Bilyeu says he is an enthusiast and grew up around motorcycles. An example he gave was that his parents got him a mini bike instead of a babysitter. With that kind of background, the management at Modesto understands motorcycle people.

Both owner and general manager attribute Modesto’s success to its efforts to support the motorcycling community. Since the dealership consists of motorcyclists, they know what their customers like to do and what they expect in an event. In turn, the motorcycling community supports Modesto. The community is not monolithic, and each group expects different things from the dealership. Per online reviews, Modesto delivers to each group.  

The first community group involved with the dealership are the racers. The dealership has been involved with racing since Leonard Andres cheered on his son Brad. The Modesto dealership has supported the local facility, the Lodi Cycle Bowl, for years.

The Cycle Bowl is a quarter-mile dirt track, which opened in 1953, and has been a prime incubator for up and coming racing stars, including Kenny Roberts Sr., Chris Carr, Doug Chandler, Jim Rice and Alex Jorgenson. In years past, when money was easier to come by, Modesto H-D sponsored season champ Matt Wait and pioneer female flat tracker Michelle DiSalvo, who has been more recently wrenching for the Indian factory race team. Bilyeu also grew up racing at Lodi.

Modesto Harley-Davidson also supports vintage riders, a second community group that  supports Modesto Harley-Davidson in return.

“We rebuild Panhead and Knuckleheads,” Bilyeu says. “One of our techs, Bob White, has been working here since 1954 and does engine rebuilds. Few dealerships will work on bikes that are more than 10 years old. I don’t understand that. Someone buys a bike from you in 2014 and now you won’t work on it anymore?”

The management at Modesto understands that most vintage riders also have a modern bike to ride while trying to figure out what is going on with the Linkert carburetor, and are more likely to buy that new motorcycle — and oil, chain lube, gloves, chrome polish and drive chains — from a dealership that helps with the 1958 FLH.

One unique aspect of Modesto Harley-Davidson is the pizza parlor in the same building. The space is leased to a separate business, but there is a large window between the restaurant and the dealership. People can eat their pizza while perusing the latest Harley-Davidson models in the showroom. Some munchers finish their pizza and go talk to the sales staff about the Sportster in the corner or the trick Pan America up front. The pizza parlor is also a good place for customers to wait for their bikes to be serviced, couples to discuss the motorcycle budget, and racers to refuel after a track day. Pizza is an excellent mood improver.

The third community group involved with Modesto Harley-Davidson are party people. Food and beverages are not unique to the pizza parlor, but are also an integral part of many of Modesto’s events, which are run year round. The dealership puts on swap meets, biker breakfasts, rides to fun destinations, poker chip runs, bike nights, a fundraiser ride for veterans, and also takes part in the yearly Modesto toy run. The Modesto HOG chapter is active. It is common for people to build their social calendar around the dealership.

These events create a sense of community around the dealership and build customer loyalty. Modesto also has an extensive online presence on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Photos of events are posted, giving participants a reason to flock to social media after a ride or party to look for photos of themselves and friends. The website has links to veteran’s support organizations, the Sturgis Rally, and the Street Vibrations event.

The fourth group are women interested in riding. Harley-Davidson has been supporting women who want to ride since before World War I.

“My mom rides,” Bilyeu says. “We encourage ladies. One thing I train sales staff on – if a man and a woman walk into the dealership together – is you don’t need to sell to the man. He already wants a bike. It’s the woman you have to sell to. Make sure she is comfortable with the transaction, and that the bike has the features she wants. On the other hand, we get women in who are sneaking around their husband’s backs to buy a motorcycle.”

New riders get special attention. The dealership will deliver bikes, especially in instances where someone new to riding purchases a bike, so they don’t have to ride their bike home. Staff also gets kudos in online reviews for being patient, knowledgeable and understanding.

Modesto Harley-Davidson ensures great customer service by hiring riding enthusiasts. “We want people who are happy to be here, and we train them properly,” Bileu says. “We want our people to be a part of the culture.”

John doesn’t expect the operation to change much in the next five years. “We will keep plugging away,” he says. “There are ups and downs, and if you can’t let *** roll off your shoulders, you can’t be in this business. We are here for the people who ride.”

Mitchell’s Modesto Harley-Davidson\

500 N Carpenter Rd.
Modesto, CA 95351
(209) 522-1061
OEM: Harley-Davidson
Aftermarket: Harley-Davidson
Employees: 23

The post Get Mom and Pop Feels at Mitchell’s Modesto Harley-Davidson appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

When I was first getting used to managing a team, I searched for a lot of advice. How to motivate my staff. How to get the staff to follow my workflow. How to get them to sell more each year. Frankly, I really didn’t find a bunch of good advice out there. Most of it were snippets that had a tiny nugget of advice that I could use, but it did not help me paint the big picture.

