PowerSports Business

January 23, 2017

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SOLUTIONS It's been a great ride, one that started 50 years ago when I was delivering newspapers in my middle class Milwaukee neigh- borhood. I was 14-going-on-16, mainly because I was fixated on getting my driv- er's license and buying a car that I could customize and that would transport my friends and me to exciting destinations. One afternoon, my priorities changed. It was a warm, sunny, summer day, and midway through my deliveries my inner thoughts were interrupted by the exhaust note of a Big Twin engine approaching. It was a chopped knucklehead Harley cruis- ing down the street in top gear. Running effortlessly, I was mesmerized by the shear ease that this mechanical monster rolled by at about 30 mph, seemingly at idle speed. "What power!" I thought. Visually, its tiny Sportster tank fully exposed the Big Twin engine with that huge top end that struck a pose like the torso of a body builder. Add to that the upswept fishtail pipes that were producing that rhythmic "heartbeat of a Harley" song, and I was hooked, for life, on motorcycles. At 15 1/2, my financial status dictated that I purchase a used Harley, if I wanted a big displacement bike. Unlike some parents, mine didn't intervene. Their rules were, "Buy what you want, but pay for it yourself." So, instead of playing football while in high school (I was a pretty good quarterback), I pursued the almighty dollar and worked after school to pay for my gas-powered passions. My dad urged me to get a Harley Servi-Car because it had three wheels, which meant safer, right? So, that's what I bought, a '47 model for $165, but safe it was not. My friend and I crashed it in less than 10 minutes after leaving the seller's house. Thankfully, we all survived, bike included, to ride another day. By 1970, I had already owned three Har- leys, when I left home at 18 riding my '60 XLCH Sportster from Milwaukee to Corpus Christi, Texas. All of my life possessions were jammed into my dad's World War II Navy duffle bag. A young man doesn't need much to get by. My first job in Texas was doing construction work, rebuilding gas stations damaged by Hurricane Celia. Then, in January of '71, I tried out for a job at the Cycle Spot, a Triumph/Yamaha/CZ dealer- ship in "Corpus." The applicant's test was straightforward — make a saleable Triumph Cub motorcycle from a box of parts. Borrow- ing tools and referring to the service manual and parts book, it took me 1 1/2 days until it thumped to life. That was the start of my "career" in the motorcycle industry. Since then I've worked in this business as a mechanic, a customizer, service manager, technical trainer, director of training, vice president of sales and most lately, owner of my Dako Management Company that provided teaching and writing services to educate, inform and enlighten folks on all sides of our business. There were many life lessons learned along the way, and because this will be my last column for PSB, I wanted to share a few of them with you. Never tell someone their baby is ugly. Baby, in this case was a very rough Honda chopper. I was service manager at a Phoenix dealership when this guy comes in wanting us to repair the mangled wiring on what he referred to as his, "rat chopper." I didn't want to accept the work, so after he was done talk- ing I said, very politely, "We don't work on junk like this." The guy went ballistic, yelling and cursing at me, which pissed me off, and the next thing I know we were almost in a fistfight. Following that lesson, I started refer- ring rat bikes we weren't interested in to a local independent shop, and I always complimented an owner's vehicle from then on, no matter what condition it was in. Don't tell people what to do, if you don't have the authority. Case in point: My first day working at the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute on Jan. 25, 1981, (Yes, I remember the day; it was life changing.) I walked into a classroom, not wearing an instructor shirt and noticed a student was installing a tire with the bal- ance mark 180 degrees off. The student was 15 years older than me. When I told him to correct the tire position, he didn't take it well. Thirty seconds later I was almost in a fistfight. OMG, there's a trend here! In my defense, I did have the authority, but the student didn't know it. That reminds me of a strategy learned from an old friend. Instead of telling someone what to do, lead with the words, "What do you think about (insert idea)?" This allows the other person to feel they had some control in the decision. Change tactics for a different outcome. Albert Einstein said the definition of insan- ity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. After about three years at MMI, I was perturbed that my annual raise was always less than I deserved. I had gotten into the habit of presenting my case each year to the school's owner, in his office. The problem with this scenario was the constant interruptions, which derailed the conversation. So, about the fourth year I invited the owner to lunch on my dime, off site. In this environment, we were uninter- rupted and got to know each other on a per- sonal level. Consequently, my point of view was much better received. The result? I earned more than other directors in the school at that time. Those $25 lunches really paid off! Don't accuse if you don't know all the facts. My most memorable lesson was when I was teaching Harley classes in the '80s and rebuilding my '66 Shovelhead on the weekends using the school's shop equipment. At some point I couldn't find the connecting rods to said motorcycle. I looked everywhere and came to the assumption that a student had stolen them. So, I gathered the students to confront them and ultimately punished