lizfrench15July 2008
Welcome to the first MARTINI YACHT SALES blog. In the next few months, each of our team members will be writing a blog that is uniquely associated with their own experience in the boating industry. We are going to use this, our first blog to introduce our firm to you.
MARTINI YACHT SALES is a full service brokerage firm with four of the top producing brokers on the Chesapeake Bay at the core of our organization.
John Martini is the owner and has been in the boat business since he was a child. His family owned a marina and sales firm in Deale Maryland and it was there that John cut his teeth on fiberglass. During his teen years John painted boat bottoms, swept the shop and basically did the grunt work that needed to be done. It was a great way to learn. As he matured his duties expanded to include sales and ultimately the management of the whole operation. John was responsible for making the company one of the top producers for Sea Ray, Wellcraft and a number of other lines. When John reached his thirties, he decided to cut the family strings and strike out for himself. He joined the staff at Shady Oaks Yacht Sales on the West River in Maryland and quickly rose from salesman to general manager. During John’s tenure, Shady Oaks grew from a one man show run by the owner Tom Frank, to a major factor in the boating industry. Sales over a few short years climbed from the 8 million dollar mark to about 35 million and John got restless again. He had served his apprenticeship in every area of the business and now it was time to put his talents and knowledge to use for himself.
In just over two years, John has built MYS into the most aggressive and successful brokerage firm in the mid-Atlantic. Like most good leaders, John has managed to surround himself with the best and brightest brokers in the area and together they continue to explore new and innovative ways to serve both our buyers and sellers. The first two quarters of 2008 have been the most challenging in many years for all boat sales companies but during that period John has guided MYS to a sales volume that makes much older and larger companies envious.
Walter McArdle is the Silverton, Tiara and Carver specialist. Walter and John worked together for a number of years at Shady Oaks and their ability to work as a team for the good of the customers was something that John wanted at MYS. Walter was the senior sales representative at Shady Oaks for more then 20 years and was honored as the #1 salesman in the world for both Carver and Silverton as well as a top salesman for Tiara on more then one occasion. Each year, he led a team of professionals with the goal of making Shady Oaks the number one dealer for each of the lines they represented and he met that goal more often then not. After Shady Oaks was sold, Walter decided to explore new areas. He had been involved in the sale of primarily new boats for many years but the market was changing and there was opportunity in that other area of the business, the brokerage of pre-owned boats. When John called, there was really no question but that they should talk. Walter and John quickly agreed that their core values had remained the same and that the customer had to be the most important factor in any deal. They also agreed that to be truly successful in satisfying the customers needs, they needed to deal with only “exceptional boats”. Experience taught both of them that a problem boat equals a one time buyer and the success of the company would require happy, repeat customers. With Walter’s help, the company has begun a comprehensive program to make the buying and selling experience a great one for our customers. For the buyer, MYS supplies and pays for a licensed captain to deliver a new purchase at the dock with training on systems and upkeep and on the water with an orientation designed to make the new boater comfortable with their new boat. We become involved in all aspects of the purchase project from finance and insurance to pre-purchase survey and repair of survey discrepancies.
In September, we will introduce Todd Wittman and Dave Sargus through this blog. Both these men are industry leaders.
A quick note on the state of our business :
Martini Yacht Sales is quickly developing a reputation as “the can do brokers”. We’ve had a great sales year so far and the immediate future looks extremely promising. There is a pent up demand that we have learned to tap into. We are taking trades in order to put brokerage deals together. We have some of the best financing packages available right now. We have partnered with some of the industry leaders to provide everything our customers will find necessary whether buying or selling a boat.
Please enjoy the rest of the summer and remember that fall cruising on the bay is some of the best cruising in the world.