I was tired of waiting for someone to help me, so I did it without them. I actively ignored what was the “industry” standard and instead built a model of only the best experiences I had as a customer.

But how was that going to translate to my team? Part of this is the culture of training I’ve talked about in the past here. But then it came time to actually get this knowledge into my team’s brain. I could only drone on about something for so long before even I was bored of the topic, so I focused on creating interactive ways to learn. 

I created bingo sheets, sales department package guides and Christmas shopping idea guides. I created themed sales and constantly figured out how to stay fresh and get products out there. It all came back to how I can make it easy. Easy to sell. Easy to be a customer and buy from us. Easy to scale our sales and grow our department. Easy for our team to be consistent.

None of these selling tools existed. I begged vendors, reps and brands for years for help. I would get kind words and promises that I would get support to sell someone else’s product, but it never happened. I created them myself. I spent the time learning how to create things on Canva that looked professional.

When it comes to rewards, I love creating different incentives for my team each month. Sometimes it’s based on their bingo sheets, while other times, it’s just a clean dollar stretch goal to hit. Regardless, the mindset is that each month, each year we grow. We are not a one-hit wonder that only hit that $1 million mark once (without the help of sales and service). While I love the other two departments, I don’t believe we should rely on them to hit our numbers or boost our paychecks. Instead, we should act like our own “store” and serve customers directly.

A note for brands and manufacturers if you are reading this: I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Not everyone is getting the rewards you’re giving out. That gift card that was sent to the dealership? That trip the salesperson won? Most of them are not making it to the people who are actually doing the work. They get taken by other people in the dealership instead of the person who did the hard work. We would much rather have the reward put into our names than the dealership’s name. I have heard too many stories over the years of trips and rewards getting taken by shady managers and owners. 

The worst part, if that happens over and over again, is they doesn’t want to work that hard anymore. They don’t want to hit that sales goal or sell that many units. Why would they? Their hard work keeps getting taken advantage of. I believe that Dunlop’s Pro Dealer program is one of the best at making sure the people who are selling are getting the rewards.

If you’re trying to motivate your department or company, first make sure you have clean goals with a deadline. I love tying a goal to that month. It’s easier to keep the momentum going with that timeframe than, say, a year-long goal. The year-long goal is more of a vision than a true goal.

Plan on spending the rest of that time asking how you can help. I ask my team daily what it needs help with. Sometimes it’s looking up a part number or finding a dealer that we can trade with to close the sale. Other times, it’s advice on what to say when doing a follow-up call.

It helps that I’m always willing to model the action before I ask my team to do the task. Most of us learn by mimicking anyway, and it’s also nice to know you are not asking your team to do something you can’t do. I deeply believe that if you run a department, it should be because you are the expert and not just a hire that had a good resume.

The post Does Your Dealership Rise and Fall Together? appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

We all know customers who turn selling a motorcycle into a real chore. They look at negotiation as a blood sport and take no prisoners — the people who we would rather hold a red-hot header pipe in our hand than deal with them. I call these people leeches.

They suck the enjoyment right out of the whole process. I’m not talking about those who make stupid offers — those clients can be fun; it’s all in how your sales guys handle them. I’m talking about the ones who think that if they make the same low offer with different sales people, at some point, management will finally accept the deal. The ones who ask for your “best price.” The ones who walk into the manager’s office and demand an even better price. The ones who make a deal, then continue shopping your deal at other dealerships. The ones who turn the process into one long, painful encounter.

How do you deal with clients like this? Sometimes, it’s a client who has purchased from you before and thinks he deserves special treatment because of that. Hopefully, you’ve established a rapport with him, and he’ll back down once you talk to him.

Sometimes, it’s just because he or she is not comfortable in the negotiation process. Then, it’s all about the salesperson creating a comfortable environment for the customer and working with the customer and not being antagonistic. Creating an atmosphere where that person can relax. Maybe the last dealership he or she went to was not listening? Maybe this person’s cat just died? Those people are much easier to help out.

Then, there are those who want to wrestle the deal until there is nothing left in it — for anyone. Every step of the way is a huge battle. Your salespeople become exhausted. As do the sales managers. As often do the accessories and service people who may give out quote after quote for accessories and the installation of them, because the leech keeps asking for more and different quotes.

You often get into the deal before you realize the battle it’s going to be. Then it’s too late — you’re already on the roadway to perdition. It sometimes happens that these clients are far easier to deal with the second time around, as you (hopefully) have built up some trust.

