Jeremy Johnson: Empowering The RV Industry With Software Solutions

As Lightspeed’s Associate Director of OEM Business Development, Jeremy Johnson is dedicated to building relationships in the RV sector and promoting Lightspeed’s technology solutions. 

Throughout Jeremy’s career, he has focused on technology. “My career began in January of 2000, when I started at 50 Below’s Sales and Marketing, which was selling websites to dealers including Honda, Kawasaki, and Polaris Industries.  So, I started calling dealers and selling websites.”

At the time, websites were a new concept to most of 50 Below’s clients. “Back in 2000, I was selling to people that had no idea what a website was, for the most part,” he recalls. “I sold many dealers their first websites, and I helped them register their first domain name.”

Jeremy gained valuable hands-on experience working with Polaris— conducting outbound sales and enhancing their dealers’ websites— before later taking on managerial-focused roles within 50 Below, which provided valuable experience for his career path. “I transitioned more into retaining our current customers and managing our retention teams,” he reflects. “And then I shifted my focus full-time on OEM program management, which means I worked to get endorsement of our products with manufacturers, received invites to dealer meetings, and sought out co-op opportunities. It was the beginning of what I'm still doing today.”

Eventually, 50 Below was purchased by ARI Network Services. For Jeremy, however, his day-to-day remained largely unchanged. “I had a new company name, but my title and responsibilities stayed the same,” he explained. 

After 19 years with ARI Network Services, Jeremy later became employed at Digital Marketing Solutions, a startup that developed a website trade evaluation conversion tool , Trade Cycle, which increases customer engagement and generates more trade-in leads for the powersports, RV, and marine dealers. He then briefly moved into the automotive space, where he directed sales and business development for RideStyler (a wheel and tire visualizer), before becoming employed at Lightspeed. 

“I was in Las Vegas at the SEMA Show when I got a call from Lightspeed, who was looking at expanding their business development,” Jeremy recalls. “They were calling me for a referral. As it turns out, I referred myself!”

 Now, three and a half years later, Jeremy works closely with RV dealers and manufacturers to help provide technology solutions. On Lightspeed’s team, Jeremy is dedicated to the RV and trailer industries, while other members of his team focus on the marine, powersports, and the golf industries. 

“Lightspeed's been around for over 40 years,” he says. “We’re probably one of the first dealer management systems out there as a whole. Lightspeed began with a focus in powersports before expanding into the marine industry and, within the last several years, has started working more extensively within the RV sector. We are a market leader for dealer management systems for the powersports and marine industries, and we want to become the same in the RV industry as well.”

In his role as Lightspeed’s Associate Director of OEM Business Development, Jeremy focuses on working with RV manufacturers and dealers, providing them with integration opportunities through Lightspeed’s Dealer Management System software. 

“We have a Dealer Management System used by dealers. They’ll make sales and input the information in our system,” Jeremy explains. “Oftentimes they have to get a lot of this information in or out of manufacturer portals. Lightspeed’s Dealer Management System talks with their portal, cutting down on all the tasks with manual entry so dealers won’t have to redo it more than once.”

For example, he says, when a dealer buys a unit from a manufacturer to sell on their own lot, they receive a purchase order, which includes numerous lines of information (VIN, year, make model interior color, exterior color, axles, cost, etc.). “This is a lot of manual input they have to do,” says Jeremy.

Lightspeed’s Dealer Management System allows the dealer to obtain the information directly from the manufacturer. “Now, a dealer can go into the Dealer Management System and grab that list of information directly from the manufacturer,” Jeremy explains. “They may have to edit a couple of fields and add it to their inventory, then they hit save, and it's done. So, something that probably took them 5-10 minutes in the past is going to take them 30 to 60 seconds.”

“We're really trying to push technology with the RV industry,” he says. “We're seeing a shift in both mindset and ownership — businesses are looking for technology to help them streamline operations and drive growth.” 

