RVers, roadtrippers and music festival campers know that thrill of owning an RV, travel trailer or sprinter begins before it’s driven off the lot and proven with every encounter they may have with the RV service department. If only RV dealers would step up that effort. One is trying to.
Enter Jon Ferrando. As a child, young Ferrando grew up RVing the UP of Michigan with his family. So he knows a bit about the spirit that drives the RV camping enthusiast. But the auto sector veteran also knows enough about customer service to have sensed an opportunity in what some would decry as the RV industry’s weakest link.
It helps that the exec cut his teeth at the nation’s largest car dealership – one which places high value on customer service and growth through acquisition.
So it was in 2018 that Ferrando and several partners left AutoNation to launch RV Retailer. The goal: to roll-up and transform an industry where RV repair and customer service are as notoriously treacherous as some stretches of the US Interstate Highway System.
Today, the company owns RV One, Airstream of Tampa and more than 100 dealerships and retail locations nationwide and is investing $130 million to bring the service experience up to
speed.
Why Now? Why not now?
To an outsider, their timing seemed odd. When Ferrando launched the company, RV sales were falling. According to figures from the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, from a high of 504,000 units sold in 2017, numbers fell to 483,000 in 2018 and 406,000 in 2019. Maybe Ferrando was as optimistic as an RVer heading out even when the Clime app says weather will be lousy.
Then Covid showed up to serve up a two-year stretch of sunny skies. The same trends that grounded the airline and hospitality industries sent RVing stratospheric. In 2020, RV sales hit 430,000; they accelerated to 600,000 in 2021. (For purposes of this piece, we’re lumping together traditional motorized RVs, as well as travel trailers, sprinters and any other camper).
With air travel and hotel stays considered a literal death wish, even leaving the house was a health hazard. But what if you could take your house with you on your travels?
From the precipice to the mountaintop, RV retailers today are thriving – to the point that manufacturers in the past year have almost caught up with demand. It helps that baby boomers and others embracing the “great retirement” and resignation, younger buyers bent on the nomadic lifestyle, even the growth of remote work and literal “work from anywhere” adherents are flocking to RVing and a new-found appreciation of the outdoor lifestyle.
Enter RV Retailer to a segment that nonetheless had been highly fragmented. The largest dealerships had a handful of lots in tightly defined geographic markets. Their sales and marketing processes were lacking. Covid masked the shortcomings; eager buyers just showed up with cash or a worthy credit score in hand – and drove off the lot with a new RV.
“There are so many opportunities to improve the customer experience from sales to service for first-time and veteran RV buyers,” says Famous Rhodes, RV Retailer’s corporate VP and chief marketing and technical officer. “If they only added a sales process, they can do more selling than order taking.”
That’s what Ferrando was thinking when he created the concept. Modernize and improve the sales side and he could move even more units. It helps that his dealerships carry some of the
most respected or popular brands, including Airstream, Alliance, Entegra, Grand Design, Jayco and Lance. Sales were just part of the equation.
Waiting…
Ferrando also sensed an opportunity waiting in the service bay. Frankly, “waiting” is the critical descriptor here. The RV service sector is miles behind the automotive space. They can sell you
a rig. Once you drive off the lot, good luck getting it serviced in a reasonable time. RV owners know they can kiss their rigs goodbye for weeks – maybe months – for a repair that may take a few days to complete.
Service techs often were poorly trained and worked in archaic facilities. Ferrando plans to invest $130 million in facility modernization and improvements to deliver “a world-class service experience,” the company says in its literature. In what he’s calling the “industry’s biggest-ever training and development program,” RV Retailer will build three regional training centers. Next-gen techs will train amid state-of-the-art technology in the classroom and
some 100 service bays.
RV Retailer has launched an apprenticeship program and will underwrite technical certifications.
This summer, its revamped Airstream of Austin (Texas) store – already the top Airstream retailer in the Central U.S. five years running – will showcase the investment.
In short, the company wants to communicate with and build confidence within its customers throughout the process.
“The focus on service and the customer experience has been under-met in this industry,” said Rhodes, another AutoNation veteran who was a digital and “customer experience” VP before
leaving. “In any business, anything related to service is an opportunity to do better. The original thesis was that the customer who services with you is three times more likely to buy. So we want to provide a phenomenal service experience.”
The “digital extension” of the customer experience is RVComplete. The mobile app turn-by-turn directions, trip planning and connections back to the store. Backed by a 24/7 call center, the app can help with roadside assistance, connect the subscriber with a mobile mechanic, and even offer technical assistance to get a glitchy awning or water heater to work.
“There’s a lot of complexities involved with RV ownership,” said Rhodes, who once traveled the country in a sprinter with his son, a competitive go-kart racer They spent some 30 weekends a year traveling the national race circuit.
Maximizing the add-ons
There also was an opportunity in the finance manager’s office. Like auto dealerships, sales of RV finance and insurance (or F&I) products, such as finance plans, extended service contracts, GAP and general insurance policies, and appearance programs made sales just the beginning.
Consider AutoNation: over $1 billion of its $25.8 billion in 2021 revenues was from F&I.
Just like H. Wayne Huizenga realized over 30 years ago when he founded AutoNation, there’s economies of scale to be had. Since it debuted, RV Retailer has been on a buying spree.
Funded by venture capital firms, it has bought up such regional store brands as RV One Superstores, Motor Home Specialist, ExploreUSA, Floyd’s RV, Sonny’s Camp-N-Travel, Cousins RV, Camper Clinic, RV Outlet USA, Lifestyle RVs, Family RV Group, Northgate RV, Tom’s Camperland and Blue Dog RV.
In 2021, it effectively closed on one dealership each week. Today, RV Retailer’s map stretches from Florida north to New England west to California – over 100 stores with 2,600 associates in 31 states.
Ferrando hopes his service-centric spin will continue to drive the RV sector. They won’t be able to lower gas prices, or magically open spots in crowded campgrounds, or ease congested highways. But maybe they can help people enjoy the RVing, camping, even the service experience a bit more.
There’s an undeniable allure in the RV sector that drives enthusiasts. It’s pop culture, with Instagrammers and travel bloggers posting pretty pictures and TikToks and B-Rolls from across the land. For generations, movies like triple-Oscar winner Nomad Land, Lucy and Desi’s Long Long Trailer, Jennifer Aniston’s We’re the Millers, or Robin Williams’ RV revealed the thrills – and dirty secrets – of RVing.
Whether for some of the 10,000 boomers retiring each day or countless others seeking an adventure, RV Retailer hopes to open new roads.
“This is their dream to be part of the RV lifestyle,” he said. “We’re having a real impact on the experience.”