There are several ways to deal with these customers. One is to carry the battle to the bitter end. Get the deal done, and go have a cry behind the desk in the fetal position. It involves a lot of back and forth and swearing, but it gets done.

The biggest problem with these people is the time they take up. Time that your staff could use to deal with other clients that are actually reasonable, having fun and are ready to make a deal. Of course, if it’s mid-November and you haven’t had a sale in two days, then you may have the ability to spend the time.

But, if it’s mid-May and you have an avalanche of people to deal with, what’s the solution? Draw a line in the sand; tell him or her the bottom price, whatever that may be. Whether it’s been in stock for too long or it’s a hot seller, decide whether there is a deal to be had, or you want full price — tell the salesman the number, and give him or her the option to let the customer go if that person won’t pay it. 

Let them go and release them into the wild to be caught by someone else. Hopefully they will get some education and return. If they don’t, you’ve really lost nothing.

Some salespeople will deal with clients like this until the last bitter moment. It’s usually not worth it in the end. Everyone gets frustrated, and it destroys energy that you can use selling someone else a motorcycle, ATV or sled.  

Just move on to the next one … and don’t look back!

The post Rid Yourself of Leeches appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

When I got started in this industry over 10 years ago, I was terrible at selling. I was so bad that I would actually talk customers out of the sale! It was like I was trying to manage their money for them. This was super scary, because this was when my husband Ben and I owned our dealership. If I wanted a paycheck, I needed to sell.

I know I’m not that unique when it comes to running a small business, so instead of continuing to lose sales and hurt our business and paychecks, I focused on changing my money mindset.  That led me to recognize that my job as a good salesperson is to make sure I’m not putting my own limiting beliefs or assumptions on the customer. When a customer comes in, instead of trying to sell to that person, start with asking questions without a dollar figure in mind.

For example, if a customer comes in asking for an oil filter, instead of just selling him or her a $10 part, follow up with, “Are you doing a service?” Then, take the conversion from there. Most of my sales that could have started and ended at $10 turn into $300 or more just based on a few questions.

With just that one skill, you can serve customers, save them time and make more money. Plus, you get to be anchored into their mind as someone who actually cares and is trying to make their life a bit easier. No one likes to get home only to remember that they didn’t get the oil with the filter and have to drive back to the dealership.

I mentioned saving customers time. This is a huge tool that is underutilized in service and sales. Most of those low-hanging fruit sales can be captured at the intake process or by having a checklist that the staff uses to make things consistent. Customers’ time is probably more valuable than their money at this point. You want to be the person that, by asking a few questions, can find out if they need a service or have other low-hanging frustrations that they need to take care of. By doing that over and over again, you can build trust super fast, which leads to referrals.

Some people call this active listening. I just look at it as the basic requirements of doing a good job. I’m not a fan of setting low standards. Instead, I’d rather create a floor and clearly define our minimum expectations on how we take care of customers.

But you might be wondering how selling time translates into actual money. One of the best decisions our service department made was offering pickup and delivery. Yes, our department charges for it, but within a year, it became such a profitable service that we had to create a new job and have a dedicated driver for the department — all because we offer a service to make time a priority. That was over five years ago.

It also helped increase our bookings and made it so that we got service units out faster too. Instead of a customer saying, “I can’t get my machine for another week — I don’t have a trailer,” we could counter and say, “We offer pickup and delivery; its only $X.” Ninety-nine percent of the time, that little upsell made it a no-brainer for customers to say yes. It saved them time and got us paid more quickly.

That’s the point of all of this. We should expect our staff and teams to provide solutions that make it easy for people to buy from us. We should be reducing the friction in the selling process and leave people feeling taken care of and valued. They need to be able to trust that the process is going to be the same over and over again. If they buy from us a year from now, we won’t have major changes to the process — or worse, not have a process at all and constantly do everything different every single time.

The post Reducing the Friction in the Selling Process appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

Once my playbook was solid and I was ready for my million-dollar year, it was all about the low-hanging fruit, because there is hidden money in your parts room. I like to keep my goals simple and really leaned into three big areas that would give me the biggest bang for my buck.

Linking Similar Parts

This project took about a year of hard work. It was one of the biggest projects my team has ever accomplished, but the return was 10 times, for sure. If you are using Lightspeed, there is a button on the parts information tab that can become your best friend. The mindset behind this project was to have a simple way to see all of the parts we had in stock and didn’t just blindly trust our vendors when they made recommendations for orders. 

