The Program: MARINE INDUSTRY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX AWARD PROGRAM

In 2001, a team of National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) member companies came together to create a program that would raise the bar for boat owner satisfaction, improving the overall customer experience to ultimately support long-term growth opportunities for the industry. As a result, the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (Marine Industry CSI) Program was created.

Prior to the implementation of the Marine Industry CSI Program, many member companies did not have a formal or consistent means to measure customer satisfaction with their boats and engines. If a manufacturer did have a formal system in place, they had no industry reference point for comparison.

A first for the marine industry, the Marine Industry CSI Program provides a uniform measure of customer satisfaction across the full range of boats and engines in the recreational marine industry. Manufacturers can now gauge customer satisfaction with their

The program conducts two surveys with new boat and engine customers during the first year of ownership. The first survey is mailed shortly after the time of boat delivery, and the second is sent nine months later. Together, the two surveys track customer satisfaction with the product, sales experience, delivery, and service process as well as product quality. A Marine Industry CSI Steering Committee established the questions for both surveys, basing them on customer feedback regarding topics they indicated impact their overall satisfaction.

Rollick, a third-party group, provides independent collection, tabulation, and reporting of the customer satisfaction data on behalf of the Marine Industry CSI Program and recreational boating industry. The Marine Industry CSI Program and the Marine Industry CSI Steering Committee conducted a rigorous search and ultimately hired Rollick based on its extensive experience in the recreation and marine industry and strong background implementing large-scale customer satisfaction measurement programs.

As the program has matured, new boat buyers have received an estimated 900,000 surveys. More than 250,000 customers have taken the time to tell us about their satisfaction with the new boats and engines they purchased. These responses and subsequent data are shared with manufacturers to use to improve the quality of their products, develop support programs, track trends, and monitor and advance their customer satisfaction efforts.

As the largest source of consumer satisfaction information in the marine industry, The Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards program provides consumers with an unbiased source of information regarding satisfaction opinions of their fellow new boat and engine buyers.

Each year the Marine Industry CSI Awards program honors participating manufacturers that actively measure customer satisfaction and pursue continuous improvement to better serve the consumer. Award recipients achieve and maintain an independently measured standard of excellence of 90 percent or higher in initial customer satisfaction over an annual award period. This measurement is based on responses provided by customers purchasing a new boat and/or engine.

Program participants are recognized for their efforts if the following guidelines are met:

• Companies must be participants in the Marine Industry CSI Program and adhere to the guidelines of the program in implementing on-going measurement of customer satisfaction. Participating manufacturers must survey all new boat buyers during this period.
• Consumer survey responses for a one year period ending in the first quarter of the award year will be used for award consideration.
• Participants must have received a minimum of 25 responses for the recognition period and boat/engine category.
• Participants must have a score of 90 or above (on a 100 point scale) on Overall Satisfaction with the boat or engine as appropriate.
• Recognition is based on responses from the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Program's initial survey.
• The Marine Industry CSI survey and awards program is committed to promoting an environment that furthers the efforts of NMMA member companies to increase consumer satisfaction with their products.

MARINE INDUSTRY CSI DEALER AWARD

The Dealer Award was established in 2016 based on input from the industry steering committee to utilize dealer data captured in the current marine industry CSI program

The Committee wanted to recognize dealers based on individual brands they carry but also on an aggregate score of all brands they carry who are measured in the current CSI program

Dealers of brands who are both in the full service CSI program or in the audit portion of the program are eligible to participate

Dealers are recognized for their efforts if the following guidelines are met:

• Dealers earn award based on an OSAT Dealer CSI score of 90% or above
• Dealers have two ways to earn
  • Single brand in the full service NMMA program with 5 responses for sales category and 3 responses for service category and a 90% score
  • Aggregate score of 90% based on all brands they carry who are in the full service program
    • Minimum of 10 responses
  • Dealer earns an award that displays dealer’s name with brands dealers carry who achieved 90% or above
    • Note: A dealer who earns based on an aggregate score can only display the brands carried that achieved 90% or above

If you are interested in joining the CSI Program or have any questions, please contact Becky Bergmann at becky.bergmann@rollick.io