PowerSports Business

April 24, 2020

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w w w . p o w e r s p o r t s b u s i n e s s . c o m INSPIRING SUCCESS THROUGH MARKET INTELLIGENCE April 24, 2020 • Volume 23, Number 6 • $3.99 Exclusive Lightspeed DMS study finds 3 of 4 ATVs sold are for multi-purpose use See page 18 COVID-19 meets resilient dealerships From locking doors to limited showroom hours, dealerships face coronavirus in variety of manners BY NICK LONGWORTH & DAVE McMAHON POWERSPORTS BUSINESS Throughout the entire powersports dealer landscape, a common theme has been appearing — dealerships are having to change the way they conduct business due to the coronavirus. While some owners resist the trend to physically lock dealership doors, most are altering their day-to-day procedures in order retain some semblance of normalcy — including customer capacity limits on showroom floors, 6-foot distances between all interactions and increased drop shipping, curbside parts pickups and online selling. "Our dealerships are shut down since Sat- urday, March 21. We informed our staff that due to the health and well being of our staff, families and community we would be sending everyone home until April 1 — about a 10-day window to gather new information, get new updates and make decisions from there," said Eddie Keefer, vice presidenof Keefer's Power- sports and Mountain State Harley-Davidson in Logan and Delbarton, West Virgina. "We haven't changed hours — we've got- ten a lot of phone calls asking when we're open. It's been business as usual, with less foot traffic. We're just waiting for the ball to drop at the moment," said Mike Leclerc, sales manager for the last eight years at Troy Powerports in New Hampshire. That was in late March. By early April, the store announced that it remained open for business with limited public access. "Our building is closed to the public but we con- tinue to provide service work, parts sales and vehicle sales." But even among those that remain open for business, due to the coronavirus nearly all dealerships have also incurred a financial burden — including what marketing efforts and events should be curtailed. "So far we've cancelled all events in March and April," said Keefer. "We have a spring open house coming up that will be cancelled," said Leclerc. During times of financial uncertainty, it's pivotal for successful dealerships to communicate with their customer base any important information they might need, or even want — from important news updates in the community, to extracurricular online tutorials, giveaways and virtual product lineup announcements. It's a good idea to be proactive in communicating a unified message on behalf of the entire dealership, throughout all company media assets and modes of communication. "We had a pretty good game plan before we closed. We contacted every service, parts and sales customer before we left. We also posted on Facebook and our website, and our general managers have been following up on any inqui- ries," said Keefer. "We have a strong social media presence with a little bit of radio ads," said Leclerc, noting that the dealership also purchases TV ads, but they have become too expensive dur- ing this year's election season. "We've been trying to stay present and active on social media — provide some entertainment, and stay on people's minds. We have a ton of old inventory t-shirts that we're giving away." According to recent news reports, as part of the economic stimulus package that passed Congress, small businesses will have low-interest loans more readily available to weather times of financial hardships. However, even with loans available and partnerships established, quick and oftentimes hard decisions are being made. Increasingly dealerships have adapted to focusing on online sales, and unique delivery methods such as curbside drop-off for parts to keep business churning. Dealer consultant Rob Greenwald has found many of his dealer partners seeking training on how to close deals over the phone. "March to September is about 70 percent of our yearly business. March is about 12 percent of sales for the year, April is about 14 percent and May is the same. Between three months, this will affect 40 percent of our business. It will definitely affect us," said Keefer. "We were actually on track to have a spectacular March. It isn't so much that the business isn't there… We were doing great, and on track to have a great year." It's a refrain heard throughout the indus- try — January and February were gang- busters and it carried over into March before the coronavirus bore down. American Honda posted record results in both January and February for those respec- tive months, driven mainly by off-road motorcycle and side-by-side sales, according to Chuck Boderman, VP of Powersports. "March started off the same way, and resulted in the same cadence throughout the month until COVID-19 really began to impact with state order to stop unit sales," Boderman added. "Even so, we were up for the month of March over March 2019. And for the first quarter, we had mid-single-digit percentage growth even with the March dropoff." Dealers are realizing by the day that adapt- ing to new ways of doing business is imperative. "It's affecting sales by some people being weary about spending money. We haven't seen business slow down much yet… but we're kind of behind the curve," said Leclerc. "There's always some sales from people who want to buy on the spot — maybe we'll miss See COVID-19, Page 6 Schedule a personal showing and a sales associate will meet you outside with the bike. Virtual showings of units available through video or photos that we can text or email. You really can't plan 60 or 90 days ahead, you need to plan 24 hours ahead. We have instituted a personalized concierge service to better meet your needs during this challenging time. Shipping and curbside pickup will be available We are open. Essential services available Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday and Monday — Closed In accordance with governor's stay at home advisory, the showroom will be temporarily closed until May 4.

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