the class by cancelling their graduation party because no one had It's been a great ride, 30 • January 23, 2017 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Are you hoping for another year like the last one (refreshing, it tasted so good)? Or are you vowing not to have another one like the last (yuck, what was that)? Can you look back at last year and feel content knowing that what you wanted to achieve was accom- plished? Did you realize what you desired? Did you and your staff follow through on things to their conclusion? If the answer is no to even one of these questions, you might want to try drinking a little fruition. Fruition is not just another bubbly soft drink. It's an elixir of unbelievable refreshment, and it tastes great! What the heck is fruition anyway? Where does this fruition come from? What's in it? Who makes it? Does it have magic ingredi- ents? What's it do? I have taken certain liber- ties (would you expect anything else?) with its rightful explanation of origin and mean- ing. Fruition must come from the word fruit, right? Nope, not exactly. Fruition and fruit are related, but not how you think they are. Both words come from ancient language of Power- sports Sanskrit, but evolved independently of each other. The original meaning of fruition had nothing to do with fruit. The word was first used in the early 1960s, and it meant only "pleasurable use or possession," such as riding and owning a motorcycle! It wasn't until the early '70s that power- sports dealers gave fruition a second mean- ing, "the state of bearing fruit," generating a mistaken assumption that fruition evolved from fruit. "Bearing fruit" really means that anything can be realized, accomplished and metaphorically bear fruit — such as, for exam- ple, a plan or a project that would strengthen profitability and gross sales in a powersports dealership. I just heard from reliable sources that due to the importance of pursuing things to their fruition, the powersports industry has obtained a species of Citrus sinensis and blended it with unique powersports hybrids to create the ultimate powersports drink, Frui- tion — the elixir of strengthened practices and unbelievable refreshment! In fact, Fruition has been made the official drink of the pow- ersports industry for 2017. The powersports hybrids that are mixed into the Citrus sinensis are what give Fruition its refreshing taste. Here are the ingredients if you want to make this powersports drink at your dealership: The first ingredient is a plan for your dealership, and for each department, in 2017. You can't follow to fruition what has not been given clear, concise thought, along with a written recipe for you and your team to fol- low. Remember this, though: If a recipe calls for a cup of something, and you only put in a half a cup, it's not going to turn out or taste right. Following the recipe is the key. I see that "half a cup" mentality a lot in dealerships. Most of the time that happens because folks don't know the recipe, don't know the ingre- dients, so they're throwing in what they think makes things taste right for your customers, themselves and your business. Doing things half right is not a great recipe for long lasting refreshment, or long lasting customers either. Make sure your folks know what you want them to do and how you want things done, always, without exception. Here's something else to think about when it comes to expecta- tions: Expectations with accountability make underachievers nervous. Step Two: Your plan should cover all aspects for attaining goals along with the time frames for accomplishing them. If you tell a department manager you want to see a cer- tain increase, you should be able to tell that person how to accomplish it, don't you think? It always starts at the top. Your plan needs to follow everything to its conclusion. Cover as much as you can think of and then some! You go over with your entire team what you want done. Explain everything clearly. This is where you tell everyone what will happen if you fol- low to conclusion, to fruition, what is laid out in this plan. Then you consistently verify that what needs to happen is, in fact, happening. That doesn't mean there won't be changes along the way. The year 2017 is going to evolve, and so may your plan for accomplish- ing your goals in 2017. Here's another ingredient to consider: A good plan looks at what the challenges could be, what could happen and prepares for them. I believe 2017 is going to be a challenging year for the powersports industry. Vehicle registra- tions are down nationally; door swings are down overall; inventory levels are starting to rise, as are flooring costs. A rock solid business plan that is followed to its fruition is some- thing to be thinking about. Following things to fruition will leave you and your business much more refreshed with no bitter aftertaste. It will do more for you if you follow through without the need for secret ingredients, magic apps or all the other short- cuts that appear to guarantee your success without you having to do a thing except plug it in, and presto, you're good. So at the end of 2017, I hope to raise a glass of fruition and share a toast with all of you on a successful year! Happy New Year! PSB Mark Mooney is the principal of Mark Mooney Powersports Consulting, a Santa Cruz, Calif.- based company that works with OEMs and powersports dealers to strengthen dealership per- formance. A former dealer principal, Mooney has 35 years of industry experience. Contact him at mooneypowersportsconsulting@gmail.com. Fruition, the elixir of unbelievable refreshment THINK ABOUT THIS… are you vowing not to have another one like MARK MOONEY Thank you and adios, my friends GUEST COLUMN DAVE KOSHOLLEK See Koshollek, Page 31

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