Editor choice

Editor’s Pick 2021: Off Shore Marine

By Adam Quandt
Top 100 Editor and Program Director

Offshore Marine
Branchville, New Jersey

As a single-location dealership located approximately 12 miles from one of New Jersey’s only two lakes, with 14 marinas competing for the same company, Off Shore Marine is sure to position itself well above the rest of the pack. .

“Our business was built the hard way,” said owner and general manager Sherri Cecchini. “With integrity and perseverance and not because there is an abundance of clients, with no choice with whom to do business.”

While in their twenties, Sherri and her husband Lou opened the doors to Off Shore Marine at an approximately 900 square foot rented store, which housed the retail store, repair shop and office.

Now on a five-acre parcel of New Jersey, Off Shore Marine has just over 7,500 square feet of space between its showroom, service shop and offices. The dealership also operates a 27,000 square foot offsite storage space. All of this and Off Shore Marine is still looking to grow.

“Our reputation travels far,” said Cecchini. “We currently attract customers from as far as 100 miles away as we have become known for exceptional service and as repair specialists on board. Substantial business growth has maximized our facility and we are actively seeking expansion options.

In 2020 alone, Off Shore Marine completed renovations to a new upstairs administrative office and made a few more updates to its service area facilities to create a cohesive look throughout the dealership. .

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“When it comes to business development in 2020, the focus has been on expanding the facility, ownership and staff,” Cecchini said.

On the personnel side, Off Shore Marine rolled out a new Service Apprentice Program in 2020, which has already helped find new young talent from the dealership with particular interests in the marine industry.

“Off Shore Marine views youth mentorship as an important part of our culture,” said Cecchini. “Over the years, we have hired many young men and women, mostly on their first job experience. We take our role as mentor and advisor very seriously and offer a wealth of learning opportunities in work ethics, labor relations and communication skills.

In addition to the apprenticeships in 2020, Off Shore Marine also hired two experienced automotive technicians and began the process of converting to the Marine Technician field.

To increase the efficiency of the update service workshop, Off Shore purchased new laptops for technicians, each equipped with scan tools for diagnostics, as well as a new PC setup in the workshop as an office workstation and additional access point for the DMS.

In an effort to recognize its hard-working team members, Off Shore has rolled out a pair of new reward and recognition programs in 2020 – “Catching Great Work” and the “Rock Star Recognition” program.

“Catch a Great Job” is used to recognize exceptional effort and recognize that these acts are both noticed and appreciated by Off Shore management. All candidates are read aloud so that all are recognized. A name is drawn and the winner spins a prize wheel. A certificate is hung and a reward is presented in the form of a free lunch, a $ 20.00 Visa gift card, movie tickets, a scratch note, or a one hour paid departure earlier.

The “Rock Star Recognition” program was created to recognize any employee who has been praised by a customer for a job well done. Again, the nominees are read aloud and a name is drawn for a spin on the prize wheel.

“At Off Shore, we understand the value of exceptional employees and know that we succeed through their commitment to the principles of our company,” said Cecchini.

Main entrance Off Shore Marine

Through its efforts to build a strong team to provide customers with the ultimate boat buying experience and quality customer service, Off Shore Marine has worked its way up to an average CSI score of 99.2%. , which makes it easy to understand why clients get wind of their reputation and make the trip to do business with the team.

All of the dealership’s efforts have increased Off Shore’s revenue by 31.6% in 2020 over its 2019 numbers, while delivering all aspects of the dealership’s customer service strategy.

Off Shore Marine will surely be a dealer to watch as it continues to grow in the future and we at Nautical industry can’t wait to follow his path.