Happy July. Back in March, I predicted and put in writing that the COVID Crisis was set to re-launch the Powersports retail season early. Boy was I right! This is great for our industry as long as we as an industry don’t drop the ball. So… where the heck are our balls?!?!

The dealers that I communicate with are reporting increased retail on the sales floor, which relays increased demand to the wholesale channels at the distributor level. Here’s the crazy part, both levels are operating at reduced staffing levels. While not all the distributors are operating this way, many have laid off staff and have been super-slow in re-aligning staffing to match business demand.

This causes them to either drop efforts on the customer satisfaction end, or over-leverage their existing staff in a fulfillment role that is non-sustainable. It’s the same thing in the bicycle market. Go to your local Target and see how many full-sized bicycles they have left. That’s because your mainline bike shops have run out of inventory in the sub-$5k segment. People that couldn’t get that new $2500.00 gravel bike settled with a $500.00 department store bike to get by until stock replenishes – or they phase out.

How long will new members of these “sports” stay engaged when the retail centers can not succeed in meeting their retail needs? How long until we force the newbies to phase out?

Speaking of meeting retail needs, when was the last time the service staff in these retail centers had any professional training on customer communication? How about shop dispatch to increase efficiency? How about team leadership training to build a cohesive service team, lending itself to adding value to the complete organization?

You work so hard to build a client base through sales. The cost to gain a customer is what at your store, $1200.00? $2500.00? What was your gross on the initial sale? You need to foster that relationship and I am betting you haven’t prepared your service department well for that task.

Just this week, a friend of mine wanted a new Dodge truck. He went to at least four dealers before finding one that would help him. This is no lie. One said they had the truck over the phone, they couldn’t find it when he got there. Another had the truck, but couldn’t find the keys. A third flat out said they were too busy to help him. He drove out of town to find a dealer that could meet his needs. This is the Auto industry – the supposed leaders in our segment.

Our supply chain is broken. Our front line is not properly trained for sales or service and the opportunity is right before our eyes.

How long until you contact Mañana No Mas! to work with your Service Department?