- Joined
- Jun 26, 2011
- Messages
- 6,516
I'll share with you some wisdom from having been in the motorcycle business.
Only a fool for a dealer, tries to win the "lowest price" game. It is the road to ruin as fast as one can travel it. This is why so many Moto Guzzi dealers fold up a year or two into operations.
Selling a motorcycle is the "beginning" of a customer and dealer relationship, not the "quick-buck" and gone with the wind...
The long term value of a customer exists in generating repeat business from that customer for warranty, parts, service, tires and accessories sales.
I would never sell a motorcycle at a lowball price. Ever. I deserved to make a profit, and I wanted the unit in my marketplace to provide for further sales and eventually a good trade in and another sale. Selling a bike into a market far away from my own, just to make a couple hundred bucks, is the stupidest thing I could have done. It would give me next to no benefit at all, and damage another dealers market in the process. Why would I want to do that?
I had many excellent customers that upgraded every 2-3 years, providing me with well-known and reliable trade-ins to sell and another new unit in my marketplace. That was my meat and potatoes. I cultivated these relationships and protected them.
I will also tell you that from a dealers perspective, this obsession of people trying to get the lowest price, only permanently labels them as either a time waster, or cheap, neither of which has any long term value to the dealer, and hence, is highly unlikely to obtain excellent "above and beyond" after-sales support and service.
I always invested my best efforts on my best clients. It's only logical.
When you buy a motorcycle, you are not buying a melon in the market. If you do it correctly, you are establishing a long term relationship, even if that nearest dealer is 300 miles away. I for one, will take the value of a solid dealer relationship over the low price, every day and twice on Sundays...
On a personal note, I am a San Diego native although I moved away 16 years ago. Paul Lima, the owner of GP Motorcycles in San Diego, is a friend and I was a very good customer of his for many years. I bought several Moto Guzzi's and Ducati's from him. His technical abilities and knowledge of motorcycles is one of the best I've ever seen, and his honesty and business ethics are impeccable. To put it bluntly, Paul Lima is a stellar individual and exceptional motorcycle dealer. I trust him completely.
Good luck.
Only a fool for a dealer, tries to win the "lowest price" game. It is the road to ruin as fast as one can travel it. This is why so many Moto Guzzi dealers fold up a year or two into operations.
Selling a motorcycle is the "beginning" of a customer and dealer relationship, not the "quick-buck" and gone with the wind...
The long term value of a customer exists in generating repeat business from that customer for warranty, parts, service, tires and accessories sales.
I would never sell a motorcycle at a lowball price. Ever. I deserved to make a profit, and I wanted the unit in my marketplace to provide for further sales and eventually a good trade in and another sale. Selling a bike into a market far away from my own, just to make a couple hundred bucks, is the stupidest thing I could have done. It would give me next to no benefit at all, and damage another dealers market in the process. Why would I want to do that?
I had many excellent customers that upgraded every 2-3 years, providing me with well-known and reliable trade-ins to sell and another new unit in my marketplace. That was my meat and potatoes. I cultivated these relationships and protected them.
I will also tell you that from a dealers perspective, this obsession of people trying to get the lowest price, only permanently labels them as either a time waster, or cheap, neither of which has any long term value to the dealer, and hence, is highly unlikely to obtain excellent "above and beyond" after-sales support and service.
I always invested my best efforts on my best clients. It's only logical.
When you buy a motorcycle, you are not buying a melon in the market. If you do it correctly, you are establishing a long term relationship, even if that nearest dealer is 300 miles away. I for one, will take the value of a solid dealer relationship over the low price, every day and twice on Sundays...
On a personal note, I am a San Diego native although I moved away 16 years ago. Paul Lima, the owner of GP Motorcycles in San Diego, is a friend and I was a very good customer of his for many years. I bought several Moto Guzzi's and Ducati's from him. His technical abilities and knowledge of motorcycles is one of the best I've ever seen, and his honesty and business ethics are impeccable. To put it bluntly, Paul Lima is a stellar individual and exceptional motorcycle dealer. I trust him completely.
Good luck.
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