Powersports Business
Study: Consumers expect online reply in 30 minutes
June 2013
Pied Piper releases first Internet study in five years In addition to the annual Prospect Satisfaction Index ratings, Pied Piper Management Company, LLC, also released its first Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) study since 2008. For that, the company tested 19 different criteria, related to which dealerships responded to online inquires within 24 hours. “The way we approach this is exercise the same way the customer would approach this,” Pied ...
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Powersports Business
Harley Dealers Rank Highest in PSI Study
May 2013
Pied Piper changes scoring system, and H-D stores remain on top As a group, Harley-Davidson dealers excel at handling prospective customers. For the second year in a row, they topped Pied Piper Management Company, LLC's Prospect Satisfaction Index, with a score of 111. And they did so despite Pied Piper changing the scoring system. Since the inception of PSI in 2007, Pied Piper has measured 57 variables when grading dealerships. Though the ...
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PowerSports Business
Harley-Davidson dealers top PSI scores for second year in a row
May 2013
Harley-Davidson dealerships received the highest score in the 2013 Pied Piper Satisfaction Index (PSI) released this week. However, Suzuki dealers ranked No. 1 in the PSI-Internet Lead Effectiveness study. Look for more on the PSI results in the May 27 issue of Powersports Business. The following is the news release from Pied Piper Management Company, LLC: Harley-Davidson dealerships were top-ranked in the newly released 2013 Pied Piper Prospect ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Turning those lookers and shoppers into buyers
January 2013
Turning all those lookers and shoppers into buyers is, in retail, the “holy grail” of topics. We send our managers and sales folks to workshops and seminars looking for answers. We test the waters, view the landscape, and hope that just over the horizon is the Promised Land, the mother lode. Retail gurus who enlighten the sales process in ways that ensure success are far and few between, if they exist at all. That's not to say there's no one out ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Remember “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda?”
January 2013
The big news from this year's Long Beach motorcycle show is not what happened, but what might happen. First though, remember the Honda motorcycle ad, “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda?” Believe it or not, 2013 marks fifty years since that ad helped mainstream America notice — and buy — motorcycles in the 1960s. Back to the Long Beach show … At last year's show, Honda released the CBR250, a sub-$4,000 model aimed at driving new buyers into ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Why I Still Love Powersports
December 2012
I count myself as one pretty lucky fellow. I have the great fortune to be able to meet and talk to a lot of wonderful people. I get to interact with dealers from all over the country, share information and ideas and pass it all on to others that can use it. Sharing ideas and mentoring others is something to embrace, and I relish the responsibility. I was really struck by this during a couple of impromptu dealer visits a few weeks ago. These ...
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Powersports Business Blog
The Basic Stuff
October 2012
I was in a dealership the other day conversing with a few of the team leaders. The discussion was centered on what was (and what was not!) happening in their sales department. “Let's focus on which policies and procedures are being used in the department,” I said. “Great,” was the answer back from most everybody — except I did notice a “Why are you wasting my time?” look from one of the team leaders. “Let's start with some of the basics,” I said, ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Harness anticipation to boost customer satisfaction and profitability
August 2012
Matt Appleman runs a very small custom bicycle shop in Minneapolis, specializing in hand-built carbon-fiber bicycle frames. Matt's business may be small, but he has adopted an important sales tool — anticipation — that you can apply at your dealership too. Matt describes how he builds bicycles like this: “Upon approval of the design, the fun starts for me, and the anticipation begins for you! As the frame is being built, I'll keep you up to date ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Do today's motorcycles provide an opportunity to sell more extended warranties?
July 2012
Stop and consider how much new technology is appearing on today's motorcycles. You know all about ABS brakes, maybe you have even ridden a motorcycle with traction control, but what about bikes with electronic suspension adjustment or a computer screen instead of separate instruments? Or ride by wire, or electronic quick-shift, or a plug-in GPS module to data-log laps around a racetrack? There are motorcycles for sale right now that offer all of ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Who has it worse than rejected motorcycle salespeople?
June 2012
We know that the typical motorcycle salesperson has to ask for the sale seven times to hear a customer say yes. What if there was a salesperson who had to ask for the sale 50 times to hear his first yes? Meet Jose Jiminez, who for the past year has manned a Southwest Airlines cart in the Ontario, Calif., airport, encouraging travelers to signup for a Southwest Airlines Visa card. Jiminez is not only a salesperson, but is one who can't let ...
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