Setting his Sails With Sales / Sell A Boat 800-819-5466

www.Boathoo.Com


Mystic -- "I've always been in sales, one way or another," Jimmy Economou said. "I really enjoy it." Economou is also a boater who enjoys salt-water deep-sea fishing, so it was natural for him to combine his passions and sell boats for a living. As a yacht broker with Mystic's Brewer Yacht Sales, one of 14 Brewer's sales offices in the Northeast, Economou has had great success and was Brewer's 2004 broker of the year. And by reaching a company-set goal, the only broker to do so, he also qualified for an incentive award, a 1200 cc Suzuki touring motorcycle. He didn't take the bike; however, he took the cash equivalent instead. "I figured at 58 I don't need a motorcycle," he said. The skills he used to earn that award were obvious to office manager Sue Gilot. "He's awesome," she said. "There's not enough nice words to say about Jimmy." As a salesman, Gilot said Economou "is very honest and forthright. He will not sugarcoat things to make you buy something." He also has a polite, plainspoken and open way with people. "Anybody in sales has got to like people," he said. He especially likes boaters. "Boating people are fun people," he said. "People are very emotional about their boats. They like them; they like to talk about them." And it's obvious that boaters like him as well, if the number of phone calls he receives is any indication. As he spoke with a guest in his office, he was interrupted numerous times by the jangling telephone. "It's mind-boggling how many calls you get in a day. But every phone call is a potential something," he said. Economou got his start in sales on dry land. "I was in the produce business for many years," he said. After that, he was part owner of Yankee Boat Yard Marina in Portland for 14 years. The switch from marina management to sales was not difficult. "There's still plenty of hours involved, but it's different kinds of hours," he said. The challenge in sales, according to Economou, is making sure everything goes seamlessly and that any possible hitch is taken care of before it becomes a problem. "I just like the whole process," he said. "A deal is a good deal when the buyer's happy and the seller's happy." Economou said spring is normally the busy season for yacht sales, but at the time of this interview, he was still waiting for spring to be in the air instead of just on the calendar. Not many people think of boat buying when the weekends are cold, rainy and windy. But sales are "not dead. It's steady. It's okay," the award-winning salesman said.

www.Sell-A-Boat.Com


He said the fall is also a popular time for sales, as customers hope to find an owner willing to make a deal, rather than pay for winter storage. The Internet has changed yacht sales, as it has with many fields, because it makes it simple to shop all over the world. Economou said customers from around the country find him through the company's Web site, www.BrewerYacht.com, and he is able to find yachts for customers in equally far-flung locales. When he does sell a boat located in North Carolina or Florida or wherever, he goes with the customer to check out the boat first-hand. "I want to ride the boat with the client and make sure everything's OK," he said. Whether he sells his boats from Mystic or Myrtle Beach, Economou plans on continuing his record-setting pace. As for the 2005 broker of the year award, Economou said with a laugh, "I haven't figured out how I'm going to get there, but I'll get there." www.UsedBoatsForSale.Com