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Recent Press - Page 30
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Ward's Auto
Japanese Luxury Brand Stores Best Handle Internet Leads
March 2012
Japanese luxury-brand U.S. dealerships rank best in fielding customer Internet inquiries, according to the latest results of an annual study by consulting firm Pied Piper Management. Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti tie for first place with 62% online-lead effectiveness, followed by Honda's Acura with 59%. In contrast, two other Japanese nameplates score the worst, Toyota's Scion with 39% effectiveness and Suzuki, dead last with 23%. Ford and ... Read More >
Press Release: 2012 Pied Piper PSI(R) Internet Lead Effectiveness™(ILE™) Benchmarking Study (U.S.A)
Lexus, Infiniti and Acura Dealerships Top Ranked for Response to Customer Internet Inquiries
March 2012
• Industry-wide improvement from previous year led by Ford and Chrysler • However, 22% of customer internet inquiries remain unanswered after 24 hours Monterey, California – March 12, 2012 – Lexus, Infiniti and Acura dealerships ranked highest in the 2012 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) Internet Lead Effectiveness(™) (ILE™) Benchmarking Study, which measured auto dealership responsiveness to customer inquiries received over the ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Your dirt riding customers are only hibernating. Wake them up.
March 2012
In 2005, more than 275,000 dirt bikes were sold in the U.S., but over the next six years dirt bike retails plummeted 75 percent – more of a drop than any other motorcycle category. Most of those dirt bike customers are still around, but do they still ride? Are they riding, but just not replacing their bikes as often? Is it possible to coax these dirt riders out of “new-bike-purchase-hibernation” to get them interested in buying a new dirt bike ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Could it be as simple as improving showroom lighting?
February 2012
Can your dealership sell more motorcycles and accessories simply by improving your showroom lighting? Some dealerships make no change to the standard fluorescent fixtures that came with the building, while others install bright ambient lighting as well as spotlights on motorcycles and on accessory displays. All that specialized lighting costs money to install and the ongoing electric bill may be higher too, so where are the facts proving that ... Read More >
Dealerelite.net
How Important is the Facility to the Sale?
January 2012
There are studies that show facilities actually have little to do with whether a customer buys a vehicle from a dealership. One such study is Pied Piper Management LLC's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index, which sends anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 mystery shoppers into dealerships each year to determine what's most important to customers. And yes, the facility ranks low on importance. In fact, it's the dealership's people that are the most ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
As dealer principal, do you act like a CEO or a janitor?
January 2012
Back in 1985, I scraped together every last cent to buy a Kawasaki Ninja 600R from a dealer in Pennsylvania, Bill Peacock. I still remember Bill's business card to this day because below his name he had chosen for a title, “Owner, Janitor.” His point was that his dealership was a small, friendly, hands-on family business. One of the sales process steps our company measures today is whether a sales customer is introduced to dealership management ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Are the motorcycle brands you sell really just commodities?
December 2011
Wandering around this year's Long Beach motorcycle show, I was struck by how dramatically the U.S. motorcycle market has changed — and is still changing. Remember when the four Japanese brands and Harley-Davidson seemed responsible for 95 percent of what was happening, and niche brands like BMW, Ducati, Victory and Triumph were really just curiosities? Today the four Japanese brands and Harley-Davidson are still heavy-hitters, but the brands that ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
What's new when customers walk into your dealership?
November 2011
Change is good. Think of the most successful retail stores regardless of industry, and we can agree that they all have something in common: they regularly change their in-store displays. Whether it is Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, or your area's most successful car dealership, you can be sure that if you compare what you see today, it is different from their retail displays a month ago. Now what about your dealership's showroom? If a customer ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Is your dealership closed when customers want to buy?
October 2011
Earlier this year, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law allowing Sunday motorcycle sales. While pushing for the change in law, New Jersey motorcycle dealerships observed that many of their customers had been crossing over the state line into Delaware to shop on Sundays. How many motorcycle dealerships nationwide are open on Sundays? For that matter, how many have extended hours on Saturdays, instead of closing early to allow ... Read More >
Powersports Business Blog
Lack of floor traffic sinking your dealership?
September 2011
Too many hard-working motorcycle dealerships today are holding on for survival, trying to grind out a living relying on the same number of customer “ups” in a week that they used to see on any given day. First of all, yes, you are in good company; there are plenty of other dealerships in exactly the same predicament; and yes, most would agree that you and your team didn't cause the downturn. On the other hand, you and your team are the ones who ... Read More >
