IDS: How McKee RV in Iowa Closed the Communication Gap – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt of a posting by IDS as part of its Dealer Story series. Click here to read the article in full.
McKee RV, located in Perry, Iowa, is a good, honest family-owned business. Jon McKee is the General Manager at McKee RV. His parents founded the company in 1993.
When they started out, they were a full-line Chevrolet and GM dealer. They carried Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac—”the whole enchilada”. Over time, they made the transition towards focusing on RVs. Now, they stock 16 manufacturers, towables, drivables, and in between. In recent years, they have gained a strong customer base for higher-end models. Now, they are the #2 Super C dealer in the nation.
“It seems that we’re always in the growing phase. Every year, we’ve been able to achieve goals that we didn’t think were achievable when we started.
We have a lot of repeat business. You know, we’ve had customers that bought six coaches in one year, but then I just had a customer pick up today that’s bought five coaches over the course of three years. That’s a sign to me that we do go the extra mile, and they are pleased with the services that they receive.”
Their beginnings as an auto dealership have given the McKee RV team a unique communication benchmark throughout the sales and service cycles. We chatted with Jon to learn about how they create a high-caliber customer experience.
Streamlining communication
In his day-to-day work, Jon does a little bit of everything: putting deals together with the manufacturers, loading the inventory, updating the inventory pricing, assisting with sales quotes, and doing a little bit of accounting.
“One of our biggest headaches that we always had before we had IDS was the communication. I think at any dealership, whether it’s cars, boats, or RVs—makes no difference—communication is one of the biggest issues. IDS has helped tremendously with the communication between sales, service, and accounting. It really helps streamline things.”
Setting a higher benchmark for customer satisfaction
The RV industry still has a lot of catch-up to do with the auto industry in terms of both technology and processes.
“Coming from the car industry and over into the RV industry, you know, one of the biggest things that we learned over time is that the RV industry is just not where auto is. That’s within technology but also with satisfaction. To be able to deliver quality service to a consumer that has invested X amount of dollars into a purchase.
So that’s been one of the biggest headaches—being able to improve on it is a day-to-day thing. You’re never done. Every day, we’re looking for additional avenues to be able to give them better service.”
Click here to read the article in full.
