"I think there's plenty of opportunity to go out and sell, and service our customers," said Paul Langley, chairman of the LeMans Corporation, parent company of Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties. "It's not going to be as easy as through COVID, when they just called up and said 'send it.' We're going to have to work for it." Langley was joined on stage with two other heavy hitters of powersports distribution, in a panel session moderated by Sam Dantzler, president of Garage Composites.
"This is when you try the stuff that you've never tried before," said Chera Gibb, senior vice president, marketing & communications, North America, Arrowhead Engineered Products. "This is really a chance to partner with your favorite sales person and look at what can we do different to get our fair share of that consumer's dollar."
Looking back at the 2008-2010 recession, used powersports vehicles and accessorizing kept a lot of dealers in business, said Marc McAllister, president and CEO of Tucker Powersports. "I think this is a good year to make sure that you're focused on what everything from the parts counter (to the back of the dealer) is doing for you," he said. "Your best customers may be coming in the service entrance, not through the front of the dealer. Make sure you're maximizing those interactions. The parts counter and service writers need to be incentivized to drive that sale, because they are the people who really monetize that interaction with the customer, as well as satisfy those needs and wants."
Dantzler said that it's important to revisit potential customers who wanted to buy during the height of the pandemic, but couldn't because of short supply. "Fifty to sixty percent of the people who were interested in a powersport product are still out there," he said. "It just takes somebody, leveraging the CRM, to call those people and bring them back in the store."
Gibb reminded everyone not to forget about utility vehicles. "We talk about the fun side of powersports," she said. "It is fun. But also look at the utility side of it. From a service standpoint, there's people in many parts of the country, ranchers, different parts of the business...this is a livelihood. If you're dealing with a municipality or work in a rural environment, that's your opportunity. We don't speak about lead-generation from a parts standpoint in the same kind of enthusiasm."
The panelists also talked about dealerships being a community focal point, adding to comments made in other AIMExpo presentations this week, and stressed that local events matter.
"As a dealer, we need to engage with (customers), give them reasons to ride, because every time they do, they influence their circle of friends, they influence the community, and that drives participation in powersports," McAllister said. "Community events are a fantastic way to drive participation."
At the end of the session, Langley called for more collective powersports efforts, drawing audience applause.
"As an industry, we need to work together," he said. "Our company has rejoined the MIC and we've participated now for the first time, in a few years, at AIME. We want to see this industry grow together, and if we all work together we can see better results. It's a good starting point to see three top distributors up on stage together, thinking about how we take care of and service our dealers better."