It’s no secret we all order the same parts from different vendors. Sometimes we do that to keep brands happy for points; other times, we are able to get a better discount. Linking the parts in the background took everything to a whole new level. Now we could see if we had OEM or aftermarket parts with a click of a button. We cut down our ordering time drastically and increased our turn ratio. Think of linking all of the same NGK spark plugs together, regardless of who you buy them from. If you need help on what and how to do something similar, reach out to me. It’s more than I can explain in an article.

Build Packages  

I’m constantly beating the drum, saying, “We need to make it easy for people to buy from us.” That means branding and packages. I wanted to be known for creating simple packages my customers could put their money behind. If they aren’t buying, then it doesn’t count.

We made it a game at the counter and documented 10 of our most-common packages that we sold to customers. Each package has anywhere from three to seven parts and has a theme. When we were talking with our customers, we started branding those packages to them too. “Oh, you need the XYZ package; sure, that includes X and costs this dollar amount. We have some of that in stock and can get you a service appointment once it’s all here.”

Again, that branding helped us come across as a team that knew its stuff backwards and forwards. The best part was, we didn’t gate-keep the knowledge. Anyone on the team had access to the packages in the playbook. As we found better packages that worked, they got added to this list.

Refine Stock vs. Special Order  

This is where the nerdy reports come into play. I love running and reading reports a little too much, if I’m being honest. Getting comfortable over the years with them has helped me pivot fast. Instead of always trying to get a feel for what things are selling, I’ve grown comfortable letting numbers tell the story. This was a big mindset shift. It’s easy to just run reports and see what we are selling every week, adjust how many fuel pumps and oil filters we have on hand and go from there. But, the true gold is in creating the lost sale report.

This was one of the hardest things I’ve had to get my team behind. They viewed each lost sale as a personal failure, since they couldn’t “close the deal.” Instead, I’ve been working on changing the name from “lost sale” to “requested but not stocked.” I would tell stories of how I made buying decisions based on that report and the things that we could have sold if it was on the shelf. I would keep them in the loop when I actively stocked something because we flagged it on the report so much.

Hitting that next level, regardless of what that dollar amount is, takes constantly refining our workflow and documentation. These principles are not just restricted to the parts department. Sure, it might look a little different in service or the sales department, but the principle is the same.

See where there is friction in the department — where staff gets frustrated and where things are bottlenecked — and make a list. Then, start finding solutions for those low-hanging fruit problems. You’ll be amazed at how much money you uncork from the bottleneck and how much happier your staff will be too.

To view tips like this from Maggie, head over to PowersportsPlaybook.com, where she’s creating resources and courses to help departments grow and dealerships boost profits.

The post Hidden Money in Your Parts Room appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

Memphis has a rich history in blues and Nashville — Music City itself — is a country hot spot, but halfway between these iconic cities lies a third that is bringing song and off-roading together: Jackson, Tennessee. Known as the birthplace of rockabilly tunes, Jackson is also, incidentally, where you can find the largest Segway dealer in the U.S., REV Powersports.

Collin Johnson, co-owner of REV Powersports, began his stint in the powersports industry as just a hobby. When he was a kid, he began modifying Honda ATC70s and eventually worked his way up to building competition ATVs.

In college, Johnson put his hobby on hold and got a degree in business management. He got a job in aviation maintenance for around seven years, and after he got laid off, he decided to pursue his old hobby as his career.

“I approached my current business partner who’s a longtime friend and an excellent mechanic, and we decided to join forces and open up our own shop. That’s where REV Powersports was born,” explains Johnson.

A Change in Scale

When the dealership was first founded seven years ago, the majority of vehicle sales were from used powersports vehicles. After six years of doing business, REV Powersports began selling Segway UTVs.

It was their shared interests that brought the dealer and OEM together. “We wanted a brand that was going to share a commonality. They would give us the resources and tools to be the dealer that I know we’re capable of being,” Johnson says. “Segway came on board and … told me about the direction they were headed, and it really opened our eyes into seeing that they’re actually trying to do things a little bit differently. We knew we wanted to be a part of that.”

Johnson loves Segway’s lifetime powertrain warranty and the OEM’s innovative technology that are helping to move the powersports industry forward. “It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.”

REV Powersports’ work with Segway has helped to boost the dealership’s business. Johnson would tell you that his dealership used to be a small-scale operation, and it still is in some ways. With its recent growth, there is a lot more to take care of at the dealership.

“Our biggest challenge has been being able to manage that workload, the scheduling difficulties, and then you’ve always got deadlines. We’ve always got demand to meet, toeing the line between what is practical and what makes financial sense from a business standpoint,” notes Johnson.

This has led Johnson to delegate tasks at the dealership to his eight employees. He claims this has let his employees thrive and succeed, not just by growing them as workers but also by growing their value to the company. Delegation has helped Johnson’s employees take departmental success into their own hands.

