Business View Magazine
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Happily for Youker, when people do buy a boat from
the Sportsman, they often become an intricate part
of the store’s marketing strategy. “We create relation-
ships,” he states. “We are a relationship-based selling
machine. Our number-one marketing tool is our exist-
ing customer base. It starts with ‘wowing the custom-
er’ every chance we get. A ‘wow‘ moment is one where
a customer will literally go out of their way to tell some-
body about their Sportsman. We want to ‘wow‘ you so
you become a member of our army of loyal advocates.
You’re a third-party endorser and the best advertising
we can ever have. Nearly half of our sales are from
direct referrals.”
Another way in which The Sportsman connects with
its current and future customers is by taking part in
various fishing tournaments in the area. “The Shallow
Sport factory has an owner’s tournament once a year
down on South Padre Island, and we’re a major spon-
sor,” says Youker, citing an example. “Most of our em-
ployees go down and volunteer for those three days. It
allows us to be amongst about a thousand customers
that own Shallow Sports already, and that’s a great
tie-in.”
The Sportsman’s excellence has been recognized by
Boating Industry Magazine as one of the top 100 ma-
rine dealerships in North America and the only exclu-
sive shallow water boating specialist among the Top
100. The dealership consistently gets superior ratings
from its manufacturers, and is the exclusive Yamaha
Five-Star Service center in South Texas. Its reputation
brings flats fisherman from all over the Gulf Coast.
Gruff, old “Dutch” Youker may have preferred fishing to
selling, but he might have been pleased to know that
his heirs have built a business that, today, allows many
other anglers to enjoy the same pastime to which he
undoubtedly spent many happy hours pursuing.
