We asked — now it’s our turn to respond
Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013
Earlier this winter — once the boat was put away — Jerry decided it would be a good idea to ask our readers for their input. He introduced his survey by saying that he hates surveys because every company does them these days and because they use forced responses that can be easily tabulated by a computer but don’t offer much insight into the minds of the customers (if they respond at all).
So Jerry asked open-ended questions and received open-ended responses . . . sometimes several pages from a single subscriber! Almost every response was thoughtfully written and just as thoughtfully received. More than 325 readers spent quite a bit of their time telling us what was on their minds and clicked “send.” Over a period of about three weeks, Jerry and I reviewed every one, spending an hour or two most mornings going through approximately 15 or 20 surveys at a time.
We’ve been spending time this winter since then discussing the ideas our readers presented. Some we dismissed because we’ve tried that already and some we discussed and abandoned as impractical for a small organization like ours. But some of the suggestions were really new to us and offered some truly outside-the-box thinking. You’ll never get this sort of input unless you ask. You certainly won’t get it on a computerized survey.
We got the usual mixed messages. Our readers want us to cover larger boats. Our readers want us to cover smaller boats. We should have more boat reviews. We should have fewer boat reviews. Our technical articles should be more detailed and extensive. We need to offer lighter fare for those who are new to sailing and sailboat ownership.
Some readers think we focus too much on the East Coast or the Great lakes, others that we have too few authors from Texas (come on, Texas sailors, where are you?). Some on the East Coast think we operate out of somewhere “out west in flyover country.”
We often heard exactly what we should do for each reader from his unique perspective: more on his kind of boat or the boat he’s considering for purchase, more about his part of the country, more about the sort of sailing or racing or cruising or gunkholing that he likes to do, more about the particular fix he’s working on right now or the problem he’s facing on his boat.
David K. wrote humorously along these lines: “Now, if you want my critique:
“Every issue should have a review of the exact boats I am considering purchasing.
“Every issue should have an article relating to the exact problem I’m having with my boat.
“Every issue should have a solution to the problem I’m having with my boat, at that precise time, and the solution should either be fixable at no cost or you should provide an answer to finding someone who will fix it for free.
“You need articles of how to invite people aboard for a sail and ensure weather conditions will be ideal that day, even if the invitation is months ahead.
“You need an article on magical incantations that prevent ‘s%*t happens’ from ever occurring.”
He finishes with “I don’t think I’m asking too much. Do you?”
Certainly not. This is exactly what we’re trying to achieve with every issue.
“Your magazine is our magazine,” another reader told us, and there lies the truth of the matter. A nice little company begun by a sailing couple and operated out of their home has, in truth, well over 10,000 stakeholders! We realized this long ago as the magazine morphed from what we had in mind when we founded it into something molded by its readers. We realize it each time we talk to readers at boat shows, on the phone, or through email. We realize it when we ask for their opinions and many take a considerable chunk of their time to tell us exactly what’s on their minds.
So stakeholders, we thank you every one for the very special role you play in the content of this magazine and the direction our business is moving as we look ahead to the future.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