“It gives them ownership of their particular job, of their particular department and makes them feel appreciated. It makes them feel needed,” Johnson says. “It takes that off of me personally and lets me kind of take a managerial standpoint and focus on growing the brand, on growing the company as a whole.”

Top-Notch Service and Customization

Some other ways REV Powersports is staying on top of its growth is by continuously innovating aspects of the dealership. Whether it’s marketing, scheduling, assembly or other dealer tasks, Johnson says he and his team are always trying new methods optimize their business.

For example, REV Powersports has a custom Midnight Edition design package that they can put on any of their Segways. This package features a black-on-black paint scheme across the entire vehicle, cool wheels and tires, as well as lights all over the side-by-side to make it stand out at night. It’s just the sort of unique and eye-catching customization that shows the possibilities of what can be done to a Segway UTV.

“Some people’s minds, they may think [the stock side-by-side] is the coolest side-by-side they’ve ever seen, but if they can’t see the potential of what the machine could be … we like to take that out of the equation, and we just present it,” says Johnson. “We here at REV Powersports are passionate about taking these things and making them cool — in Segway’s case, cooler than they are out of the box.”

The service department that gives the Segway UTVs their new looks is essential to REV Powersports. Not only is the department making the rides look stunning, but it’s also able to work on any repair or maintenance task. No matter the job, REV Powersports’ service department is renowned in Jackson and the surrounding area.

“We established this business for six years prior to picking up Segway based solely off of our service repair and accessory work,” claims Johnson. “It kind of makes us unique as a dealer in that respect. We have established our reputation in the area for our service department.”

Along for the Ride

On top of the service department being a primary business driver, REV Powersports also drives sales by hosting frequent riding events. This past September, the dealership hosted a Segway ride at Rainbow Falls near the state line between Tennessee and Alabama. There were 17 Segways that showed up for the ride, along with rides from multiple other brands.

Johnson says these riding events are good ways for people to experience what Segway UTVs are all about, adding, “People get out there and get to ride the Segways, get to see what they’re about, and it really lands that connection with certain people.”

More importantly, these riding events are a great way to bring the powersports community together.

“We call our rides ‘family reunions,’ because we want to treat every customer that comes into the store as a family member, not just the number,” explains Johnson. “We want them to feel appreciated. We want them to feel like a VIP every time they come in here.”

Moving forward, REV Powersports wants to keep promoting their dealership and the Segway brand by attending more industry events. Johnson also wants to continue pushing the envelope with Segway modifications, like the aforementioned Midnight Edition.

The dealership also wants to enter next year’s King of the Hammers off-road race with a Segway Super Villain that’s prepared in-house. Johnson is eager to get new Segway vehicles competing in higher level races to showcase their capabilities.

Above all else, Johnson says the support from his family and his good employee base at REV Powersports make his former hobby – and now everyday job – enjoyable. Of course, he’s also thrilled about the continued partnership with Segway. “The exciting part is that we have the ability to grow with Segway as a company,” he concludes. “They’re willing to give us the support that we need to make stuff happen and to kind of move the needle.”

The post Dealer Dialogue: REV Powersports appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

Consumers are smarter than we give them credit for. We are seeing the shift away from customers putting up with bad salespeople. They are frustrated with clunky sales processes, unnecessary steps and timelines that change, and they don’t understand why they can order it online faster than the dealership can get it to them.

And why shouldn’t they be frustrated? For the past three years, brands have shifted to selling directly, showing prices online and investing millions to simplify the buying experience. Amazon’s one-click selling tool, that has everything already saved and can make a transaction in three steps or less, changed the game of selling. 

Customers Are Demanding Better Service at Every Turn

I’ve been seeing this ripple throughout the industry this year. Salespeople who are just “order takers” are having the hardest time selling. Their numbers are down, and they are leaning into the story that the industry had its run and now it’s hard times. The sad part is, they don’t seem to understand they can influence the outcome. 

I can’t stand hearing the excuse that “everyone” is down so that it’s okay for “us” to be down too. If foot traffic and phone calls are down, then sure, that might make sense. But what responsibility are we, as salespeople, regardless of the department, taking to change that? 

I purposely don’t subscribe to what others think is “normal.” If I did, my department wouldn’t be thriving as it is today. We’re outperforming last year’s numbers by $50,000 and on track to hit $1.2 million in counter sales with just two counter associates and me.

Yet, people would tell you this is not normal. It is not possible to grow year over year. I believe we can deeply influence our reality and choose to believe otherwise. I choose to believe that going to events and training my staff has built a powerhouse team. I choose to believe that building my parts managers powersports playbook has made it easy for my team to sell. I choose to believe there are customers who need our help and want to be sold to and served. It’s our job to find them and meet them halfway.

