Located In The Center Of The Nation, Junction City’s New Horizons RV Is Positioned to Deliver On The RV Trend
18 Sep 2020
Recreational vehicles sales — especially of towable fifth-wheel trailers — are surging with the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions after initially lagging earlier in the pandemic. People are eager to travel, but still wary of hotels, airplanes, and restaurants. RVs provide the perfect solution that can even take remote working to a whole new level.
“We didn’t anticipate this turn being as strong as it has been,” RV Industry Association President, Craig Kirby, told Reuters. “People don’t want to fly, they don’t want to stay in a hotel. In an RV, you can cook your own meals and sleep in your own bed.”
New Horizons RV Corp. — located in the center of the nation in Junction City Kansas, “600 miles to everywhere” off of the main cross-country artery, I-70 — is uniquely positioned to deliver on this trend. “Our customers come from all over the United States and Canada,” said Bryan Tillett, CEO of New Horizons RV.
Customers gladly travel for the buying experience of an exceptional product. Every RV is custom-designed and handcrafted to individual specifications in their 40,000-square-foot facility before being handed over factory-direct to the customer. Tillett explains that many customers learn about New Horizons RV from the two or three national RV shows they attend each year, but “the internet is where they really get most of their knowledge about New Horizons and do their research.”
New Horizons RVs are not sold through dealers. “Ordering the highest rated custom fifth-wheel in the world can be very complex,” said Tillett. “Our customers design their floorplans, choose amenities that are important to their specific wants and needs, interior décor and furniture. This would not work at all if we were to have a dealer in the middle of the process. Our customers love the personal attention they receive during the entire process from inception to delivery.”
“With today’s technology, many of our customers work with our product specialists to design and build their coach without coming to the factory until it’s time for their delivery and orientation,” said Tillett. “We do require that they come to Junction City, KS for their orientation which takes a minimum of two days and usually up to a week.”
In addition to RV shows where customers can become acquainted with their products, New Horizons also has an ambassador program where satisfied customers become representatives to spread the New Horizons story. These ambassadors live throughout the United States and Canada; their locations are listed on the website.
“You have to be invited to become an ambassador and have a desire to promote our company in a positive light,” said Tillett. “Kindness is the most important virtue of our ambassadors. If someone calls in wanting to see a New Horizons, but they don’t want to come to Kansas, we can usually get them in contact with an ambassador who is fairly close to them. After their meeting, our ambassador contacts us with the prospect’s desires and interest so that our product specialist can reach out to them to learn more about them. Once a year we host our ‘New Horizons Ambassador Days’ to teach our ambassadors more about our company, what’s new, and learn from them as well.”
New Horizons RV employs about 50 people and was not unaffected by COVID-19 restrictions. Production was shut down for nearly six weeks pushing back customer deliveries. Effects of supply chain disruption are still being felt, but Tillet said, “orders are back to business as usual.”
Not all changes brought about by the pandemic were unfavorable. In September, when Hershey, PA had to cancel “America’s Largest RV Show” for 2020, New Horizons decided to conduct their own “Hershey Bite-Sized RV Show.” Tillett said they scheduled “more appointments for the Bite-Sized private showing than we usually get at the regular Hershey show.” Tillett said, “I believe this format may serve us and our prospects well as it will allow for much more personal one-on-one time.”
“We are excited for the next year at New Horizons RV,” said Tillett. “For the next 12 months we are focusing on our customer service department with a new addition being constructed this fall.”
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