Powersports Business Blog
You Really Don't Want to Buy that Brand
July 2009
A motorcycle buyer arrives at a dealership interested in buying a certain motorcycle, but when he speaks with a salesperson, the salesperson mentions advantages of another brand instead, in the end convincing the shopper to buy a different motorcycle. How often does this scenario happen? How often does a shopper asking about a Honda CBR ride off the lot on a GSXR, or vice versa? The facts say that industry-wide, salespeople try to push 13 ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Offering Test Rides - Is it Worth the Effort?
June 2009
Fact one: Today when a motorcycle shopper walks through the door of a dealership, 77% of the time there will be no mention at all of the possibility of a test ride. Fact two: Motorcycle dealerships which offer test rides to prospects at least three-quarters of the time retail on average 43% more motorcycles than those who do not. Few dispute the fact that test rides sell motorcycles, so why do so few dealerships figure out how to offer test ...
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PowerSports Business
Survey: Retail sales practices improving for most brands
May 2009
Compared to last year, the motorcycle sales department staff is more likely to introduce themselves to clients and ask follow-up questions, not to mention encourage consumers to sit on a bike. However, they are less likely to inform the consumer about financing options, discuss the bike's unique features and how those compare to the competition, and less likely to provide visual aids, like brochures. Those are some of the key findings from a ...
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Powersports Business Blog
What Can Today's Shoppers Learn from Your Salespeople?
May 2009
Many shoppers today walk through the door of a dealership armed with enough product information from the internet to give a product "walk-around" themselves. The question is, "What can today's shoppers learn from your salespeople?" We know that the most successful salespeople are seen by the shoppers as helpful, rather than simply trying to sell a motorcycle without regard for the shopper's interests or needs. But if all a salesperson knows about ...
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Powersports Business Blog
Retaining Your Customers - Assembly Required
April 2009
Remember when you were a kid and built model cars or airplanes? You spent hours carefully assembling your models, but then placed them on a shelf and didn't pay much attention to them afterward. Building the models was the part that was fun. Now consider an important ingredient to Harley-Davidson's survival thirty years ago: If you wanted to ride a Harley back then, you also had to regularly repair it, or even better, replace parts prone to ...
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PowerSports Business
Irrevocable evidence for dealers: Driving PSI paying off
April 2009
“There is now irrevocable evidence that there is a link between scoring high on PSIs and developing your business,” said Ducati North America (DNA) CEO Michael Lock. “You don't develop the business because you score high on PSI, you develop the business because you're running the business properly” on which the PSI is one measuring tool. DNA dealers who consistently fared well in a retail sales practice survey called the Pied Piper Prospect ...
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PowerSports Business
Into the great E-mail abyss
February 2009
According to a 2008 survey, motorcycle dealers respond to a consumer's e-mail inquiry within 24 hours only 30 percent of the time, according to a national benchmarking study that examines the effectiveness of the motorcycle industry's sales force. The survey of more than 800 dealerships, called the Prospect Satisfaction Index by Pied Piper Management Co., shows the motorcycle industry well behind the auto industry in this effort. The auto ...
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Powersports Business
The truth behind Mr. Customer Service salesperson
December 2008
As the old saying goes, “You don't know what you don't know,” and along those same lines you can't see what you can't see. An external, fresh prospective of the actual experience you're providing to your prospects gives you the ability to uncover what you're unaware of that could be costing you sales. This is where Pied Piper's Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) Evaluations come in. I've used the data from these evaluations as the basis for many ...
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Dealership P.R.O.
Pied Piper Leads the Way
September 2008
From Dealership University’s perspective, it’s difficult to solve problems if you aren’t aware you have any. That’s where Fran O’Hagan, owner and founder of Pied Piper Management Company, comes in. The five year old company has created independent industry-wide benchmarking based on real shopper intercept research, industry and trans-industry comparisons that allow dealers and manufacturers to identify strengths and weaknesses and improve their ...
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PowerSports Business
Ducati North America sales hit an all-time high
July 2008
CEO Michael Lock credits the company’s model lineup transformation and dealer improvements for the record sales increase. [Ducati North America introduced Pied Piper PSI to their entire dealer body in fall 2007.]
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