Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/657286
Alvarado, an attorney from the Texas Depart- ment of Motor Vehicles. But the most impressive part of the day-long gathering was the dealer roundtable discus- sion. At each TMDA meeting, three dealers are appointed to talk briefly about an aspect of their dealership that has taken a significant turn for the better over the past year. Of course, the dealer shares the "how" and "why" details about the best practice in hopes that fellow dealers in attendance can bring home the tac- tics that they can employ in their own dealer- ships. With that in mind, we don't want to give away the highly valuable information that those dealers in attendance received. Let's just say, though, that Bob Kee from Destina- tion Cycle Sports in Kerrville (Service); Steve Littlefield from Central Texas Powersports in Georgetown (Sales) and Carlos Gonzalez from Cycle Center of Denton (Parts & Acces- sories) all provided impressive presentations that ranged from auction tips related to service department efficiencies; to accessorizing not only UTVs but also dirt bikes and adventure bikes; to recognizing your local sales trends, especially in the UTV market. After that session, dealers were plenty energized for a lunch sponsored by Federated Insurance, during which TMDA lobbyist Royce Poinsett provided an update about chatter at the state capitol, and how it could affect dealer- ship owners. Poinsett, incidentally, had plenty to do with helping expedite the Slingshot legis- lation that made its sales possible in the state. The association's general business meeting followed, and the board gathered for a brief meeting to finish the day's proceedings before 4:30 p.m. There were a handful dealership owners in attendance who were taking part in the annual meeting for the first time. The consen- sus among them was "I had no idea that I was missing all of this by not attending," and all of them vowed to return next year. And, as Lamb and others in the asso- ciation could not emphasize enough, ideally they will bring a dealer friend or two with them to the meeting next year, and their 50th celebration will host a Texas-sized dealer turnout. PSB 4 • April 4, 2016 • Powersports Business NEWS www.PowersportsBusiness.com www.powersportsbusiness.com Editorial and Sales: 763.383.4400 Subscriber Service: 847.763.9565 EDITOR IN CHIEF: Dave McMahon 763/383-4411 (dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com) MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Keener 763/383-4413 (lkeener@powersportsbusiness.com) ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kate Swanson 763/383-4412 (kswanson@powersportsbusiness.com) DIGITAL MARKETING COORDINATOR: Shauna Spencer MANAGING ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Nicole Siewert PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Cherri Perschmann NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Allison Gruhn 763/383-4467 (agruhn@powersportsbusiness.com) NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Mark Rosacker 763/383-4433 (mrosacker@snowgoer.com) NATIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Michael Kula 763/383-4440 (mkula@ridermagazine.com) CEO: Marion Minor SR. VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE & OPERATIONS: Gerald Winkel SR. VICE PRESIDENT/MARKET DEVELOPMENT: Joanne Juda-Prainito GROUP PUBLISHER/MOTORCYCLE, POWERSPORTS: David J. Voll SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER: Bernadette Wohlman CONTRIBUTORS: COLUMNISTS: Tom Walworth, Scott Stropkai, Paula Crosbie, Steve Jones CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Lisa Pelissier DEALER ADVISORY BOARD: Hooksett Kawasaki-Polaris, Jim Whalley; Hacker's Yamaha & Honda, Rick Hacker; Honda/Polaris of Lubbock, Morris Baker; All Action Water Sports, Ray Leps POWERSPORTS BUSINESS (ISSN #1522-7944) is published 15 times per year – monthly except twice in May and December, the Market Data Book in September – by EPG Media/Specialty Information Media, 10405 6th Avenue North, Suite 210 Minneapolis, MN 55441. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile and personal watercraft industries. Annual subscription rate is $56 per year for U.S residents, $76 for Canadian residents and $96 for residents in other countries. All paid subscriptions must be paid in advance and in U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Powersports Business, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Visit www.PowersportsBusiness.com, email customerservice@specialtyim.com, call (845) 856-2229, fax (847) 763-9569 or write to Powersports Business, PO Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CANADIAN RETURN ADDRESS: EPG Media & Specialty Information, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6J3. Publication Sales Agreement #40012332. EDITORIAL: All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailer's risk and must include self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for return. Send editorial materials to EPG Media/Specialty Information Media, 10405 6th Avenue North, Suite 210 Minneapolis, MN 55441, 763/383-4400. