Rob Hammerling is a boat salesman and broker for Sundance Marine, a boat dealer based in South Florida. With over $60,000,000 of new boat sales since 2017, Rob has helped hundreds of people get greater joy out of their family life by leveraging the boating experience with what he calls, “a lifestyle multiplier.” The Haven Team had the pleasure of hearing from Rob about his career path, the core values that guide his sales process, and the impact the current economic climate will have on boat sales.
Haven: You had two full-time careers, one on Wall Street, and another in PR, before joining the boating industry. How did these careers lead you to the boating industry, and are there any similarities between your roles?
Rob: Great opening question—it really gets to the heart of who I am and how I operate.
Clearly, there is no straight path from Wall Street to owning a PR agency to boat sales other than that they all involve daily interactions with the principals who purchase the goods or services. So customer service, dealing with the aftermath of the investment or marketing campaign or boats when things go sideways—that is something that I have gotten better and better at as the years go by. Humility and empathy are the two most important tools in my belt.
Haven: Will your role as a boat salesman and broker be your final career?
Huh! I’m 62 and having the most fun working I have ever had, so the likelihood of a fourth career is slim to none. The main difference is that regarding my Wall Street and Madison Avenue careers, I might as well have been selling oxygen tanks. If my customers didn’t buy from me, they’d buy from someone else because it was a need. But now I’m selling experiences, family enhancement, memories, and smiles. It’s a whole lot more rewarding.
Haven: Let’s talk about One Water’s FORMAT approach for a minute—what does that entail?
Rob: One of the great things about working for One Water is the employees’ leadership background and experience, along with the resources the company has made available to all of its dealerships. FORMAT is a core value and tool for us and works perfectly with my market.
I’m not a transactional guy, either in my own purchases or how I sell. Pressure turns me off, regardless of which side of the table I’m sitting on, and I am particularly sensitive to it when I’m doing the selling. FORMAT (learning about the customers’ Family, Occupation, Recreation, Motivation, Animals & Team) focuses my attention on getting to know a new customer and their family, rather than the boat they think they want to buy. Since our business model for every store, from Legendary Marine selling Bayliners in Pensacola to our One Water Yacht Group selling Sunseekers out of Palm Beach, is to sell you a new boat every few years, long-term relationships are key. Transactional relationships may work for some customers and salespeople but not for me, my customers, or most One Water customers.
Haven: As the Miami and Palm Beach boat shows approach, let’s discuss the starkly different environment we are in compared to the past several years. It seems boats are more available; interest rates are higher and the overall sentiment on the economy is negative. What do you say to the person who wants to delay a purchase?
Rob: Wow, I’m thinking maybe we should cancel the shows and go home! In all seriousness, these are valid questions but easily answered.
Boats have never been, nor will they ever be, a good asset to own. They are, however, one of the best investments a family can make for themselves. And the return on that investment in terms of memories, experiences, bonding, and good health is immeasurable. Like the old MasterCard commercials, priceless. So that in and of itself discounts all the questions about timing. Is this a good time to buy stocks or real estate or crypto or gold? I have no idea—maybe, or maybe not. But if I could guarantee that the return on those investments would be positive, everyone would be a buyer, right? I can guarantee the return on your boat investment will be a positive one.
Regarding availability, yes there are more boats available but only about 30% of pre-COVID levels. And yes, interest rates have gone up, but they are still 100 basis points (1 full point) below the average rate for the last 50 years. And lastly, future pricing. If someone can show me a chart that predicts energy costs, labor costs and the price of building materials will decrease, then maybe I’d get my head around boat prices going anywhere but up. But they’re not decreasing, and boat prices will continue to increase, like everything else. The bottom line is that virtually nobody succeeds as a market timer, regardless of what you’re buying. If you’re legitimately interested in a boat, don’t time the market, jump in and start loving life even more than you do right now!
More about Rob:
Ex-Wall Street, Ex-Madison Avenue, never Main Street. Now selling extraordinary boats in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Rob began boating when he was five years old on his maternal grandfather’s small crabbing boat in Cape May, New Jersey. He then switched to sailboats and competitively raced Sunfish, Lasers, and Force 5s before jointly buying, with his dad, a 15’ Boston Whaler Montauk at age 16. Outside of the occasional “Booze Cruise,” he hasn’t been on a sailboat since, while owning a series of power boats up to a 42’ sedan bridge cruiser.
Following a successful career on Wall Street, Rob co-founded a boutique public relations company in northern New Jersey, which ended up becoming a major player in both the food and tech PR world. With his kids in college and beyond, he relocated to South Florida to pursue his final career, that of a boat salesman and broker.
Sundance Marine, via its parent company One Water Marine (NASDEQ ONEW), focuses on an acronym known as FORMAT rather than transactions. Family, Occupation, Recreation, Motivation, Animals, and Team are topics that Rob will focus on in his first meeting with a client. He will definitely assist you with looking at boats, but more importantly, he will help you identify the right boat to consider. An adage in the boat industry is “The wrong boat at the right price is still the wrong boat!” Rob’s emphasis on creating a personal relationship and slowing the process down helps ensure that his customers buy the right boat at the right price and at the right time.
While Rob focuses on new boat sales out of his dealership in Pompano Beach, where it features the Barletta, Chris-Craft, Everglades, Regal Sportsman, and Twin Vee brands, he is also a fully licensed and bonded boat salesman who can assist with a brokerage purchase or sale.
You can contact Rob Hammerling at 973-650-1216 or robh@sundancemarineusa.com
