Press - motorcycle

Ducati has been the fastest-growing motorcycle brand in the United States for the past five years, but it was by no means an immediate success. The company changed almost everything about itself, from the models it imports to the distribution of dealerships. It focused more on boutique, specialized dealerships and removed itself from the big multibrand dealerships that sell product, but don't sell brand.
Because Ducati is a niche product, Lock said, it is crucial that each dealer makes a personal connection with customers. Ducati does not have any company-owned stores in the United States, but works closely with its franchise owners to create an environment that focuses on the strengths of its dealers and the product.

This year, Ducati was ranked first among all motorcycle brands sold in the United States in customer satisfaction, according to the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index. The independent study uses 2,100 anonymous “mystery shoppers,” who rate the customer experience at dealerships. Ducati beat out such brands as Harley-Davidson, which ranked first the previous two years, and BMW.

A recent study gave Ducati dealers the highest ranking among U.S. dealerships for how they treat their customers.

Compared to last year, the motorcycle sales department staff is more likely to introduce themselves to clients and ask follow-up questions, not to mention encourage consumers to sit on a bike.

However, they are less likely to inform the consumer about financing options, discuss the bike's unique features and how those compare to the competition, and less likely to provide visual aids, like brochures.

Those are some of the key findings from a national study that examines the effectiveness of the motorcycle industry's retail sales force. The study, called the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI), not only examines dozens of retail sales practices, but also identifies how specific brands are performing compared to their competitors.

Ducati dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2009 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study, which measures how consumers are treated when shopping for a new motorcycle.

Motorcycle salespeople on average asked prospective customers for their contact information only 45 percent of the time during a recent nine-month period, according to the 2009 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index study. Sounds bad, right? But it's actually an improvement over the previous year's study in which salespeople asked only 38 percent of time. Dealership staff members seem to be improving in other areas as well, the study reported.

Ducati dealerships ranked highest in the newly released 2009 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index(R) (PSI) U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study, one of a series of annual benchmarking studies which measure how consumers are treated when shopping for a new car, motorcycle, RV or boat. The independent study sent 2,100 hired anonymous “mystery shoppers” into motorcycle dealerships nationwide, then used the patent-pending PSI process to compile the results into accurate measurement of how each brand's dealerships treat motorcycle shoppers.

Many shoppers today walk through the door of a dealership armed with enough product information from the internet to give a product "walk-around" themselves. The question is, "What can today's shoppers learn from your salespeople?" We know that the most successful salespeople are seen by the shoppers as helpful, rather than simply trying to sell a motorcycle without regard for the shopper's interests or needs. But if all a salesperson knows about a particular motorcycle are the specs printed in a brochure or the stats listed on a web site, then many of the most serious shoppers will find little value in talking with that salesperson.

Remember when you were a kid and built model cars or airplanes? You spent hours carefully assembling your models, but then placed them on a shelf and didn't pay much attention to them afterward. Building the models was the part that was fun.

Now consider an important ingredient to Harley-Davidson's survival thirty years ago: If you wanted to ride a Harley back then, you also had to regularly repair it, or even better, replace parts prone to failure with better aftermarket parts. The point is that owning a Harley involved a "relationship" with the motorcycle, rather than just a vehicle parked in the garage.

“There is now irrevocable evidence that there is a link between scoring high on PSIs and developing your business,” said Ducati North America (DNA) CEO Michael Lock. “You don't develop the business because you score high on PSI, you develop the business because you're running the business properly” on which the PSI is one measuring tool.

DNA dealers who consistently fared well in a retail sales practice survey called the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) turn out to be the brand's highest-volume dealers, officials say.

Plus, DNA dealers who retailed 10 or more additional new units in 2008 over the previous year saw their PSI scores increase by an average of 2 points. On the other hand, DNA dealers who retailed at least 10 fewer units in 2008 compared to the previous year saw their PSI scores diminish by an average of 3 points.

According to a 2008 survey, motorcycle dealers respond to a consumer's e-mail inquiry within 24 hours only 30 percent of the time, according to a national benchmarking study that examines the effectiveness of the motorcycle industry's sales force. The survey of more than 800 dealerships, called the Prospect Satisfaction Index by Pied Piper Management Co., shows the motorcycle industry well behind the auto industry in this effort. The auto industry was twice as likely in 2008 to return a customer e-mail inquiry within 24 hours in comparison to motorcycle dealers.