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materials. Powersports Business is a registered trademark of EPG Media & Specialty Information. Copyright 2016 by EPG Media & Specialty Information. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by publisher. REPRINTS: For more information on e-prints or reprints from Powersports Business, contact Robin Cooper, 763/383-4400 ext. 4491. Printed in U.S.A. While the past year was exceptional, let's not sit back on our laurels — let's crank it up and get this industry to even higher levels in 2016 and beyond. In 2015, the 12-month rolling average placed the powersports market up almost 60,000 units nationwide. There were segments for regions that did very well, and other segments in states that did not fare as well. Take a look at a comparison of the segments nationwide, in the entire state of Texas and in Austin, Texas. When you look at the national market, it is up 7.57 percent; the state market for Texas is down 1.47 percent, and the local Austin mar- ket is up 1.26 percent. From the dealer's point of view, which market indicator should they use to order product? Why are these market numbers so different? The demographics and the area that your dealership services are the main reasons for the differences in buying patterns. It would be critical to know that ATVs, traditional bikes and competition bikes were up for the Austin market. You may have an abundance of buyers for a segment that is different from the state and national average. To understand the demographics of the buyer would require a population sampling that would take additional time and money. The retail sales report that would be tailored for your market would be a more efficient and less expensive method to reach out to these buyers. The first step would be to understand the market trends for all the product types that you carry — are they going up or down? The next step would be to understand the mix of products that you will need to carry for that product type. The third step would be to look at the price points and which way they are shifting. This should be a function of displace- ment, but it may be a function of options such as suspension and styling. Once you have determined what to buy, you will need to look at the seasonality as to when you need to stock the product. You may not have as much flexibility with this based on the OEM stocking requirements. Now that you have balanced your inven- tory, you will now need to know where to find additional sales. You need to look at the sales funnel. In what county, city and zip code is each product type being sold? You can use the Google ad tool to purchase links, so that if anyone in that county, city or zip code is looking for the product that you have stocked, your dealership will be coming up on his or her screen. The advan- tage that you will have is that you can buy in smaller areas and have a better return on your investment. There are many other tools that you can use once you have the purchaser's information, but Google is used most commonly. The most important point is that you must always use your market to make buy- ing decisions. If you stock what sells in your market, you will improve the turns in your market. More turns will equal increased sales and profit. We are going to be looking at a growing market in 2016. Get off on the right foot and know your market. PSB Tom Walworth, president of Statistical Sur- veys, is a 37-year veteran of the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based firm. Scott Stropkai is the com- pany's national sales manager for powersports. Contact them at www.statisticalsurveys.com or 616/281-9898. Overall market gains 60K units in 2015 TOM WALWORTH & SCOTT STROPKAI STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 2015 VS. 2014 TEXAS CONTINUED FROM COVER 8% 6% -2% -1% 18% 4% 40% 6% -2% 22% -28% -68% -23% 10% -1% -3% -8% -10% 11% -18% 44% -11% -7% 6% -57% -65% -67% 0% 1% 9% -9% -15% -3% -17% 47% -6% -25% 41% -67% -46% 0% 0% -80% -60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% All ATV TOURING CRUISER SPORT BIKE SCOOTER TRADITIONAL BIKES DIRT BIKE ENDURO COMPETITION ROAD/ STREET MINI BIKE CHOPPER TRIKE National Texas Austin i % s 4 % A % % 2 - 2 % Members of the Texas Motorcycle Dealers Association board of directors didn't grow antlers while they were in Austin during the group's annual conference, but they did allow PSB editor in chief Dave McMahon to observe their meeting. Source: Statistical Surveys, Inc