Recent Press - Harley-Davidson

According to Mike Kennedy, vice president of North American sales for Harley-Davidson, their 2012 first place ranking for Pied Piper PSI comes after a year of focus on improving the sales process factors measured by Pied Piper PSI.

Q: How do you ensure that all of your retail locations around the world have a coherent branded experience and stay at the top of the game?

A: We're currently focused on a journey to elevate the customer experience. … We're on a multiyear strategy, which is called ‘Retail 20/20' and it's all about delivering a personalized, compelling, premium and truly custom experience to every customer, every day, everywhere and our dealers, of course, are central to delivering that experience. Our philosophy, specifically for Retail 20/20, is to be customer-led, meaning to truly understand customer motivations and barriers—and, ultimately, planning and developing and designing products and experiences with not only customer wants and needs in mind, but their input as well. …

We have over 100 of what we call field representatives that represent the sales area, they represent the marketing area, they represent the financial insurance area, as well as the service area, and they routinely call on those dealerships and coach and council and share best practices. … And over the last year or so, the sales side of that team has been focused on what we call selling factors … things like, Did the salesperson give you a compelling reason to buy or did the sales person offer you a test ride? Did the salesperson use good visuals in the sales presentation? Did they ask you for your name? Those basic elements, and the team has been definitely focused on those elements in coaching and driving the plans with the dealers.

All but one motorcycle brand's dealers declined in their year-over-year Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) as measured in a benchmarking study by independent company, Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. Overall motorcycle industry performance declined across a majority of the sales process activities tracked by the study, which led to lower PSI scores for 13 of the 14 major brands. Only Husqvarna didn't decline, as it maintained its PSI score of 90 it had achieved in last year's study.

“What I find very interesting is that from 2009 to 2010, the industry PSI scores went up,” explains Fran O'Hagan, President and CEO of Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. “If you think about it, in that time period, the motorcycle industry was hating life, but the industry's scores went up. Why did the scores go up so much last year and then go back down this year?”

The drop, O'Hagan suggests, is likely due to staffing issues at dealerships. Throughout the recession, dealerships cut back on staffing, including in the sales department. Indeed, in a recent study conducted by Powersports Business, 50 percent of the dealership respondents suggested they reduced staff levels in 2010.

American and European motorcycle brands are very good at something the import brands are still struggling with: creating a strong brand affinity and satisfaction at the retail level.

For the second year in a row, Polaris' Victory Motorcycle brand is the top-ranking motorcycle maker in prospect satisfaction in the new Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI). Victory led the pack in areas such as providing a product walk-around demonstration, mentioning the availability of financing options, mentioning the availability of accessories, and pointing out features that are unique from the competition.

Victory Motorcycle has again earned the top spot in the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) U.S. Benchmarking Study. Victory is followed by Harley-Davidson in second place, and Ducati and Triumph, which tied for third, with BMW and Yamaha rounding out the top five spots. According to the report, all of these brands scored above the industry average.

The independent Pied Piper PSI study employed 1,967 anonymous “mystery shoppers” to visit motorcycle dealerships across the nation in order to “measure how effectively each brand's dealerships helped motorcycle shoppers become motorcycle buyers,” according to Pied Piper. The study is now in its fifth year.

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – May 2, 2011 – The Victory Motorcycle brand from Polaris Industries, Inc. maintained its top ranking in the newly released 2011 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index(R) (PSI(R)) U.S. Motorcycle Industry Benchmarking Study. Harley-Davidson finished second, while Ducati and Triumph tied for third, followed by BMW and Yamaha, all of which scored above the industry average.

2011 marked the fifth year for the independent Pied Piper PSI benchmarking study, which sent 1,967 hired anonymous “mystery shoppers” into motorcycle dealerships nationwide. The study measured how effectively each brand's dealerships helped motorcycle shoppers become motorcycle buyers.

Victory defended its top ranking despite a lower PSI score compared to the previous year. Overall motorcycle industry performance also declined across a majority of the sales process activities tracked by the study, which led to lower PSI scores for thirteen of the fourteen major motorcycle brands.

If you've ever looked forward to motorcycle shopping but wound up feeling insulted by the sales process (or the lack thereof), Pied Piper's Prospect Satisfaction Index might hold some interest. Using 2,014 anonymous mystery shoppers, the study tracks major motorcycle manufacturers and their ability to sell their brands to prospective buyers. The study's top 14 finishers can be seen in the graph above; click to enlarge.

Polaris Industries Inc.'s Victory Motorcycle brand ranked highest in the recently released Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study from Pied Piper Management Company LLC. Brands finishing just behind Victory's score of 107 and above the industry average of 103 were: Ducati and Harley-Davidson at 106, and BMW, Triumph and Yamaha at 104.

The fourth-annual Pied Piper PSI study examines how effectively a brand's dealerships help potential buyers. The Monterey, Calif., based Pied Piper Management Co. sent 2,014 anonymous “mystery shoppers” into dealerships across the country between July 2009 and April 2010. The 2010 report examined 14 brands. Brands were rated based on a number of factors to produce an overall score.

The Victory Motorcycle brand from Polaris Industries, Inc. ranked highest in the newly released 2010 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index(R) (PSI(R)) U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study, finishing ahead of Ducati, Harley-Davidson, BMW, Triumph, Yamaha and MV Augusta, all of which scored above the industry average. Now in its fourth year, the independent Pied Piper PSI study sent 2,014 hired anonymous “mystery shoppers” into motorcycle dealerships nationwide. The patent-pending PSI process accurately measures how effectively each brand's dealerships help motorcycle shoppers become motorcycle buyers.

With more than a 40 percent decline in motorcycle retail sales in 2009, every customer counts. No one knows that more than salespeople, and they've proven it with their customer service scores.

One particular area the industry excelled in compared to last year was the sales staff asking for trade-ins. This happened 42 percent more often in 2010 than the previous year. Other areas that also saw double-digit improvements were the salespeople asking about factors preventing the purchase and the salesperson discussing features unique from the competition.

Those are the findings from the 2010 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI).