What captivated us at the Polboat Yachting Festival?
The yacht industry is one of those industries where product individualization is of particular importance. And one of those where customers are willing to pay no small amount for this opportunity.
For the third time we had the opportunity to participate in the annual Polboat Yachting Festival in Gdynia, organized by the Polish Chamber of Marine Industry and Water Sports. This is the largest such event in Poland and one of the most important in Europe. Why? Because Polish yachts are conquering the world, literally, as more than 90% of domestic production is exported.
Every year, more than 20,000 motor and sailing yachts are built in Polish shipyards, which go primarily to the wealthy residents of Germany, the USA and France. Our biggest specialty is units between 6 and 9 meters in length - here we are the second manufacturer in the world, just behind the Americans. Equally as highly valued as the boats are the clothing and various sailing accessories produced in our country in the world.
This year, during the Festival, it was possible to get acquainted with 100 vessels (motor boats, sailboats, watercraft, houseboats) that were built in Poland. 16 of them were shown for the first time. It was the premieres and luxury yachts that attracted the most visitors. For us, boats equipped with solar panels were also very interesting. You can see that ecology is gaining importance in this industry as well. Also impressive was the sheer number of visitors - more than 20,000 people!
The need for sales automation is growing
We visited one boat after another moored elegantly in the Gdynia marina and overheard foreign visitors talking about Polish boatbuilding with real pride. But it wasn't just the pleasure of seeing these marvels of elegance and technology that motivated us to travel across half of Poland.
For years, we have seen that our configurator is a perfect fit for the specifics of this industry. Practically every boat coming out of Polish shipyards is realized under a specific, individualized order. Each one has to be put together from a thousand different elements and make them fit together perfectly. It is clear that as the market grows, so does the need to automate sales processes. Especially because customers are increasingly coming from remote parts of the world. And where there is a need for sales automation, there is also us!
The first two days of the exhibition were dedicated to B2B contacts. We used them to talk to Polish boat manufacturers, present our solutions and, perhaps most importantly, to reliably identify their needs. This industry can be safely compared to car manufacturing - both in terms of the complexity of the design and the high expectations of users.
Not unimpressed, our interviewees calculated how much time it takes a configurator to put together and present an offer to a customer. Instead of several days - several minutes! Many of them would be happy to put such a solution in their dealers' laptops. Manufacturers of smaller vessels would even see a configurator on their websites to allow buyers to select boat components themselves. This is especially so because selecting many of these elements takes time, and the buyer does not want to rush into a decision. This applies, for example, to upholstery or trim.
It was an inspiring and very fruitful time for us. We can't reveal the details of our arrangements, but one thing we are sure of - next year we will also go to the Polboat Yachting Festival!
