A customer walks through your dealership’s doors and asks the closest salesperson if they carry a Suzuki GSX-R. The sales person continues with whatever they’re doing without so much as a hello. While this scenario would seem highly unlikely in a traditional brick and mortar store, it happens on average 53 percent of the time online, according to ARI. Read more >>
I hate to give away news you’ll soon see in Powersports Business, but this occasion merits it. For the first time since I can remember, the same store sales data that we publish courtesy of our friends at ADP Lightspeed shows some legitimate reason for optimism. The bottom of this dreadful run is behind us. Read more >>
While I’m personally not ready for the bitter cold the Farmers’ Almanac is predicting in the central part of the country, I am ready to hit some freshly groomed trails in various states, including participating in the 2010 MS Tour in Northern Wisconsin. It’s evident others are getting the snowmobile itch as well.
If you’re at all hopeful Congress will somehow lessen the impact of the lead law on your dealership, then it’s time you heed this reality: “The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.” That’s a statement found on http://www.govtrack.us/, a terrific, nonpartisan Web site that tracks ongoing legislation. And the statement is particularly important in regard to the Congressional reaction to the impact of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), a law that effectively banned youth-designed ATVs and motorcycles earlier this year. Read more >>
I’m not sure there could be a better characterization of a dealership than how Don Lemelin describes his. Lemelin was recently part of the “Dealer Solutions” panel at the Powersports Business Conference & Expo, a gathering of more than 350 industry people in Indianapolis. The event was geared at improving dealers’ profitability in all of their essential profit centers. But it also was a chance to get dealers in front of their peers to discuss initiatives they have tried within the past year to drive business in a crummy economy as well talk about cost-cutting measures. Read more >>
In my experience, most dealerships are incorporated. The primary reason to incorporate is to have the protection of limited liability. That means the corporation, not its individual shareholders, is liable for the company’s debts and other actions (except when, on a bank loan for example, the shareholders sign personal guarantees). Plaintiffs constantly seek ways to hold the individual owners, rather than the corporation, liable for corporate debts and other liabilities, personal injury accident, for example. A popular way of doing this is to try to “pierce the corporate veil.” When a plaintiff is successful in doing this, the shareholders (or in some cases officers, directors and employees) are individually liable for the corporation’s acts. Read more >>
We’re in a new era and a new economy. As I’ve previously written, the industrial age is behind us and the information age is here. We’re also in a place where customers have more choices and resources than ever, which in turn give them more power. This vast increase in customer resources also has brought about more competition, distractions and clutter than ever before. This further illustrates the need to stand out from the crowd and present yourself and your dealership in a unique way to your specific target audience with the right message, via the right media, at just the right time. Read more >>