How Can You Tell an Order Taker From a Concierge-Style Salesperson?

Order taker’s mindset:

• Just responds to what the customer is asking. “Yes, we have this bike/air filter/tire in stock.”
• Doesn’t know how to ask supporting questions to see what it is the customer actually needs
• Spends downtime goofing off, playing on his/her phone or gossiping
• Doesn’t consider how he/she wants the customer to feel during the transaction
• Blames their sales numbers on the economy, politics or other outside events
• Doesn’t believe in training to get better at understanding what products fit what the Powersports Customer Avatar (PCA) is or how it impacts sales
• Makes up fake deadlines to get a sale closed
• Has a slow process that is different every time he/she does a sale. There is no system or workflow in place that everyone from the owner to salesperson uses.

Concierge’s mindset:

• Has a plan in place for how he/she wants the customer to feel during the transaction
• Doesn’t lie or make up fake deadlines. This person is honest and lets everyone know what the timeline is on a promotion.
• Doesn’t act desperate when it comes to a sale. This person focuses on creating a lifetime customer.
• When there is downtime or numbers are low, this person busts out his or her tools. It could be the phone or social media or newsletters. This person turns downtime into selling time.
• Can rattle off his/her department’s numbers faster than his/her social security number
• Believes in controlling his/her own fate and takes action steps daily to reflect that.

What Does This Mean for the Industry?

That means people who know how to sell a solution instead of just focusing on the problem are going to become the winners. People who don’t know how to sell or care how to sell are going to lose their jobs. Dealerships are going to have their numbers decline, especially if they have too many order takers in the company. The concierge style is going to keep focusing on selling solutions and recreating reality.

Can an Order Taker Become a Concierge Salesperson?

Maybe. It has to start with the manager setting the right tone. If the tone of the company is that order takers are fine and not forced to grow, then no, they won’t change. Those dealerships will stay stagnant or decline while other dealerships will take their market share and then some.

Salespeople who want to grow and are surrounded by order takers are going to have to invest in themselves. They are going to have to pay out of pocket for training and events. They are going to have to get comfortable creating a growth plan that lets them succeed surrounded by people who don’t care. They are going to have to start betting on themselves and will be rewarded 10 times the effort they put into their craft.

That’s what selling is: It’s a craft and skill set that follows you wherever you go. Learning how to sell solutions, regardless if it’s selling air filters or service packages or side-by-sides, will always let you stand out to the customer and build a lifetime customer, not a one-time transaction.

The post What Type of Salesperson Are You? appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

Fast forward 60 years, after battery technology evolved to make lightweight, battery powered motors reliable and cost-effective, and the next step was the e-bike: a two-wheeled machine with pedals and a small electric motor. The modern e-bike appeared during the 1990s. Acceptance in the U.S. grew slowly until the COVID-19 pandemic led to skyrocketing sales.

The e-bike market has continued to grow, in part due to encouragement by different governmental entities. For example, in addition to rebates, California has recently opened some scenic trails to e-bikes where motorized vehicles were previously banned. In response, manufacturers have designed a wide variety of off-road and dual-sport e-bikes, which dealerships like Stealth Tahoe sell and rent, offering select brands built for a wide variety of surface conditions.

Stealth Tahoe is a standalone e-bike dealer, rental agency and repair shop, started in 2016 by partners Aaron Vacek and Anthony Zingaro in Truckee, California, a small town bordering the resort area of Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is a destination for four-season outdoor fun. Winter is skiing, snowmobiling and snowboarding. Spring and fall are fishing and trail riding seasons, and summer is the beach. Stealth Tahoe is busy three seasons out of four and recently started selling Moonbikes, an e-bike for the snow. It has less power than a snowmobile but is legally able to go many places in the Tahoe area where snowmobiles are banned.

The company started as a way for Vacek and Zingaro to spend more time in the  mountains. Both were unhappily working at desk jobs and were spending all their free time in outdoor pursuits. In 2015, they hit on the idea of opening an e-bike retail outlet. It took a year to finalize the business plan, locate a store to rent and acquire inventory. The whole endeavor was self-financed.

“No one thought we were going to make it,” Vacek says. “When we both got laid off, we decided to go all in. Early autumn used to be our slow season, but we are so busy we haven’t been able to work on any of our off-season projects.”

One of the problems the duo encountered when they first opened was finding the right product for their area. Some brands don’t do well in mountainous territory, and the Truckee area is full of elevation changes. Vacek explains that most of their customers are either people who live in the area year-round or have vacation homes in the area. The average income in Truckee and Tahoe is quite high, and potential customers are willing to pay for the right product.

