Twenty-five years ago, Benetti established its first office in the United States. That same year, the first stateside Benetti Yachtmaster event occurred, too. Created by the late chairman Paolo Vitelli, Yachtmaster brings together captains and crew along with surveyors, suppliers, and more. Although it’s an opportunity to present new designs and technology, simultaneously it’s for Benetti to learn. At the recent 25th edition of Yachtmaster in Florida, editor Diane M. Byrne sat down with Federico Ferrante, Benetti’s head of sales for the Americas. Having set up Benetti’s first U.S. office and living stateside for two decades, Ferrante shares how the cultures complement each other. He also shares how ultimately “our mission here is to represent Benetti as Benetti.”
Diane M. Byrne: Since Yachtmaster is not just for captains, I would imagine you get a lot of different feedback. Have you been able to use it to make changes over the years?
Federico Ferrante: Oh, constantly, constantly. That’s exactly the purpose. Suppliers are fundamental. So, yes, we design and build, and we are the directors of the orchestra. But there are many, many systems onboard manufactured by others. Our job it to select the best available, but there’s always room for improvement. It’s important to get feedback and understand what works, what doesn’t. It’s not really a slogan. I mean, a slogan wouldn’t last 25 years, right? Otherwise, the participants wouldn’t come anymore, and we wouldn’t do it again.
Yachtmaster was originally done only in Italy. We understood that we were missing a good chunk of a very different culture, which is the Americas. It’s the same reason why we opened a company here, because we understand that cultures are different and we need to bridge them. If you want to impose your ways on someone else, especially what we do, it’s never going to work, so you need to adapt.
And you need to give them what they like. We Italians are obsessed by beauty, by design. Italy is a large leader in many, many fields. Not all Italians are made equal, and another strong part of our mission here is to represent Benetti as Benetti, not to necessarily be confused with someone else in Italy who builds yachts. And again, being a cultural bridge, so we need to be the shortest, widest, strongest cultural bridge between our customer cultures and our shipyard, and we are the piece in between.
Diane M. Byrne: Overall, 25 years is a good amount of time to deeply understand the American customer. What are some of the biggest lessons that you and your team have learned?
Federico Ferrante: The approach a business takes toward its consumers really differs in the United States, still today, compared to Europe and even more to Italy actually. I’ve lived it in my own skin. It’s interesting to see how Europe became closer to the American way of taking care of customers, of marketing, of handling difficult situations. In the European way, yes, the customer is important, but not as much as it is here.
For instance, if you buy something in the United States and you’re not satisfied, the policy is that they give you the money back. Think about that. You’re now taking 330 million consumers, and you’re telling them that they can have their money back. Money back on purchases in Europe does not exist. The transaction is regulated by law. You can return goods to a store, they need to be in perfect, brand-new condition, and they give you a store credit. So, the merchant retains the revenue.
This to me is one of the examples which best explains the American approach to service or satisfaction. Then, when you elevate the price of the goods, you increase the expectation. You can return a basketball and get your money back because you don’t like the way it bounces. Bring that to a 35-, 40-, 50-million euro or dollar yacht. You need to make sure that he’s satisfied, he’s happy, he’s taken care of, he’s serviced. That was Paolo Vitelli’s vision. As a matter of fact, he understood that he would not have success here without that.
Diane M. Byrne: In terms of growing Benetti’s market share, bringing in first-time customers, of course, is important. Do you feel you need to deliver different messaging to them? Is the conversation more of a learning, educational experience?
Federico Ferrante: Yes, for sure it is longer, too. Our industry can be a confusing environment. You know, go to a boat show. It is difficult to navigate. You’re not an expert in the field. It’s difficult to determine if a boat is used or new. What is a brokerage? What is a new construction? How I can charter? And then you get into the specifics. What is better than what? Why should I buy this? Like in everything else, the messages need to be clear and consistent.
And at the end, this is an important purchase which takes time. Nobody goes and buys a 30-, 40-, 5- million euro or dollar yacht in a day. There will always be some sort of education, and that’s where I think reputation and stability of the organization are messages that are very structural, apart from the messages about the product. New companies may make their product shine better than yours, because that’s the only leverage they have to attract consumers. Once you start digging a little deeper, companies like ours show stability, vision, and the fact that we are the largest private group in the industry.
We have seen other leaders in the industry sell, go public, sell multiple times. Most of them belong to investment funds, where the dynamics of managing a company have different goals, different priorities. For someone who is new to the industry, this might be their first yacht, but they still circulate around the same demographic of somebody who might own one. They’re used to asking a lot of questions and they find out easily who the players are and what their characteristics are.
Diane M. Byrne: Owners want lots of different things. If you could use only one word to describe that want, what would it be?
Federico Ferrante: Good time. Okay, that’s two words. But why do you buy a yacht? Because you want to have a good time. I was talking to a customer yesterday because we’re negotiating a deal. When I called, I asked him, “Hey, am I bothering you? Where are you?” And he said, “I’m on my boat by myself and am in the best peace I could ever be.” Today we are so bombarded by communication. To him, being on his boat by himself was a good time.
Often, we try to give cool names to our boats. I like to call them family bonders. It’s something that helps to bring multiple generation of family members together. Something positive. And it’s recreational at the end. Planes are an interesting comparison. Planes give a lot of value to time, meaning they shorten the amount of time that someone needs to move from point A to point B. Once you get to point B, you can’t wait to get off. Have you ever seen someone land and say, “You know what? I’ll hang out on the plane another half an hour.” No; you’re eager to get off.
Instead, on a boat, you arrive to a destination, you drop the anchor, you might move from a sofa to a club chair so you have a better view. It’s your home. It’s your safe place. That’s why I think boats are cool and successful, because at the end it’s a home that you can move. You can move from one side of the world to the another, and it’s still your home,
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