Putting People First: How Sun & Fun RV Elevates Service Through Relationships, Backed by Technology

What carries a dealership through the decades?

At Sun & Fun RV, it’s a deep commitment to service and the people behind it.

Guided by the motto “We make every weekend a vacation,” Sun & Fun RV has kept customers coming back for over 50 years. Since moving to their 20-acre location in Tiffin, Iowa in 2017, the dealership has expanded its selection of new and used travel trailers, fifth wheels, and RV parts & accessories – all supported by IDS’ connected software stack built to serve customers better.

Since taking up the mantle at Sun & Fun, how have you noticed customer expectations shifting over the years?

CG: I think folks today want to have more communication in a shorter time frame. We all want a little bit of that instant gratification situation, and it’s a matter of how quickly you can reply to people and get things handled. I think the buying dynamics have changed. COVID was a big part of that, and folks got used to text and email communication versus face-to-face.

What’s your approach to service?

CG: Well, I maybe take a little different perspective because of my coming up through the business. I’m second generation with our business. I grew up through our service department, running things there and moving through the business.

I think a lot of businesses come in and look at it in terms of sales and their sales focus—which is important, don’t get me wrong. But the greatest percentage of this building is designed for taking care of our guests after the fact, because that’s the most important thing for customer retention and building repeat buyers.

How does IDS help you meet the expectations of customers?

CG: A big thing for us with IDS is the mobile tech app, which works fantastic. We’ve been using that for years — that was one of the first things we did, and it’s very important to how we structure things.

With ServiceCRM, our advisors can communicate with our guests and put reminders to follow up. It helps us be more proactive in how we take care of our guests. That was really the goal: figuring out how we can take care of them quicker and better and provide the service they expect in today’s world.

Having used a sales CRMs for years and knowing the importance it’s had for us on the sales side, it was a no-brainer to do it for service. It just helps with communication. I look at the number of times you sit on hold on a project you’re working on for a guest, waiting for a response from them, or you’re hung up on a phone call or something else. This speeds that process up.

People respond quicker to a text than they do to a voicemail or a phone call. In today’s world, if you don’t have a phone number saved in your phone, you’re likely not to answer it unless it pops up with a name you know. With a text, people take a quick look and respond.

Can you give us an example of how your team uses ServiceCRM in their day-to-day?

CG: It really comes down to communication. When our guests come in, we do a 360 walkaround to note things on the unit and talk about any work they may need done, even things they might not be aware of.

From a Service Advisor perspective, taking photos during that process gives us documentation for our technicians. It makes it much easier for them to diagnose issues. For example, if a cabinet door or drawer needs adjustment, the photo shows exactly which one, instead of leaving them guessing when there are ten drawers.

We’ll also take photos of larger jobs or ongoing projects to track progress and share that with the guest through the CRM and Kenect. Those tools tie together so we can send updates, pictures, and even hold quick video conferences when needed to walk customers through what we’re seeing.

It’s all about providing the best possible information to our guests and keeping them informed every step of the way.

What about on the parts side?

CG: Along with that, having Parts Request Online has really made life easier for the team. If technicians can snap a photo and send it to parts, the parts department can start researching what’s needed right away. The advisors can then get authorization for the repair, and we can have the part pulled or ordered without the technician having to worry about it. They can also see the status of where things are at.

I think that’s been a great tool. It creates a central point of communication for our fixed ops team, which is so important when you’ve got a lot of different hands in the process. It just helps streamline everything.

How do you leverage IDS’ reporting features?

CG: My day usually starts by going through reports, seeing where we’re at, and communicating with our managers so they can help their teams. Over the past several years, IDS has brought together a lot of great tools that help us function better and be more productive with our time.

One of my favorites is the Leadership Insight reports. I used to have to manually calculate inventory turns, both by dollar amount and by unit count, to get two different perspectives. Now, I can just pull up the report and instantly see what’s selling, how each model and brand is turning, and get better tracking data. I can see, day-to-day, what our sales department produced, what F&I turned, and how we’re trending for the month.

Right now, inventory analysis is especially important as we focus on managing our turns. The report breaks inventory down by number of days into three different blocks, so we can easily monitor and make informed decisions. It puts everything right in front of you. No more manual calculations. The hard work is done; all you have to do is analyze the information and act.

How is your relationship with the IDS team?

CG: It’s been a great experience all the way around. Our outside reps over the years have been fantastic. That relationship is really important. If we have a question or need to understand something further, we have someone we can contact directly. They’re always responsive and stop by periodically, which is fantastic.

We’re in the relationship business more than the RV business, and that’s what makes this so valuable. Over the years, I’ve also had developers stop by while working on different ideas to improve the system. That shows me that IDS cares about what’s happening and wants to do what’s right, gathering input from the front line instead of just making changes for the sake of it.

If we have questions, the Customer Portal is easy to reference, and if we can’t find an answer there, the chat box connects us quickly with someone who can help. The service support team is fantastic and helps us work through whatever issues we have and keeps things moving smoothly.