Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse.” What about your customers? Do you call your customers to ask them about their sales experience in your dealership? If so, good for you, since the very act of following-up with customers will sell incremental motorcycles. Read more >>
Is that a leading question or what? What I am leading to is LED lighting. LED is quickly on track to becoming more affordable and easier to purchase. LED lighting for many powersport retailers could help cut long-term costs. Many dealerships were designed with a high concentration of track lighting (accent lighting). Incandescent track lights are expensive to run, very hot (hard to adjust heads without a special glove) and they burn out, often leaving lots of dead lighting. Read more >>
From a dealer perspective, it’s very easy right now to get down on scooters as a viable profit center. Inventories are likely higher than what’s comfortable. Their lower cost means less potential profit, or as one dealer put it recently, “How many scooters equal one Goldwing?” And to add to all that, there’s now a nasty statistic that details the retailing of scooters. That number? Fifty-nine percent. That’s the percentage decrease in retail sales of scooters from Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reporting members in 2009 compared to a year ago. Read more >>
Scenario (based upon a real customer service call center report) – A man visits a dealership with the intent of purchasing a motorcycle. He has been saving so that he can purchase the bike with cash. But from the moment he walks into the dealership, he feels judged. He gets the impression the salesperson that approaches him does not treat him as a serious potential buyer. In fact, the salesperson talks a lot about financing, and how much more difficult the loan approval process has been for the past year or so. The customer never once suggested a need for financing. In fact, the customer had already decided which motorcycle he wanted to buy and stood ready to purchase that motorcycle that day. He ended up, however, feeling so offended by the salesperson’s conduct that he chose to go home instead. Luckily, the salesperson had entered the potential customer’s information into the store’s CRM system. The dealership employed a third-party call center that called the person within 15 minutes of his departure from the dealership. This gave the customer the opportunity to vent his frustration with the salesperson. It also gave the call center the ability to quickly inform the dealership’s sales manager of what transpired. Read more >>
As the preowned market continues to grow, rider fitment becomes increasingly important. Tom Rudd with Kuryakyn refers to this opportunity as “TSI.” Tall, short and in-between riders trading bikes create a real need to address fitment. Simply put, if they don’t feel comfortable, they won’t buy. Read more >>
If you’re trying to move noncurrent major unit inventory, do you discount it, or add value to it? Of course, you can try both, but what’s really going to move the needle in terms of consumer behavior? Read more >>
I have never in my travels found a dealer who does not have some old product in stock, hanging on the wall or a shelf that refuses to be sold. More than likely, it’s some special order that was rejected, never picked up, possibly not paid for and only fits an obsolete model or someone’s specific taste. Read more >>
The phrase “flat is the new up” was commonly used to describe industry sales in 2009. Unfortunately for the motorcycle industry, no manufacturer hit the “new up” when it came to new unit sales. The company that came closest, however, may surprise you. Read more >>
There’s a recipe for success when it comes to planning and creating a successful marketing campaign. In fact, there are four critical components to every marketing initiative: No. 1 is your marketing message; No. 2 is targeting the right audience; No. 3 is using the right media method; and No. 4 is it hitting at just the right time. In this blog, I’ll delve a little deeper into the first part: Your message. Read more >>
At your dealership the workday begins with thousands of customers who already know your dealership, already know your products and are without question the most likely source for new sales at your dealership. Yet, these customers will tell you that it’s very unusual for them to ever hear from one of your salespeople. Read more >>