The city of Truckee has built a network of paved bicycle trails, and as a result, many people find that it is faster for kids to get to school and parents to get to work on an e-bike. The small machines have become so popular that the local police hold educational classes at schools on e-bike laws and safety. Vacek and Zingaro tried several different manufacturers, with limited success. Eventually, the partners encountered the SUPER73 brand at an event, decided to trial their products in 2017, and found that SUPER73’s were what customers were looking for.

“They sold faster than anything,” Vacek notes. Since then, Stealth Tahoe has started retailing non-street-legal dirt bikes made by E Ride Pro and Stealth Electric (a manufacturer not connected to Stealth Tahoe), RAD cargo and utility bikes, and Moonbikes.

Despite the concerns of some motorcycle dealers that electric vehicles will limit the profitability of the service department, the service department at Stealth Tahoe is a major profit center.

“We replace tires and brake pads and troubleshoot the electrical system,” he says. “Fifty percent of what we do is repairs to the chassis and 50% electrical. Customization is big — people want modifications to the brakes, controls, suspension and chassis.”

Interestingly, e-bike rentals are not an important part of the business. “Our primary customers are local. We do get some out-of-towners who want to spend a morning riding around, and we also rent to people who’s own bike is going to be in the shop for a while.”

Stealth Tahoe has found that the best advertising for the company is social media. “We built our name on word of mouth and good online reviews,” Vacek says. “Most people find out about us on social media.”

Vacek carefully tends social media and ratings sites, thanking people who post positive reviews and trying to resolve any complaints. The Facebook page is updated often. A frequent theme is family fun, with photos of attractive, young couples taking their toddlers for a spin.

“Stealth Tahoe is growing fast and wants to expand. The partners are exploring several possibilities, including hiring employees, opening a satellite store and setting up franchises. The sky is the limit in their eyes.

At this point in time, e-bikes are much more popular than electric motorcycles and probably exceed electric cars in sales. Vacek points out that the limited success of electric motorcycles can be traced to the lack of range and the lengthy charge times. He feels electric motorcycles and cars will increase in popularity once charging times decrease and range increases. With present-day technology, an e-bike is a practical vehicle for people with relatively short commutes. The small battery on an e-bike can be removed from the vehicle and charged at a desk while the owner is at work. An e-bike is relatively inexpensive and can legally go on bike paths and other places that a car or traditional motorcycle cannot go. The parking lots at the Truckee middle school and high schools are filled with e-bikes.

“The trend is to restrict gas power,” Vacek says. “The kids are learning on what they are going to be able to ride when they are older.”

Stealth Tahoe
11253 Brockway Road #103a,
Truckee, CA 96161
(530) 536-5089
https://stealthtahoe.com/
OEM: SUPER73, RAD, Stealth Electric, Moonbike, E Ride Pro, OneWheel
Aftermarket: GRZLY tires, Blain USA, Irv Labs, Loomenade, MBB

The post Electrifying Sales at Stealth Tahoe appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

With the riding season nearing an end in most parts of the country, the powersports industry looks forward to next year’s incoming new product release. This also signals dealers to clear out inventory that they do not need for the winter months. Typically, margins tighten, and dealers look for ways to save money during the year’s slowest retail and wholesale season. The good news is that while average wholesale pricing (AWP) continued to tick downward in most segments, it feels like we may have finally reached the bottom.

September Wrap-up

As we stated last month, the stretch from August through October is the softest period for retail and wholesale pricing. For September, short-term AWP performance was very similar to long-term performance across most product segments. On-road motorcycle AWPs exhibited seasonal declines in wholesale price, while dual-sport declined more than the seasonal norm. Year-over-year performance in the off-road segments fell across the board with continued softening in side-by-side, ATV and personal watercraft (PWC). While AWP continues to follow normal seasonal trends, we expect price softening to be more muted in October as the prior three-month comparable weakens with the inclusion of August and September numbers.

Winter Is Coming

While our kids gear up for Halloween and our customers look for reduced interest rates, November and December typically see prices stabilize before turning upward again in spring. Prudent dealers, with the capital to acquire inventory, usually begin to jump back into the market in Q4, focused on buying for the spring market when prices bottom out. While this should support pricing, expect AWPs to remain soft into October. With the holidays quickly approaching, it is a great time to take advantage of OEM promotions and slightly softer pricing in the lanes. Buying season is around the corner, and you don’t want to find yourself on the sidelines searching for inventory come spring. Strike while the iron is hot and the pricing is soft.

