 2018 and a lot of yacht charter companies and operators already have this process in place. Digital legal charter contracts that is, it easier it is faster and it is very efficient if your clients are not sitting at their desk most of the time.

Yacht Charter Credit Card

6) Not accepting credit cards or using advanced consumer financing options

Accepting credit cards has a cost attached to it but it also makes it faster and easier for a client to book and deposit initial sums. Nowadays, credit card processing devices are mobile and incredibly inexpensive to acquire and set-up, and yet a lot of charter operators still do not accept them and make their sale process much longer and more difficult.

7) Choosing the wrong crew or skipper

On a crewed charter the crew makes a very significant part of the experience. Regardless, of whether it is only 1 skipper or a crew of 3 or more even the most discreet crew will always interact with the guests a great deal during any given charter period. The captain/skipper and his/her crew have a very delicate job as they have to reassure the guests about navigation even when the seas are rough but at the same time provide for all reasonable (and sometimes unconventional) requests. Languages are a big plus because a good knowledge of the guest language will assure nothing is lost in translation, but character is even more important especially for the crew members that are in charge and might have to take unpopular decision to avoid unnecessary risks when needed.

Boat Inspection

8) Little attention to details

It can be about things as small as a car charger (12 Volt lighter plug) for the iPhones to be available onboard so that guests don’t have to run the engine or the generator to charge their phones/mobile devices which costs virtually nothing but says a lot about the company’s attention to details. It can also be about the smaller maintenance issue like making sure the show filters are cleaned between a charter and the other, or even a first (food) provision that takes care of the vegetarian dietary needs of the guests. Small things add up like little gold coins to gain great feedback and happy guests which are without a doubt the best way to grow your yacht charter business.

Yacht Charter Guests

9) Not establishing guests priorities and preferences

The same navigation area can offer completely different experiences depending on what your preferences are. You can prefer to lay in the sun and swim to clubbing and fancy dining, or you might be more interested in discovering historical treasures and hidden spots. A yacht charter should always be a personalised experience (unless of course the route is pre-set) and the crew and the charter company should always take into consideration the specific interests of the people on board, all of them, not just the one signing the checks.

Yachting Images and Video production

10) Underestimating the power of videos

One specific yacht charter company’s marketing success is almost entirely based on videos and it proves this point exactly. The Yacht Week’s indeed is one

 

Upyacht.com

In the world of the sharing economy some companies have come out trying to shake up the yachting industry but in our view all of them have not really cracked the fundamentals that would really enable them to do so.

A lot of the companies we have seen that position themselves towards the Airbnb of boating have done a very good job in listing boats and trying to simplify the booking process for renting a boat. One of the few issues we have seen is that very few of them have truly understood that boating is not the process of renting an asset but rather that of delivering an experience.

In the the difference between renting out assets (boats/yachts) and delivering and experience lays the recent success of companies like The Yacht Week which in truth haven’t revolutionised the market but have identified a target and have made a great job at delivering to a specific 20-somthing target market that essentially requires a alcohol-loaded boating experience.

UPyacht has caught our attention because of its unique membership model which isn’t a share of ownership on a specific boat which would inevitably come with liability and maintenance costs, but simply credit to enjoy boating experiences or boat-time to do whatever one decides to do. Membership makes very much sense in this business because, let’s face it, going on a yacht by yourself isn’t much fun unless you are solo-sailor doing The Race. So here they come with a fresh new concept and from what we have seen a solid set-up.

We have looked into their founding membership offer (agreement and T&C) which seems to be a limited offer that does make a lot of sense to us: In brief a one-time fee of £15000 gives you access to £5000 per year for 3 years worth of yachting with vessels ranging from 30 to 75feet (9-21 meters), their charter rate are published and this level of membership gives you 20% off of their listed price (including the high season) giving customers the possibility to choose their itinerary, share it with other members and friends. All their Yacht are skippered and experiences are from what we see orientated to a wide variety of customers, ultimately it makes sense for a family or even a company to purchase this kind of memberships where the credit can be used for a family holidays on a sailing catamaran or a wakeboarding weekend for the youngsters.  

For more information go to Upyacht.com and let us have your comment if you book a holiday with them.