As we move farther and farther away from the pandemic slump, the motorcycle industry is beginning to see some incredible new opportunities develop for generating higher revenue and engaging new customers. Sales trends are pointing upward, and now that you have more financial wiggle room it may be time to consider automotive business consulting. The competition’s in the same boat, and this is the perfect time to get ahead of the game with better sales tactics.
There are marketing specialists, generalists, brand experts, and sales strategists who all may have something to offer depending on your business needs, and each has the potential to boost your motorcycle sales. But with so many agencies available, how do you find the right partner to make the biggest impact on your bottom line?
We’ll make it easy—the whole point of consultants is to bring the latest market and operations trends to your team, and the best of the best will be able to apply it to many aspects of your business. Let’s look at some evolving trends in the motorcycle industry so you’ll know if a potential partner is on the cutting edge.
Consider Developing Product Markets
There are two big categories of motorcycle sales that are gaining traction: EV bikes and restoration. If you’re not at least beginning to examine what these areas can do for your business, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table. Any automotive business consultant should be prepared to discuss these markets with you.
EVs and Tech Trends
Electric vehicle sales are up across the board, and the motorcycle industry is no exception. EVs are expected to account for $40 billion in sales by 2026, and the younger generation is increasingly looking at eco-friendly options. Even V-twin kingpin Harley-Davidson got in on the trend in 2019 when they teamed up with LiveWire, so you know something’s up.
Exactly where the EV market goes from here will depend on a lot of factors like government regulations, tech trends, and infrastructure development. But no matter what, it’s going to account for a larger and larger share of the market. Any automotive business consulting firm should have a deep understanding of all these points and be prepared to help you get in on the action.
Restoration
In contrast to classic car and truck sales, the restoration and modification business for motorcycle dealerships has always been a significant revenue opportunity. This is more true than ever as various market forces are pushing enthusiasts towards the legends of the industry.
Given the recent supply chain difficulties and labor costs, people are starting to choose restored bikes (especially British bikes) over long, drawn-out projects. As a dealer, you may be in a position to take advantage—a dedicated service department has the infrastructure to save a lot of time, and they have the connections to track down the parts you need. It’s worth finding out if this is a part of the market your team can leverage, and an automotive business consulting team should be prepared to discuss the possibilities with you.
Deploy the Right Training Strategy
Entropy is a fact of life for businesses, and if you’re not getting better you’re getting worse. Employee training fades from memory, attitudes can become complacent, and sales practices can quickly become out of date and out of touch.
Automotive business consulting agencies should be well-equipped with effective, time-tested training techniques and tactics that are bolstered by hard science and direct industry experience. This includes using phone scripts to integrate all aspects of your business and capture every revenue opportunity, and coaching on the level of the individual to help elevate your entire team.
If you’re considering an agency that doesn’t do its own training, move on. Consultants need to be excited to roll up their sleeves and jump into the trenches. After all, if they “understand the problem” but can’t help you fix it, who cares?
Engage New Customers
Since 1985, the average age of motorcycle owners has risen sharply, up from 27 years old to over 40 today. Ridership by gender skews as high as 90%+ male. These trends show no signs of big changes any time soon except in EV sales, where 58% of potential customers are under 25.
The average automotive business consulting expert should have a thorough understanding of how to market to traditional customers—but the top firms should be able to deliver a vision for developing tomorrow’s riders.
For example, one of the best opportunities for increasing profits lies in expanding the customer base to include more women. There is some small but encouraging news on this front: since 1985 female ridership has crept up a few percentage points, showing the potential is there—if your business makes an effort to engage.
Your partner agency needs to have a detailed plan to reach out to new demographics and excite new riders. Internet marketing should be especially important to this, as the digital universe is crushing print media. Your content library (YouTube, Meta, etc.) and online advertising should feature people from the demographics you’re targeting enjoying motorcycles out in the real world.
Tackle Practical Business Concerns
Finally, your automotive business consultant should be able to help you streamline all your processes and identify basic areas where you can boost your KPIs. These issues may not be as glamorous as rolling out a new sales strategy, but they can have a major impact on your revenue nonetheless.
For instance, sad as it may sound, only about 20% of sales calls result in your team members booking appointments. The reason is as simple as it is painful:
They forget to ask.
By using well-crafted tools like phone scripts that build appointment-setting language into the conversation automatically, those numbers go up to 60-80%+. As every motorcycle dealership owner knows, even with the best ad campaign in the world, it’s very hard to sell a bike to someone who doesn’t walk into your showroom.
This is just one of the many operational details a partner should be spotting to boost your motorcycle sales at every step of the consulting process.
Kick Your Business into High Gear with Phone Ninjas
If you’re looking for an automotive business consultant who can develop every aspect of your motorcycle dealership, Phone Ninjas is the partner for you. We’ve got decades of experience in the motorcycle industry, and we know what it takes to connect with these extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable customers to boost your sales goals.
We’re not one-and-done jet setters, either—we’re in it for the long haul. True learning takes time as people incorporate new concepts and work to seamlessly integrate new knowledge into their jobs. Our coaches work in one-on-one weekly sessions to ensure every team member can contribute to the overall success of your business. We also do our own mystery shopping so we can follow up with shopped employees to sharpen their skills even more!
We can’t wait to start working with you to get your motorcycle dealership firing on all cylinders. Reach out today for a free demo and two free mystery shops to find out where we can take your business.
As the COO | Partner of Phone Ninjas, Chris delivers leadership, coaching, and mentorship to 55 team members providing software sales and phone skills coaching. He fosters powerful partnerships and collaborations with leaders across various business sectors, establishing expectations, communicating vision, and escalating performance to maximize productivity and effectiveness.
Chris is an innovation-driven business executive with over 25 years of experience delivering leadership to teams of up to 75 overseeing development, launch, and sale of website lead acquisition, reconditioning process software systems, and technology that support automotive dealerships across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
