CCI AND TINUS MARINE – KEEPING FAMILY FUN AFLOAT IN WISCONSIN
Oconomowoc Lake is more than 800 acres of fishing and fun. The lake’s crystal-clear waters attract families from Milwaukee, Chicago, and beyond. For more than 70 years, Tinus Marine has been serving the boaters visiting the lake, offering a wide variety of new and used watercraft as well as offering rentals and repairs in their service department.
The boats get a lot of heavy use and can suffer a lot of damage. “In most cases, it is small tears in the vinyl. It is created by dogs or the owners…,” says Mark Schimmelpfennig, Sales Manager of Tinus Marine. “On a lot of the inboard boats, it might be a fin on a water ski or wakeboard that creates the cut in the vinyl.”
During the past five years, when Schimmelpfennig has a rental that needs a repair or a used boat to put on the sales floor he turns to Creative Colors International.
“When we have a problem, I call Matt O’Neil with Creative Colors. He is the miracle worker,” says Mark. “He can make something ugly look pretty doggone good in short order.”
Matt O’Neil is a Milwaukee-based service technician. He’s been a part of the CCI family for 16 years now, and in those years he’s developed a reputation as the “go to guy” for boat repairs.
The vast majority of the work Matt does for Tinus Marine is small tears in vinyl surfaces. The repairs may be small, but the savings are huge. “For a basic cushion replacement, if you were going to replace the skin itself, it may cost $200-$300 just to replace one skin,” Schimmelpfennig explains. “If it’s a few small tears, Creative Colors’ charge may be only $75-$100. I would say you are saving well over 50 percent on a particular cushion, and in some cases, more than that.”
A big part of the bottom line is the sale of used equipment. That’s where Matt’s skill and CCI’s process really works in Tinus Marine’s favor. “We’ll have CCI fix areas of the boat before we take photos and display them on the website, so we can make it more appealing to our customers. “Mobility is another cost-saving factor. “We don’t have the time to run things around to other locations,” says Mark. “We line up the jobs that need work, and he gets everything done within a few hours.”
Tinus Marine prides themselves on their customer-oriented, family-owned business. They’re happy to praise their friendly and knowledgeable staff — and those are the same qualities they look for in a service vendor. Mark Schimmelpfennig believes they have found that in Matt O’Neil and Creative Colors International.
“He is a very personable guy. We shoot the breeze about common interests while he works. We really appreciate what CCI does and that they are mobile in that they come to us. That is a huge savings for us, not only in money but time. Matt is just a phenomenal guy.”
If you’d like to check out more of our marine work, learn more here – https://wecanfixthat.com/industries/marine.
If you’d like to learn more about what CCI can do for your business., give us a call at 800-933-2656 or request a quote directly at https://www.wecanfixthat.com/request-a-quote/.
