Senior Marine Sales & Market Development Executive

Senior Marine Sales & Market Development Executive

Shreveport, United States | Posted on 09/29/2026

"The right human to help us with that opportunity."

RAYMOND KIDD, THE VHS CONVERSATION

Raymond and Kevin Kidd have spent twelve and a half years building the dealership into what Raymond calls a pillar of the marine community, with service and sales customers coming from 300 to 500 miles away. The work is premium and the buyers are serious. The week of The VHS Conversation, the shop sold a $162,000 bass boat to a customer on their second boat from the shop, and the boat they traded in was one they had bought used from the dealership 18 months earlier.

What the shop does not have is a dedicated seller whose job is to get out of the building and into the rooms where buyers already are. The client recruiting brief sets the business goal as growing annual revenue from roughly $8 to $10 million to $14 million [CONFIRM: figure is from the written brief, not The VHS Conversation]. This hire is how that growth happens without giving up the relationship-first reputation the Kidd brothers built.

THE MISSION

In the first twelve months, become one of the public faces of the dealership across Shreveport-Bossier and build a book of buyers who come back, trade up, and send their friends. Raymond put the standard plainly: "As long as we're getting in front of the right people, I'm all about it." That means working the Thursday breakfast group, the boat shows, the lake, and the Monday service intake, talking boats and fishing rather than price, and owning every customer long after delivery day. Done right, the business starts to look the way Raymond described it: "So once you get your book of business, I'm not gonna say it's recurring, but it's pretty close."

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

• Build a written 30, 60, and 90 day market-development plan within the first 30 days, naming the specific people, organizations, and events (including Raymond's Thursday business breakfast group and boat shows) that will produce qualified buyers, measured by owner sign-off on the plan.
• Get in front of the right people every week, establishing a consistent prospecting and networking rhythm outside the dealership by day 90, measured by weekly growth in new contacts, appointments, and proposals.
• Turn Monday service intake into a sales channel, showing up for the weekly intake of roughly 17 boaters from the first week and converting existing service customers into new-boat buyers, measured by sales sourced from the service base. Raymond: "Lots of boats get sold to existing service customers."
• Close premium boat sales in the $50,000 to $250,000 range and package them with the electronics, lithium batteries, and accessories the customer actually wants, measured by units sold, gross profit, and add-on attach rate.
• Own every customer after the sale, building a book of repeat, trade-in, and referral business within 12 months, measured by repeat purchases, trade-ins, and referrals traced to the seller's own book.

FIT TRAITS

• Works the Room. Networking in this business is really, really important.
• Lives the Outdoors, Authentically. Buyers will test whether the seller truly fishes, hunts, or boats. Raymond was clear that "this is not something that's learned, you have to experience it." A candidate who would be learning the lifestyle on the job will not earn trust with this customer base.
• Sells the Product, Not the Price. The right seller is comfortable in six-figure conversations and does not let nerves show. Raymond named the need directly: "not to be intimidated by the size of some of these purchases." The conversation stays on the boat, the water, and the customer's experience.
• Owns the Customer for the Long Haul. The seller stays reachable and invested after delivery, including off-hours. Raymond described the goal as running into a customer at the lake or a restaurant and having them glad to see you: "It's such a good feeling to see a customer, go say hello to them, and they're happy to see you."
• Self-Directed and Creative. Much of this role is self-managed. The owners will point to where buyers gather and will back new ideas, but the seller builds the plan and runs it without being chased.

WHO YOU'LL WORK FOR

Raymond Kidd co-owns the dealership with his brother Kevin. Raymond grew up in Zimbabwe, came to the United States after high school, and spent eight or nine years at large dealerships before deciding he did not want to work somewhere nobody knew who was walking in the door. He started the shop in 2014 as a service-only business with a toolbox and two chairs, and he is a technician by background who still works on boats today. Both brothers are in the building every day, and no boat leaves the dealership until one of the Kidd brothers has lake tested it, which means the product a salesperson promises is the product the customer gets.

Raymond is open about his style: "I am very direct at times, sometimes a little too direct." He runs a shop where people spend more time with each other than with their own families, so, in his words, "we have to like each other." The owners belong to local clubs, go to the lake with their customers, and measure success by the moment a buyer takes delivery.

"We buy emotionally, and we justify it practically."

RAYMOND KIDD, THE VHS CONVERSATION

Requirements

• Demonstrated success in relationship-based, high-ticket sales or business development, including business you generated yourself rather than relying on walk-in traffic or company leads.
• Military equivalent: Recruiting duty (Army 79R, Marine Corps 8411, Air Force 8R000), which runs on self-generated prospecting against a monthly mission in a community the recruiter often did not grow up in. Also community relations, public affairs, and liaison billets.
• Maps to: Objectives 1, 2, 4
• Genuine, lived participation in boating, fishing, hunting, or outdoor recreation that holds up to questioning from serious outdoorsmen.
• Military equivalent: No direct equivalent. This is a lifestyle requirement, not a credential.
• Maps to: Objectives 2, 3, 5
• Composure and credibility in high-dollar conversations with business owners, executives, and professionals.
• Military equivalent: Briefing senior leaders and command staff; accountability for high-value equipment or property books; acting as the point of contact for external stakeholders.
• Maps to: Objective 4
• Either an existing network in Shreveport-Bossier or a clear, credible plan and the drive to build one quickly. See Honest Notes on this point.
• Military equivalent: A PCS move followed by building credibility in a new unit and community from zero, repeated across a career.
• Maps to: Objectives 1, 2
• Availability for flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, boat shows, and customer calls outside business hours.
• Military equivalent: Duty-driven schedules and staying reachable for the people you are responsible for.
• Maps to: Objective 5
• Disciplined follow-up and accurate record keeping in the dealership's CRM or sales system.
• Military equivalent: Maintaining counseling records, tracking systems, and status reporting that leadership relies on.
• Maps to: Objectives 2, 5
• Valid driver's license and acceptable driving record (from the client recruiting brief).
• Military equivalent: Military vehicle licensing and driving record history.
• Maps to: Objectives 2, 4
• A performance-based package with the ability for a top performer to earn $180,000 or more annually. The final package may include a draw or base component, commission on gross profit, and performance incentives. The brief states that specific compensation details will be provided to qualified candidates.