WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED RUNNING A BUSINESS AND HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM? With any business, there are always challenges. A big challenge is that it’s a really expensive business. A lot of people think a brokerage isn’t because we don’t necessarily own the boats but from a marketing standpoint, we do a lot of different things that we put money into. But it’s really understanding what’s working and what’s not working and being mindful of where those dollars are spent because there are many different avenues where you can spend money. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE YACHT DESTINATION AND WHY? I think it really depends on what you’re looking to
sellers and gives that expertise in negotiating and understanding how to put the deals together from the marketing side too. WHAT’S THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT YACHT YOU’VE EVER SOLD AND WHAT MADE IT SO SPECIAL? We’ve sold a lot of different yachts. The meaning of “extravagant’ is different to everyone but I would say the most extravagant yacht is probably a 60-meter Heesen and a variety of Feadships. Probably the most notable that we’ve had was this custom Feadship called ANDIAMO. It was one of the few expedition yachts that Feadship had ever built that was capable of circumnavigating the world and has done so many times. That was probably one of the neatest boats we ever sold, not because of its size but because of its capabilities.
HOW DO YOU ENSURE A PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CLIENTS?
We’re there every step of the way. What’s important is not just the sales transaction but the aftermath. For us, we have the experience and access to help on anything yacht-related, whether its crews or service - you name it. We have really good, trusted contacts and I believe that’s a big part of what our sales crew really brings to customers. It’s not just how we take them through the negotiating experience and educating them on where the value is but it’s also about what we can do with a really good network of people that can be really helpful for their ownership. I think that really falls into play of our culture because the people we have are not only helpful but we have built alliances with them as well.
84’ Cheoy Lee
CAN YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR ROLE?
On a typical day, I’m really is wearing all kinds of hats. It’s helping the guys with sales and going through negotiations of various fields, it’s sales training, it’s being involved with marketing, with events, the boat shows, looking at website traffic and how we can generate more leads from listings, understanding what the market is doing as well as creating new revenue sources, new business ideas. It’s trying to always continue growing and being better than we were yesterday.
Newport, RI
I THINK OUR MARKETING IS SUPERIOR AND WE PUT A LOT OF EMPHASIS ON THE SALES PROCESS - I THINK THOSE ARE BIGGEST DIFFERENTIATORS IN THE BUSINESS.
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Q&A | BIZ CHAT WITH MIKE CARLSON NEW & NOTEWORTHY
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