ONE IN SEVEN DEALERS DOESN’T SUCK Shopping For A Motorcycle Online… Last week I went online to shop for a motorcycle. Contacted 7 dealers through #cycletrader and here is a quick recap of how they did: 1-I received an email from a sales person and a manager within 5 minutes both requesting me to make an appointment to come in. I responded to the sales person on two separate days and they never responded to either. 2-Never responded via email. Salesperson left me a voicemail and then never reached out again. 3-Email auto response confirming my lead. No contact from dealer ever. I went on this dealer’s website and filled out a “contact us” form. Nobody responded. 4-Emailed auto response confirming my lead. No contact from dealer ever. 5-Emailed auto response confirming my lead. Salesperson emailed me a few hours later. I responded and then never heard back. 6-Emailed auto response confirming my lead. No contact from dealer ever. 7-Received email from a sales person. We emailed back and forth a few times and I determined this was not the right bike for me and thanked him for his time. This is not rocket science… and this is not acceptable. Raphael Borenstein, J.D. Power Via The Internet
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P.S. I am not a fan of auto responses to leads, but it’s not the end of the world to let a customer instantly know their inquiry was received. But it HAS to be followed up with a personalized response from somebody at the dealership within a reasonable amount of time during business hours or you lose all credibility. If a sales manager is not monitoring and auditing their CRM activity, to see what his/her sales team is doing, then how exactly is he/she spending their time? It is not rocket science. It is not acceptable. Dealernews was linked into this thread on LinkedIn along with Robert Pandya, Elvis Vaughn and several other industry professionals. Coincidentally Fran O’Hagan was in the process of releasing the latest industry report card on how dealers did when it came to responding to online queries. Even the best in the business only seemed to get it right about half the time. See page 36 for the results of Pied Piper’s virtual mystery shopping expose. ARROGANCE VS. IGNORANCE I have come to believe that the arrogance we have within this industry will be its ultimate downfall. In a culture where service is important, where community is a corner stone, and where advocates are the most critical marketing tool, the level of pathetic sales and service in motorcycling can’t be excused. There are lots of dealers who really suck. And if you take offense to that and don’t secret shop your own dealership, your dealership may in fact really suck. Hoping you do not suck is not an action plan. Time to fix it. Robert Pandya. Owner SpokesPeople LLC. Georgetown. TX
DISHEARTENING AND DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE Wow, Raphael!! That’s disheartening and a little difficult to believe. One, maybe two dealers dropping the ball? That wouldn’t surprise me, but 6 out of 7? Sadly, and primarily due to COVID, dealers are experiencing record breaking month after record breaking month. Inventory levels are likely the lowest they’ve been in the last 20-25 years, across all brands and all segments. I’m going to guess (and it’s strictly a guess) that the dealers are not placing the same emphasis on an Internet lead that they maybe did 15-16 months ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if the general attitude in those stores is, “If he’s serious about getting a bike, he’ll walk through that door. Let’s focus on the walk-in traffic, and the rest will fall into place.” What happened to doing business the way the customer wants to do business? In March/April of 2020, dealers were practically begging customers to initiate their inquiries online. Fast forward 12 months, and those same dealers are too overwhelmed to even connect with you? Kevin “Elvis” Vaughn, Talent Search Director Action Recruiting. A SearchPath Company Bristol, TN
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