Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/343790
OPINION FROM THE EDITOR 20 • July 13, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com I call it lakeside work. My kids wonder what kind of job I have that allows me to push back from the desk on a sunny Friday in June to go to the lake. "I'm doing work," usually is met with some sort of sarcasm by the youngsters. Officially, it was work when the #SparkSomeLife Tour came rolling into the Twin Cities. And the more you can do work in sandals or helmets, in my book, the better. You can check out the scoop on what deal- ers had to say about the Sea-Doo Spark in the PWC section, but I'll tell you that several folks I ran into at the beach that day wanted one and they wanted one now. One older guy found out that the demo rides were going to be available, so he drove up from Iowa to see and ride the Spark for himself. He was among the throngs that could be heard singing the praises of its ease of use and maneuverabil- ity, and seeking to take a look at the machines inner- workings underneath the seat. The demo tour staff capably answered all questions, and turned the riders onto some of the Spark's features. As part of her attempt to see and hear the feedback from riders after they rode, Sea-Doo North Ameri- can marketing director Julie Tourville was glad she made the weekend trip from Quebec. She was keenly interested in observing the banter between friends as they started and finished their Spark ride. Tourville is attending the demo tour in select other markets as she ensures the continuing success of the Spark launch. Her company poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the consumer reveal with a deadmau5 concert in Miami Beach, and the Spark TV commer- cials have been mesmerizing. But it's hard to top a viral video, and that's just what happened when a Spark YouTube video topped 500,000 views less than a week after it was published. The early morning dealer training session on the lake gave many principals, GMs and sales staffers their first chance to ride the Spark. Some of them finished their morning training sessions on the lakefront, only to settle in for the weekend at their booths to sell more Sparks and other Sea-Doo products. So from what I saw at the demo tour, all the Spark hype is no bull. Speaking of bulls, I also had to get some work done down in Texas at the Viking VI press launch. The always hospitable folks at Yamaha got the opening night dinner started right by bringing out a couple of long- horn bulls. I first sat atop T-Bone, a 7-year-old boss who weighs about 1,900 pounds. You can see the results of my first encounter in a photo on the cover of this edi- tion of PSB. Those of you who Like PSB on Facebook, alas, first might have seen a similar photo on June 3. So if you don't like us on Facebook yet, do it now. We'll take a deeper dive into the Viking VI in our next edition, but suffice to say that when I was one of six adults seated in the Viking VI on a short demo loop, it never crossed my mind that I was cramped or that my legs were too long. So it was plenty comfort- able to me, and hopefully it will bring dealers some comfort to their bottom line. Speaking of bulls again, I caught up with Scott Fischer, principal of Scott Fischer Enterprises, which owns Harley-Davidson dealerships throughout the country. You can read all about his new Six Bend Harley-Davidson store and retail complex in Fort Myers in the Motorcycle section of this edition. He is high on the prospects for Harley dealers, and this complex could be game-changing in its stature. For starters, when I waiting out a layover in Atlanta on my way back from a KYMCO press ride in South Carolina, I was able to take a video tour of Scott's press event via the Facetime app. A PR pro simply walked me through the dealership while Facetiming on a tablet, and I could hear the play-by-play of the dealership's construction chief walking the assembled media (clad in hard helmets) through the store, hammers and saws doing what they do in the backroom. Worked great, and I'd recommend the heck out of doing it to provide folks with more flavor of your product or brand. We can't all be everywhere all the time, but in this case, it sure made it seem like we could. By the way, Fischer proclaimed himself "very bull- ish about business overall. Nothing makes us more money than what we know." And what I know after attending the KYMCO 2015 ATV and side-by-side press ride at Big Buck Farm in South Carolina is that KYMCO can be an innova- tor. The Taiwanese brand stepped to the forefront in reaching new users when it unveiled the UXV 500i G, with the G standing for generator. It's one of the cool- est things I've seen on a side-by-side, and hats off to KYMCO for bring it to market. The 5-kilowatt genera- tor doesn't take up any space in the bed, and simply provides electrical power to locations that previous were unable to have such power. We had a couple of back-to-back trips this month, so