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www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • March 17, 2014 • 21 FOCUS PSB Power 50 20 • March 17, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com DeLand Motorsports capitalizes on Suzuki offerings BY DAVE McMAHON EDITOR IN CHIEF Nate Stickney was in full "go" mode when Powersports Business caught up with him in early February. With Bike Week just around the corner, the general manager at DeLand Motorsports in Florida was juggling a rise in showroom traffic and phones that were ringing at a steady pace. And the orders of jackets, gloves, helmets, T-shirts — "any P&A you can imagine" — were making their way into the dealership. It's all part of a routine at this extra-important time of year at the store, which was selected a Power 50 dealer- ship in 2013 and ultimately ranked No. 4 among all 50 dealers selected. Stickney is no doubt the driving force behind the success. He came on board in 2006, two years after the store had opened, as F&I manager. He was fast-tracked to GM shortly thereafter, and now is seeking another major OEM to join the likes of Suzuki, Arctic Cat, Yamaha and KYMCO at his store. As the dealership prepares for spring, the Suzuki relationship will once again help the store separate itself from the vast competition along the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Daytona Beach. "We've had an unbelievable partnership with Suzuki," he said. "We built the store around them in 2004. Coming out of the economic col- lapse, we've really been able to take advantage of their noncurrent programs. We've also done well with their 0 percent financing campaign, and we've been very successful selling their F&I products, Suzuki extended protection." Stickney says the 0 percent financing pro- gram that Suzuki has offered intermittently for the last two years has been especially helpful at bringing in floor traffic to the dealership, located 34 miles north of Orlando and 23 miles west of Daytona Beach. "People look at those finance promotions and it helps get people in here, and we've done really well with it," he said. DeLand has acquired extensive aged inven- tory from other Suzuki dealers that have closed or liquidated over the past few years, providing customers with another buying option. "We remarket them and get them out the door," Stickney said. "We've been the place to come for a good deal for awhile now. You can get noncurrent bikes here and save money." Sales of Suzuki F&I products have been especially strong in recent years, with DeLand ranking as the No. 3 seller of the OEM's extended protection service contracts. Sales of Suzuki-exclusive tire and wheel and GAP products also have moved well, Stickney said. F&I manager Robert Stacy is tasked with handling those sales, and Stickney credits his approach for the success. "You have to a good guy in place to move that stuff, and Robert's that guy," Stickney said. "He packages it with the 0 percent financing, and people see value in that. They can put it all in the deal and not pay interest on it. He has his menus like all the other guys out there, but he sells it very well. He believes in it. Being a Suzuki-only store as far as road bikes go, we see these people come back and use these products and benefit from them, so it's an easy sell. There's a trust factor." BIG QUARTER AHEAD The relationship between DeLand and Suzuki is further enhanced by the store's status as the brand's exclusive vendor for Bike Week, Biketoberfest and AIMExpo. Now in it's fourth year, the partnership, for instance, allows DeLand to set up a retail operation in the Suzuki area at Daytona International Speed- way. Alas, the store had plenty of P&A arriving weeks before the event. "It's been a great revenue source for us," he said. "We sell our P&A there, and market to people there to come back to the store and buy bikes and get their service work done. It's a very unique setup compared to other OEMs, who sell their own P&A. Having that partnership has really helped us. It's something different. They're like family to us. They value that part- nership just as much as we do." Stickney estimates that he sold "five or six" Suzuki motorcycles last year simply from con- verting Bike Week prospects. "It's a huge boost for us in March," he said of the Bike Week sales. "We do about 67 percent of our business in the first quarter of the year. So this our time to shine." Now in its second year as an Arctic Cat ATV dealer, DeLand has become the No. 1 Wildcat dealer in the district, which includes all of Florida and the southern half of Georgia. Stickney says the brand's ATV market share has grown by 500 percent in the area since DeLand took over sales. It's all a sign of things to come, Stickney says. "We're really seeking another major OEM, and hopefully we can get one of them to dance," he said. A staff of 12 full-time employees has a wealth of opportunities, with about 150 units on the showroom at the 9,500 square-foot store. Dealer's OEM partner 'like family' A.D. FARROW CO. HARLEY- DAVIDSON FAMILY OF DEALERSHIPS Sunbury, OH ACTION SUZUKI Mesquite, TX ADAM SMITH'S TEXAS HARLEY-DAVIDSON Bedford, TX AMERICA'S MOTOR SPORTS Nashville, TN BAYSIDE HARLEY- DAVIDSON Portsmouth, VA BERT'S MEGA MALL Covina, CA BOB WEAVER MOTORSPORTS & MARINE, INC. North Tonawanda, NY BREWER CYCLES, INC. Henderson, NC CENTRAL TEXAS POWERSPORTS Georgetown, TX COLE HARLEY-DAVIDSON Bluefield, WV COLEMAN POWERSPORTS Falls Church, VA CYCLE NATION OF HUNTSVILLE Huntsville, AL CYCLE NORTH POWERSPORTS Prince George, British Columbia DEL AMO MOTORSPORTS Redondo Beach, CA DELAND MOTORSPORTS DeLand, FL DREYER HONDA SOUTH Whiteland, IN DUCATI NEWPORT BEACH Costa Mesa, CA The following dealerships were named to the inaugural Power 50 by PSB during an awards dinner in October at AIMExpo sponsored by ARI Network Services, Inc. Applications are now being accepted for dealerships interested in seeking 2014 Power 50 status at: www.powersportsbusiness.com/power-50. Industry members can nominate dealerships for the Power 50 by emailing PSB editor Dave McMahon at dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com. See Deland, Page 24 DeLand Motorsports was ranked the No. 4 dealer in North America in 2013 among the Powersports Business Power 50 dealers. "The key has been building a solid team that understands how important it is to offer the customer the best experience possible," said GM Nate Stickney. National ranking of DeLand Motorsports in sales of Suzuki's extended protection service contracts. 3 P16x25-PSB4-Focus.indd 20 3/5/14 11:44 AM