The post NPA Pre-Owned Market Update: September 2024 appeared first on Motorcycle & Powersports News.

After no fire, a few curse words and very little help from AAA, I finally called a friend who lived in Los Angeles, and he recommended Santa Monica Triumph as the shop to take it to. That seemed odd, but he assured me that was the right place. Even the tow truck driver was surprised and mentioned a Yamaha shop nearby. Being the trusting soul that I was, I told him that’s where I was referred to and that’s where I wanted to take it. Away we went.

Santa Monica Triumph was quite a small shop, and I found out it had only been open for a month or so. “Oh, great!” I thought. However, I cannot say enough about this dealership. They didn’t know who I was, had never seen me before, but I was a traveler, and they got the bike up on the lift right away.

It was then that I discovered that Rey, the tech taking my bike apart, was a certified Yamaha Tech and knew FJRs quite well. It was the end of the day, and Dave, the general manager (GM), lent me a bike to get to my motel for the night. Again, they didn’t know me, but they gave me a red carpet experience I’ve never seen before.

I told them I wouldn’t call until noon the next day, as I knew it would be some time before they could diagnose the problem. (Now I get why customers call every 10 minutes for a progress report). Around noon, I received a photo by text of a starter that was completely melted down inside. I’ve never seen anything like it. I rode over to talk to them.

In real life, the starter looked even worse than the photo. We had been riding in 125-degree Fahrenheit heat for a couple of days and not taking it easy whatsoever. That’s the only reason for the failure that we could think of.

I told them that if they could find me one locally, I would go and get it. Jennifer, their service writer, found out there were none in the U.S. — either at a Yamaha dealer or warehouse. Then, she told me there is an OEM one at an online parts supplier and they could get it expedited.

Unfortunately, this was Tuesday, the day before the July 4th holiday, which meant I had almost a week to kill before it arrived. Dave said I could borrow the bike for that time. I was totally amazed at the concern, effort and teamwork at this shop.

The following Tuesday, I got a call from Jennifer saying the starter was replaced and Rey was buttoning up my FJR1300 as we spoke. I paid the very fair bill and rode away. My bike was clean and in as good of shape as it ever had been. Kudos to Dave the GM; Adam the sales manager; Jennifer, who went above and beyond to find the parts (she didn’t even roll her eyes at my jokes); and Rey, the tech who did an amazing, efficient job.

After this experience, I decided I have to talk to Vance Harrison, the CEO of Motos America, which owns not only Santa Monica Triumph but also 10 other motorcycle dealerships. He has mostly concentrated on Triumph, BMW and Ducati.

He started off in the car business and moved over to motorcycle shops; usually that move does not go well. In this case, Vance has proven it can be done. I asked him a lot of questions; most of them I have asked many other dealer principals. Usually, I get an answer that just makes me want to smack my forehead, but not in this case.

My stores never had the critical mass to put in systems that would make the business of running a powersports store easier. With 11 stores, it can be done. That’s not to say that a single shop cannot do most of his innovations. It’s not easy, but we can always learn something new. I have always examined what more successful dealerships do and have tried to emulate them.  

Vance has also surrounded himself with creative people who have an ability to build a culture in their stores — a culture that was evident at Santa Monica Triumph. He has also joined a 20 Group, something I fully believe in, and he has regular meetings with all of his managers to sort out any problems and changes procedures that need tweaking. 

He has written a proper Policy and Procedures Manual, which a lot of dealerships don’t seem to have (and need to implement). This creates a guideline for his staff to follow and learn from.

Motos America is also creating an online training program to promote its culture and help train employees in every department.

One thing Vance mentioned over and over is the culture of his stores, something I experienced at Santa Monica Triumph. Everything that the staff did there was for my benefit. There was never any eye rolling or hesitation. They did what needed to be done to create an experience that most of us can only dream about. I told Vance that I would hire any of his staff without hesitation.

They also use local motorcycle clubs to help promote that culture, which is something I’ve been espousing for years. They are the “Centers of Enthusiasm” that can help you grow the business. I know that many of you don’t like clubs because they are always asking for freebies and discounts, but I also know that if you manage your contact with them, they can be very helpful in marketing your shops.

To me, this business epitomizes the way every powersports shop could be run. Certainly, some of the systems he has only work if you have several stores. Once you have a critical mass, these things become easier to implement.    

Having said that, he uses social media very efficiently, has a performance-based pay system, trains his employees very well, uses clubs to spread the word and has created an amazing culture within the stores. I know I sound like a fanboy, and I guess I am. I’m enthusiastic about Motos America and believe that we could all learn something from Vance Harrison and what he’s done.

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