similar to the Vikings, we'll get insight and specifics on KYMCO's range of 2015 products in the next edition. For now, you can check out videos from both the KYMCO and Yamaha events on the PSB YouTube page. Managing editor Liz Keener posted all kinds of cool stuff on our YouTube page over the past few weeks. She's also been on a serious industry travel schedule, loving every second of it. You can read about her adventures at the Minnesota Mud Nationals at Quadna and her trip to Sabertooth Motorcycles just north of the Twin Cities. And be sure to check out her video of the endo at Quadna. Liz found several dealers exhibiting at Quadna who were interested in learning more about the PSB Power 50 Dealer Awards program. In fact, one of them planned to complete the dealership's Power 50 appli- cation the following week. It'll be well worth your time and effort to complete the application. I can't wait until the Aug. 1 deadline, when we start investigating some of the traits that make the best dealerships perform at a high level. Do you hit your mark with events? Cus- tomer service? Service techs? F&I dept.? Pre-owned sales. Since you're still operating in 2014, each of you has a success story, and we look forward to learning more about yours in the Power 50 application. Apply online at powersportsbusiness.com/power-50. We'll celebrate the Power 50 at an award dinner during the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo in Orlando, Oct. 16-17. In the Aug. 11 issue, we'll announce the speakers who will be providing the dealer training sessions at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo. Finally, here's to a successful future for Tom Kaiser, PSB's former managing editor. He's taken some crazy off-road trips during his eight-year tenure year with PSB and our sister publications, and many of you had some memorable times with Tom on the trail. PSB Dave McMahon is editor in chief of Powersports Business. Contact him at 763/383-4411 or dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com. 1. Yamaha unveils 6-seater Viking VI, starting at $12,799 2. Dealer's letter to soldier goes viral 3. Harley-Davidson reveals electric bike, Project LiveWire 4. Suzuki reveals 2015 motorcycle, ATV lineup 5. Claude Jordan steps down as Arctic Cat CEO 6. Polaris buys Minnesota office building 7. 2015 Ranger XP 900 receives 13 percent power boost 8. KYMCO unveils 2015 ATV, UTV lineup 9. Heichelbech out as Triumph North America CEO 10. Analyst: Harley management calls Street line a 'home run' 11. Ducati employees get exclusive glimpse at Scrambler 12. BRP: Evinrude dealer event to feature 'new era of outboards' 13. KTM unveils 2015 motocross models 14. Yamaha reveals all-new FZ-07 with $6,990 MSRP 15. CFMOTO becomes first Chinese bike to finish Isle of Man TT The headlines above belong to the most frequently viewed articles from Powersports Business' twice weekly e-news during the June 2-24 period. The number is based on the percentage of e-news viewers who clicked on the article's headline. To subscribe to e-news, go to www.powersportsbusiness.com/newsletter-signup. WHAT'S THE HOTTEST INDUSTRY TOPIC? Powersports Business blog ONLINE WITH POWERSPORTSBUSINESS.COM Leading industry executives and dealer consultants are among the contributors to PSB's blog. See below for recent blogs. Doing lakeside work — and that's no bull! Visit powersportsbusiness.com/blogs José Boisjoli talks Ski-Doo PSB managing editor Liz Keener recently cov- ered Club Evinrude for PSB's sister publication Boating Industry. During the global reveal of the new E-TEC G2 outboard, BRP CEO José Boisjoli shared an anecdote about Ski-Doo's suc- cess with its REV platform. Liz caught the story on video. That video is available, along with others, at youtube.com/powersportsbusiness. The channel has more than 84,000 views and counting. JOHN R. GRAHAM Sales & Marketing Consultant, GrahamComm It's ironic that the greater the emphasis on "making the sale," whether of a product or an idea, the more custom- ers pull back mentally, physically or both. No one wants to be cornered and made to feel inadequate and manipulated. LIZ KEENER Managing Editor, Powersports Business In one room there are a variety of deal- ership principals, general managers and employees. Gina Marra, GM of Go AZ Motorcycles is there, holding a hefty award, while Kevin Lackey of Freedom Powersports and John Walker of Cen- tral Texas Powersports dine together. COLLEEN BROUSIL Director of Marketing, ARI iBeacons can send the shopper cou- pons and other offers while they are literally standing in your dealership. These hyper-targeted iBeacons allow you to monitor your customer's behav- ior step-by-step. STEVE LEMCO Author, "Training and Hiring New Salespeople" The best way I found to keep sales- people from going into a long slump is to talk to them about their efforts. Possibly there is a lack of Gotta- Wanna that needs attention. Most of the time if you fix that problem, you will shorten many slumps. DAVE McMAHON