Gwen Marine – Distributor
Nanni wasn’t built in a day. With a rich history dating back to 1952, the Franco-Italian company now employs over 100 people in its offices and factory. These are the people who bring Nanni‘s business to life on a daily basis… but not only! Nanni can rely on a rich service network of agents and distributors all over the world – which you can find by consulting our interactive map.
Continuing the series of portraits and interviews with our various collaborators initiated by the exchange with our Application Service Manager, today we offer you an interview with Julien Rocher, manager of the Gwen Marine agency located in La Rochelle, to explain the inner workings of the organization between Nanni and its partners.
Who’s Gwen Marine ? A presentation of the company
What territory do you work in and how do you manage it?
At Gwen Marine in La Rochelle, we represent the Nanni brand from the north of the Vendée to the south of the Charente-Maritime, from Noirmoutier to Royan. It’s a small area, but a strategic one, as there are many shipyards there.
What is your area of expertise?
Gwen Marine will deal with everything to do with engines, including maintenance, diagnostics, repairs, installation of new engines in new boats and repowering.
Can you tell us which market you’re targeting?
As far as Nanni is concerned, we’re mainly involved in recreational boating. From time to time, we do some commercial marine work, but that’s very rare, although we do a lot of work with shipyards. We specialize in servicing engine brands to satisfy the shipyards so that the brands can easily fit their engines.
How many people work for you?
On average there are between 8 and 10 of us, half of whom work in administration.
What kind of jobs are there?
There are technician-mechanic posts, a workshop manager, a sales assistant-storekeeper for engine parts, a customer communication and work monitoring manager and an administrative assistant. And finally, there’s me, the branch manager and technical sales representative.
Collaboration with Nanni
How long has Gwen Marine been working with Nanni?
For over twelve years. When Gwen Marine bought the company from GUAY, Robert Guay had already been working with since 1993. Then, towards the end of 2021, Nanni came to us with an offer to restructure the area and become a distributor. Since then, we’ve been working together, with Thomas Mansuy in sales, Julien Bouwyn in spare parts and the after-sales service as our main contacts.
How is the partnership with Nanni organized?
Our partnership is built on a day-to-day, case-by-case basis. The most important thing is to have a good relationship with the teams so that we can work together to satisfy the end customer. And so far, our collaboration is bearing fruit.
How do you organize your work with the agents in the Nanni service network?
We set up a network by dividing up the area and trying to spread them out to concentrate the requests.
What do you think of the NSP in terms of the way you organise your work? Has it changed the way you work?
As the main contact point for users of Nanni engines, we expect the NSP to be equally effective for BtoB and BtoC relationships. Today, this new support has a good foundation & still needs to be nurtured like any new support to bring nothing but happiness in the future. It’s simple and intuitive, and we can’t wait to see the final version.
What level of training did you receive at Nanni? What do you think of this type of training?
I started Level 1 and I don’t even think I’ve finished it yet! That said, I’m not a mechanic by training, I’m more of a salesman. But two of my colleagues, a workshop manager and a mechanic, have taken the courses up to Level 3. They found it very interesting and well done.
What do you like most about working with Nanni from a professional point of view?
The very good general understanding with the various departments at Nanni where everyone is easily accessible to us and very often answers our questions. The most important thing for me is the human aspect.
Business and development
What are your communication and sales strategies?
Gwen Marine‘s reputation has grown because we try to provide technical, meticulous, quality work that keeps people coming back by word of mouth, and that’s our main strategy for building brand awareness. We try to be as reactive as possible when there are breakdowns and know where to prioritise. But we don’t really have a strategy via social networks or a website. It’s a real problem for our group, but it affects a lot of companies in the marine sector.
Our biggest communication tool is our presence at boat shows, such as the Grand Pavois, which we attend in partnership with Nanni. This is still one of the most important events in the French nautical world and all the more important for the development of Gwen Marine in our region. It is a key communication element in the development of the brand. The rest is done naturally through our network of professionals, by visiting the boating players in our area.
How do you promote Nanni products in your area?
Personally, I concentrate on the Kubota range, from 10 to 140 hp, as this is our core market. To promote them, we talk about the torque, the higher quality warranty, and comparing to competing brands. The network of agents has grown considerably in recent years, which reassures boat sellers and users and makes it easier to integrate Nanni.
What kind of customers do you have in your area?
Generally speaking, when we’re talking about engines and spare parts, we’re talking about boat owners, other professionals who do mechanical work on boats, and construction sites when they want to install new engines. Whether it’s direct sales by us or indirect sales by Nanni, that’s where we come in. When we talk about shipyards, we’re talking about Alubat, Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon, but also smaller ones like Tofinou or AP Yachting with its magnificent wooden Solenn 27. Then, when it comes to spare parts, it’s all the owners of Nanni engines, from professionals to private individuals, there’s something for everyone.
What have been the biggest repowering projects?
N4.140 engine integration projects, where we have sold and installed NUC-standard engines with Chantier de l’Arsenal.
What could or will be the main areas of development and evolution for Gwen Marine over the next few years?
Only time will tell, but we will continue to work in our market, reassuring yachting professionals and users as long as we have the necessary tools. Our focus is on shipyards, helping them to solve any problems as quickly as possible.
