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POWER 50 Southern Honda Powersports gives back BY KATE SWANSON ASSISTANT EDITOR At Southern Honda Powersports in Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, it's all about three things: price, transparency and selection. The dealer- ship began distributing Honda motorcycles and ATVs in 2003 and since then, has sold more than 67,000 units. In fact, Southern Honda has gained many accolades for its com- mitment to taking good care of its customers. In 2015, the Honda Finance Council of Excellence named the dealership No.1 in the nation. Casey Tuggle, chief information offi- cer and brand manager of Southern Honda, said, "Honda's Council of Excellence requires being well rounded, so it's not just number of contracts, it's number of contracts submit- ted correctly. We appreciate the Council of Excellence's validation of our commitment to the customer." Tim Kelly, owner of Southern Honda, is no stranger to dealerships. A third-generation car dealer, Kelly got his start in the automo- tive industry and purchased a powersports store, when he decided to branch out on his own. After a few years of selling Polaris, Kelly bought a small local Honda store and never looked back. "We were very early kind of adopters of a good, robust website, digital strategy and Google AdWords, and it just came together and just kind of took off," Kelly said. "It's hard to believe that we're at 13 years, but we're chugging along and looking into the future." The principles of price, transparency and selection, are carried over into everyday business at Southern Honda. "Honda has a huge variety of models, and it's difficult for a smaller dealer to have one of everything. We don't always have one of everything, but we try, so selection is a big deal," Kelly said. The dealership places emphasis on being transparent, that the price that the customers is given is the price they end up paying, with- out any hidden fees. "We realized we needed to have a very clear and compelling message. … When we quote you a price, that's the price," he added. The decision to be a single-line Honda dealer also held purpose. Kelly said that growing up in the multi-line car business taught him that carrying multiple lines was like trying to speak a different language for every line. "Not coincidentally, both stores that I have are both single line stores because sin- gleness of purpose is a powerful thing," said Kelly. "When a salesperson has to make their living with that brand, and it's the reason to get up every morning, living and breathing that brand, it's a very powerful thing." From a business standpoint, side-by-sides sales have experienced the largest growth as a segment this year, with the Pioneer 1000 being the clear frontrunner. "It's side-by-sides for sure right now," said Kelly. "Bikes and ATVs are doing okay. We're obviously wor- ried about side-by-sides cannibalizing ATVs, but ATVs seem to be holding on pretty well." In 2014, the dealership implemented sev- eral improvements to help with its overall success, including a reorganization of the sales department and switching website pro- viders to Dealer Spike. With the reorganization, Southern Honda added a sales manager rather than relying on one general manager to do everything. "From a management perspective, this store is large enough that we found it has to run with very strict policies and procedures. Having a sales manager focused on sales and more of an operations manager focused on operations has been an important philosophical shift here," said Kelly. "One the website side, our goal has always been to do something as unique as the store and yet still remain tied in to a lot of the func- tionality that's kind of baked into the supplier connections," said Kelly. Tuggle agreed that Dealer Spike was a better fit for the dealership's needs, allowing for more flexibility: "They had less of a focus on the parts catalog, but that was a secondary part of the business for us. It just made more sense." Southern Honda stays involved with mul- tiple events in the Chattanooga community, including one of the biggest music festivals, Nightfall, which takes place Friday nights in May through August. Kelly said he first began sponsoring the event from an automotive perspective, but as more motorcycles began showing up, it became a great fit for the pow- ersports dealership as well. This year Kelly said there were around 500 bikes attending per night. "It's kind of become a signature event for us and for riders in this area to come down on a Friday night. We love it, and I imagine we'll support it for An unbeatable dose of southern charm 46 • September 6, 2016 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com ALAMO CYCLE PLEX • AMERICA'S MOTOR SPORTS • AVALANCHE MOTORSPORTS • BEARTOOTH HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK BEAR HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK JACK HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK WOLF HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BOB WEAVER MOTORSPORTS & MARINE, INC • BOSWELL'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BREWER CYCLES, INC • CALCULATED RISK GROUP • CENTRAL TEXAS POWERSPORTS • COLE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • CROSSROAD POWERSPORTS • CYCLE NORTH POWERSPORTS • DEL AMO MOTORSPORTS • DELAND MOTORSPORTS • FAY MYERS MOTORCYCLE WORLD • FREEDOM POWERSPORTS • HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF SCOTTSDALE • HATTIESBURG CYCLES • INDIAN MOTORCYCLE ORLANDO • KEN'S SPORTS, INC. • KILLEEN POWER SPORTS, LTD. • LAS VEGAS HARLEY-DAVIDSON • LOGAN POWERSPORTS GROUP • MAXIM HONDA YAMAHA • MYERS-DUREN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • POWERSPORTS OF MONTGOMERY • REC-TECH POWER PRODUCTS • RENO CYCLES & GEAR POLARIS • RIVA MOTORSPORTS SUPERSTORE • RIVERSIDE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • ROAD TRACK AND TRAIL LLC • SHELDON'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SHOW LOW MOTORSPORTS • SIMPLY STREET BIKES • SKY POWERSPORTS SMOKY MOUNTAIN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHERN HONDA POWERSPORTS • SOUTHERN THUNDER HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHLAND CYCLE CENTER • ST. PAUL HARLEY-DAVIDSON • TEAM CAROLINA POWERSPORTS • THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION • VERN EIDE MOTOPLEX • WILD PRAIRIE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • WILDCAT HARLEY-DAVIDSON • WILKINS HARLEY-DAVIDSON • XTREME POWERSPORTS Southern Honda Powersports features a large inventory of Honda ATVs, side-by-sides and motorcycles in its Chattanooga, Tenn.-based dealership. Southern Honda Powersports employs its unbeatable standards on price, transparency and selection. The dealership, located on the industrial side of town, engages in multiple community events to increase awareness. See Southern Honda, Page 47