Summer’s end always seems to approach too soon. One week you’re relaxing on a lake, and the next you’re stuck behind a school bus during your morning commute. But Labor Day offers the perfect long weekend to enjoy the summer before we plunge head-first into fall. Let’s dive into how you can help ease your customers’ end-of-summer experience.

Encourage an End-of-Summer Getaway

During the busy back-to-school season, many people don’t have time to prioritize the logistics of a long weekend trip. As a result, your customers will appreciate your help to lighten the load. Here are a few ways to provide extra support:

Share Information

Whether your customers are taking an RV road trip or towing a boat to a lake destination, you can research and share various topics to improve their planning experience, including:

• Popular locations
• Lake life activities
• RV road trip activities
• Best and worst Labor Day travel times

Promote Rental Options

Labor Day weekend is an optimal time to highlight your rentals. Many non-owners are still interested in an RV or boating excursion, and your dealership could have just the rental unit for their needs! Additionally, with a capable DMS platform, you can easily keep track of rental inventory and orders so you know exactly what’s available and when.

Emphasize Safety

Although Labor Day offers an extra day for fun, you should remind customers of responsible practices. According to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), 75% of vessel fatalities in 2023 occurred while an individual with no prior safety instruction operated the vehicle. Encourage vigilant boating by sharing water safety tips with your customers.

In addition, between 70,000 and 80,000 RV accidents happen each year, so it’s vital to remind RVers to conduct vehicle inspections and practice safe driving before and during road trips to prevent unfortunate mishaps on the road.

By increasing awareness of proper boating and RV operation, you’ll help your customers stay safe while enjoying their long weekend fun.

Advise Customers on Winter Preparation

RV owners can use their vehicles throughout the fall and winter, but not every boat owner has that privilege. Boats can be severely damaged if they aren’t properly maintained and stored for the cold winter season. So, for avid boaters across the northern U.S., the end of summer is undeniably more bitter than sweet. Nevertheless, both specialty vehicles require proper winter maintenance, and you can remind your customers when it’s time to start the process.

Provide a Maintenance Checklist

One simple way to show up for your customers is to provide a winter checklist for all the maintenance items that should be marked complete. By sending the information via emails or posting on your social media platforms, your customers will be better equipped to stay on top of their maintenance needs. Through your shared content, you can also promote your service capabilities to remind customers that you can address their needs effectively.

Promote Storage Options

The end of summer is a great time to emphasize your dealership’s storage offerings. If you have extra space to house customers’ vehicles, advertise the opportunity so RV and boat owners are aware of your services. Remember, customers have varying storage needs, so be sure to highlight which features your dealership provides.

Conclusion

Although many would love to ignore the incoming cold weather and deny that summer is coming to an end, keeping customers informed will help ease the transition to the fall and winter seasons. Use these tips to help your customers get the most out of the summer’s end — whether that means taking a final long weekend trip or preparing for the off-season.