Another example of Lightspeed’s technology is their recently-unveiled extensive VIN decoding support for units from Forest River, Jayco, Highland Ridge RV, Entegra Coach, Starcraft, Venture RV, Alliance RV, Brinkley RV and KZ RV. This means that dealers who have Lightspeed can use the VIN numbers from those manufacturers’ units to pre-populate accurate unit details across inventory, parts, service, and warranty workflows. This reduces manual entry, eliminates data errors, and streamlines operations from sales to service. 

Additionally, Lightspeed recently worked with Alliance RV to launch parts pricing, meaning that Alliance RV dealers using Lightspeed’s platform will now have instant access to up-to-date parts pricing when adding items to parts orders or repair orders. This enhances operations and improves pricing accuracy, which is especially important amid shifting tariffs and supply chain conditions.

“Lightspeed is really trying to continue our momentum,” says Jeremy.  “And the technology we’re sharing with the RV industry is similar to what we’ve shared with companies in the powersports industry, like Polaris, BRP, Honda, and Yamaha. The RV industry can use Lightspeed’s same technology,” Jeremy explains. “It’s the same reason why, for example, many people today use smartphones instead of flip phones. The improved technology just makes our lives easier.”

Even as Jeremy embraces technology, he also champions outdoor recreation in both his personal and professional life. “I love the outdoors. My wife and I live in Duluth, MN, and she works for Lightspeed as well. We have two children who are active in sports, and living in northern Minnesota means there’s opportunities for hunting, fishing, and camping, too. I like to get out and enjoy the outdoors as much as I’m able. I have a busy work schedule with travel, but we include the outdoors where we can!”

Jeremy's dedication to the RV industry has sparked a deep involvement across the sector. He is a member of the RV Dealers Association’s Convention and Expo Committee. Additionally, he is connected with the RV industry’s trade press; most recently, he participated in a webinar with RVBusiness to discuss the latest developments with Lightspeed’s Dealer Management System. 

Jeremy is extensively involved with the RV Industry Association. “As Lightspeed’s ‘face of RVing,’ I want to become involved with the RV industry as much as possible, because I really think the RV Industry Association’s efforts help Lightspeed’s  customers: the dealerships using our product.”

He highly values the Association’s RVs Move America Week, which he attended earlier this year (his second year at the event). “Without advocating for and protecting the RV industry, there would be fewer places for people to camp and be active outdoors, as well as fewer dealerships. That’s not good for anybody,” he explains. “So, strength in numbers is great, as is working with the legislators. Being there, having a voice, and having people attend from so many different states is definitely helpful when sharing our legislative priorities.”

He also participated in the RV Industry Association’s Leadership Conference, which occurred during March in Phoenix, AZ.  Lightspeed sponsored one of the event’s keynote speakers, Chris Duffy.

Along with attending the RV Industry Association’s events, Jeremy is a member of the Market Information Committee, which assists Association staff in supporting the gathering, analyzing, publishing, and distributing of wholesale RV shipment trend data. 

As part of his mission to continue forging connections with the RV industry, Jeremy recently visited Elkhart, IN, the RV Capital of the World. “I had meetings with four different manufacturers,” he recalls. “We also went and toured the RV Technical Institute, where we met with Executive Director Curtis Hemmeler and other staff.”

Looking ahead, Jeremy anticipates that Lightspeed will continue to focus on dealer management system technology advancements and develop new ways to streamline technology within the RV industry. This includes the digitization of pre-delivery inspection forms, major unit receiving, and streamlining unit registration through Lightspeed’s platform.

Additionally, Jeremy plans to continue promoting Lightspeed’s brand across the RV industry by networking and developing key relationships. In part, this will entail attending RV shows, such as Open House and the RV Dealers Association Convention/Expo. Jeremy also intends to participate in relevant webinars, including an upcoming webinar with Garry Enyart, the retired Executive at Cummins and Onan Generators and a Past Chairman of the RV Industry Association, where they’ll discuss repair-event cycle time. 

“We’re so committed to the RV sector,” Jeremy concludes. “We definitely want to be part of the overall RV community— not on the sidelines. And I think working with the RV Industry Association is one of the best things that we've done. We feel it's important to get our voice out there and be involved with Association initiatives. We’re in lockstep with the RV industry.”