Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/148632
8 • August 12, 2013 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com FINANCIAL Former dealership GM turns to consulting Breckenridge takes Harley background into new role BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR Last year, A. Jason Breckenridge hit a crossroads. He had spent the previous decade improving business operations as general manager at a pair of Harley-Davidson dealerships, after doing the same in the auto industry seven years prior. But Breckenridge was no longer appeased SALES TRAINING EXPERTISE by the daily paperwork that a GM encounters, and he knew he needed a change. "I've always been kind of that natural trainer kind of person. I kind of got burned out a couple years ago and wasn't really sure what direction I wanted to go into," he said. Breckenridge thought hard about his strengths and what he had enjoyed throughout his years in the powersports and automotive industries. He realized that training had fueled his passion, so he decided then that he would be come a consultant and founded Twenty LLC in October. Twenty LLC's focus is hands-on training, working with dealership employees in smaller groups, rather than spending all of the time preaching philosophy. Breckenridge prefers sales training, but can consult on almost anything in dealership operations, except for accounting and mechanical work. When Victory Solutions, a follow-up system provider in the powersports industry, learned of Breckenridge's consultancy, the company brought him in to do all of its corporate training. Victory Solutions was a great fit for Breck- DEALER FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT NORTHWEST -3.1% NORTHEAST -9.2% MIDWEST -5.8% Parts Department -2.5% A. Jason Breckenridge Founder, Twenty LLC Parts Department Parts Department 8.8% "I teach the sales staff on how to make an effective call." -4.0% 4.6% Service Department Service Department -5.6% -1.6% 9.8% Major Units Major Units WEST -5.6% Overall Service Department -0.4% Major Units -1.4% Overall Overall Parts Department But phone training isn't the only service Twenty LLC offers. Breckenridge can also train dealerships on handbook creation, legal issues, setting up pay plans, hiring, inventory management, sales process, F&I and more. "My specialty is to go in there and to fix it, and I'm really good at fixing things really, really quickly," he said. 2.9% Service Department 9.3% Major Units SOUTH -5.0% 4.4% Overall Parts Department Service Department 2.3% 2.6% Parts Department -1.4% Major Units Major Units 0.5% Service Department FINDING SOLUTIONS -3.6% UNITED STATES -6.0% enridge because he specializes in training on over-the-phone sales. "I teach the sales staff on how to make an effective call," he said. When working with Victory Solutions, Breckenridge goes into dealerships after Victory has vetted some leads using special promotions. He then teaches the dealership staff how to select the leads that turn into high-quality prospects and trains them how to turn those prospects into buyers. "In one of the last dealerships, we started with 750 leads, and they ended up selling 22 bikes out of it," Breckenridge said, adding that the 750 leads were shaved down to 100 credible prospects, with 22 percent of those turning into sold bikes. "There's not a single dealership that we haven't gone into and sold at least one bike with what they've offered," he said. 0.0% Overall Overall JUNE 2013 PARTS SALES The 16-month slide in Same Store Sales for 1,317 dealers continues this month with only a small overall gain of 0.5 percent over June 2012. In results not seen for months, we find that in all five regions of the country the parts department is off by up to 9 percent. Service fares not much better, with three of five regions off by 2-6 percent. With the exception of only March 2013, dealers have consistently been above 2012, however, that gain now seems to be slipping away. 441 dealers were up in parts, while 876 were down. FOR MORE ON THE SAME STORE SALES DATA SERVICE SALES For more information on this report and other industry data, contact: adplightspeed.com/dataservices In service, 559 dealers were up, and 683 were down. MAJOR UNIT SALES For sales, 612 dealers were up, and 567 were down. What drives Breckenridge is the challenge of seeing a problem and finding a solution. He admits to being somewhat of a tinkerer with business operations. "I've always been kind of an efficiency nut myself. If there's a better, faster more costefficient way to do it, I want to know," he said. Breckenridge also finds joy in watching his students use his processes to succeed. At one Harley-Davidson dealership, he worked with a salesperson who was hesitant to trust him, but after the phone process was taught, that salesperson attracted all three of the prospects he called into a dealership visit. Of those three, one decided not to buy, one was credit-challenged and couldn't buy, but the third made a new vehicle purchase. The salesperson was, in turn, grateful for Breckenridge's leadership. See Twenty LLC, Page 10 STOCK MARKET WATCH MARKET WATCH 7/23/13 Change from 6/21 POWERSPORTS BUSINESS WINNERS AND LOSERS STOCK MARKET ACTIVITY 220 % Change Powersports Business Index 205.407 16.25 8.59% Dow Jones Index 135.406 6.68 5.19% 200 180 160 140 120 S&P 500 Index 115.187 6.80 6.28% 100 80 P08x11-PSB10-Finance.indd 8 7/23/13 6/21/13 S&P 500 INDEXED 5/28/13 5/7/13 4/17/13 3/15/13 DOW JONES INDEXED 2/22/13 1/25/13 PSB INDEX VALUE 1/11/13 60 12/14/12 Source: Wells Fargo Securities LLC Company ArvinMeritor Polaris Industries, Inc. Dover Corporation Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Harley-Davidson, Inc. ARI Network Services, Inc. Intl. Speedway Corp. Cl. A Bridgestone Corp. ADR Orbital Engine Corp. Ltd. ADR MarineMax, Inc. Stock Ticker ARM PII DOV TRK HOG ARIS ISCA BRDCY OE HZO Price 7/23/13 $7.85 $106.02 $86.40 $19.46 $55.96 $2.98 $34.82 $74.86 $2.50 $10.65 Percent Change 17.0% 13.4% 11.7% 11.5% 10.7% 10.6% 10.4% 9.6% -1.2% -6.7% 7/31/13 2:43 PM