NEWSLETTERIssue No. 12 | February, 2013

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I write this newsletter en route to the last 20-Club in this whirlwind round of meetings. As every dealer wants to review year-end data as soon as it’s compiled, late January to early February has me racking up a quarter of the Frequent Flyer miles of my annual accruement. Lots of time to think. Lots of time to process.

The title of this newsletter comes from a comment in one of those meetings, and it was regarding the very public offer-ing by Triumph motorcycles of their new, customer-facing,

ecommerce website. Launched on Black Friday of 2012, CEO Greg Heichelbech was giving our group some more insight to the website’s aim and success. He said it almost in passing, but the comment he made hit me like a bullet.

“We’ve got to take the business to where the customer wants to shop.”

Take that in for a minute... At first glance it sounds quite obvious, right?

Uncle Ed always said, “If you make it easier for people to buy, they simply will.” I reflect on my own online purchases, motivated completely by ease of transaction. I don’t shop on the Internet for a discount; I do it because with just a few clicks, there is a Christmas present waiting for me upon my arrival home. My wife loves the stack of brown boxes that amass near the front door until my return. Why do you think Amazon created “1-click” ordering? It’s easy. Why are credit cards so popular? Because they are easy.

Now, take Greg’s comment to another level. Making it easy to buy doesn’t mean making it easy to sell, which is where most dealerships like to live. Making it easy to buy means doing whatever it takes to, “…take the business to where the customer wants to shop.”

Let’s dissect a few places where this strategy can be em-ployed:

Garage Testimonials:“I just got home from your seminar for the Hagadone Marine Group and my wife

and I were discussing how much we liked your presentation. I am generally very criti-cal of this kind of thing, my degree is in Communications and you kind of have my dream job. Your information, enthusiasm and delivery was all spot on. I have a lot of notes that I am very excited to share with my summer staff at our first meeting and pass down my renewed sense of passion and pride for what we do. Your knowledge and experience is admirable, but your ability to communicate all of that in a way that inspires is a gift. Thanks for sharing it.”

– Cheers, Tony Parks Dockmaster, Boardwalk and Silver Beach Marinas

“BTW, the training video already helped my service manager upsell $500 more on a WO after the first video series. Thanks!”

– Brett Tekavec Owner, Buckeye Harley-Davidson

As always, please continue to give us feedback on the website and suggestions for training topics we can address: sam@samspowersportsgarage.com

Sam Dantzler

Ecommerce: This is obvious. Make my purchasing experi-ence as easy as Amazon does, including the products I looked at last, relevant items for my taste, etc., and I’m buying some-thing. I’ve done it. You all do it too.

Social Media: I think sometimes social media was made for the motorcycling community. Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest (oh yeah, I said it) give everyone the option of finding the latest rides, the best accessories to bolt on, the coolest bikes, and the inside track on the latest happenings of the consumer’s favorite brand/bike/clubs. It’s like Gossip Girl for dudes (don’t ask me how I know about this show...just move on). However, if all you’re doing is posting, “This is Bob on his new blah blah,” nobody cares! Take your business (not your latest conquests) to me, the consumer. Show me a chopped up Speed Triple or ratted out Cross Bones – now that I care about because it could possibly be mine soon. That will engage me. Don’t wait for me to come to your store to see it. Post that sh*t!

Bike Nights: Attendance at Bike Nights shouldn’t be a job requirement – your staff should be EAGER to go! Motorcy-cling is about so much more than the bike. I know a guy who

actually has a special “Why I love HD” folder on his facebook page that is a manifestation of exactly what I’m talking about here. Let’s be honest, dealership events are about hot chicks, cool kicks and everything slick. It’s about getting together, thumping our chests, show-ing off the newest timing belt cover, and telling stories. If this doesn’t sound like your Deal-ership events, go ahead, look in the mirror, outstretch your left thumb and pointer finger

and press your hand against your forehead – then go make a change.

Having restaurants host your Bike Night events encour-ages the restaurant to push for attendance, which means you

have a marketing partner! Make the “Final Bike Night” restau-rant selection hinge on which location had the most atten-dance throughout Bike Night season. I know dealerships that continue Bike Night into the winter months dubbing it “Biker Nights,” where the same crowd congregates with their cars and hot rods, talking about how cool it’ll be when the season breaks. Take the business TO THEM.

Hours of Operation: This one still amazes me. Most of our industry hours cater to the unemployed. Hmmm..., I’d wager that’s a far cry from who actually buys our product. 9-5, really? 10-6? So, pretend I’m a 30-something HVAC specialist and I finally get off work, fight traffic to get to your dealer-ship, excited about spending some time NOT fixing something for someone who is ungrateful and com-plains about my hourly rate, which I already discounted by 20%. As soon as I roll up, your sales crew is moving bikes in for the night. Awesome. What a way to rain on my parade. Do you really think I’m going to stay, yak it up, and even sit on a bike now? Do I feel wanted or welcome there? Or, do I feel disappointed, stressed out and rushed? Which state of mind is more apt to encour-age browsing and buying or a return customer?Instead, consider being open a couple of later nights per week. How about MotoCorsa in Portland who opens on every MotoGP race day just to have their customers come in “to hang out and watch the race.” I’d say that’s good for business, wouldn’t you?

F&I: Why do we wait for customers to come “into the box” before starting our F&I process? They don’t want to be there.

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They want to leave. Why don’t we take the payments and products to the floor? One dealership is utilizing his F&I managers (quite successfully) to close deals on the floor with a payment, having all F&I product sold at that time. The simple theory is why close the deal twice (once on the bike - with or without “room in the deal,” and another for F&I)? Why not make the process as painless as possible, all the while staying in control of it?

Staffing: Yes, the strategy works internally too. Why do we wait for candidates to come to us, or answer an ad on one of the staffing websites (although I’m a big fan of them)? Staffing is a chronic problem with all dealers, as retailing in general is a transient career. Recently, in a 20-Club, I pulled up a local

riding club on the overhead. There are over 100 active mem-bers in this “café racer” club, specific to the city of a particular Euro-dealer struggling with staffing. The dealer, like most, didn’t even know the club existed.

Getting involved in or familiar with the local clubs, riders groups, and chat rooms can be a great source of employees. Those people LOVE motorcycles and likely aren’t riddled with years of “sales speak” you have to break them of. Wouldn’t they make a wonderful addition to your sales force? Don’t wait for them to come into your store with an application in hand. They aren’t likely to do that. They probably currently have a job – which, NEWSFLASH, is the best kind of candidate! Besides, you could be waiting for as long as we’ve been waiting for BSA to make resurgence.

This industry doesn’t need more people in the front door. It’s not an acquisition problem. It’s a conversion and retention problem. Never forget, the definition of loyalty is when a cus-tomer will suffer an inconvenience or pay a premium to do business with you. If you’re simply a, “…store with stuff inside for sale,” you’re going to lose a lot of your customers who are being courted through other creative measures.

Take your business to where the customer is. Thanks Greg! •

Sam Dantzler

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Where’s the Sam Show?FEBRUARY 2013

5-6 Orlando, FL

7-8 St. Louis, MO

11-12 Denver, CO

16-17 Indianapolis, IN

18-19 Alexandria, LA

20-21 New Orleans, LA

25-26 Las Vegas, NV

27-28 Osh Kosh, WI

MARCH 2013

3-4 Colorado Springs, CO

10 New York, NY

11 Southampton, NY

17-18 Dover, DE

19-21 Durango, CO

Visit us online at:samspowersportsgarage.com