Reporting on the rising trend for three-wheel motorcycle modifications, one writer asks, “If four wheels move the body and two wheels move the soul, what do three wheels move?”
For some motorcycle shops the answer will be “money,” but trikes are only the tip of the iceberg for this profit center.
The Motorcycle Industry Council reports that for the first time since 2002 all four of your market segments (scooter, dual, on-highway and off-highway) showed increases in year-over-year new unit sales.
This year is poised to be even better. You have more people coming to your shop now that the economy is finally starting to recover, and there’s a lot of pent up demand about to burst. But as you know, in a highly competitive market where every dealer is trying to move product, increased sales do not necessarily translate to higher profits.
It’s More than Selling
Instead of focusing on the sale alone, successful dealers will establish relationships, and one of the best ways to do that is to offer expert services. Put your sales staff in a showroom where the customer can see the outstanding custom modifications you do, and even before hearing a word he gets the confidence-building sense that you’ll be there for the long-term development of his needs and tastes – and that you’ve got the mechanical competence he wants from his dealer.
This matters more now than ever before because the era of the DIY motorcycle mechanic is all but over. When a quarter of your new customers are over fifty, and 8% of them are women, the demand for specialized professional services is expected to expand along with these market segments. Even motorcycle enthusiasts blogging online pitch your services. While telling readers that they might be able to screw on a front-wheel mudguard by themselves, they had better leave the real work to a professional if they want their bike to feel great on the road.
How to Show Off for Profit
These are the top three modification capabilities you’d want to showcase today:
- Café Racer
Recalling the free-spirit essence of Easy Rider-era choppers, without the outlaw reputation, café racers display a compact elegance that is attained, chopper-like, by removing as much as possible. Power and speed trump comfort and getting it right is pure artistry, with the re-design defining a strong “bone line” and a catch-me-if-you-can intensity between the wheels. - Cosmetics
Not to be confused with decoration, purists look for aesthetic excellence in everything from the way the cables are secured to the placement of fenders to the color scheme. If you haven’t spent fifteen hours contemplating how the bike’s personality changes when you use rear view mirrors of different dimensions, you aren’t done yet. - Trikes
NADAguides.com motorcycle market analyst Alex Lezama says that “more and more consumers have been going to after-market companies to retrofit their bikes into three-wheelers.” Older consumers especially like these for their stability and ability to carry more cargo, but the only production three-wheeler that truly meets this need – and competes with your modifications shop – is the Harley Davidson TriGlide, which has a base price of $34,000. Demonstrate that you can provide your customer with a uniquely stylish modification that competes favorably on price, and you may create a life-long advocate.
Mutual Confidence Required
Once you’ve gone to such great lengths to demonstrate to your customer your mechanical and artistic expertise, be sure that you show him the same level of respect that you tried to earn from him. While all Americans prefer to write checks for large purchases, Baby Boomers –men and women in their fifties – prefer to write checks more than any other demographic.
Obviously, you need to accept checks, but the way you do it matters most. Your relationship with your customer is on the line the moment you run his check for verification, and if your service declines it you risk everything when you report that back to him.
Since no check processing service can look at a customer’s bank account to determine if their check is good, when choosing a service, keep in mind that they all access the same public data – but that only one also has thirty years of proprietary data and the advanced algorithms that go along with it.
When you put your customer relationship on the line, be sure your check processing partner provides the same level of quality that you do. Learn more here.
