American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 224 March 2018 | Page 20

helmet and apparel specialists to
street or off-road specialists, specialty
product or brand training support,
depending on the business
opportunity that the dealer has. Our
sales team can also call on IT support
and logistics experts, marketing help,
social media training - a full range of
back-up to help us to be a genuine
partner for our customers that helps
them to make the most of the business
opportunities their local riding
population represents.
“If a shop is having a ‘Bike Night’ or
other form of dealership event, then
there is a team of supporters that can
now attend to help make the most of
the opportunity and add value to the
experience for customers.
“This means we are better able to
understand the business profiles of our
‘we haven’t lost any customers’
dealers, and they have responded very
positively to this new approach. Under
our ‘Legacy’ sales model dealers had
very limited pathways to interact with
us, now they will know anything up to
four, five or six people at our company
who can help them.
“Previously our inside and outside
sales were, effectively, competing with
each other, now they are all part of
account-based teams. This is an
entirely new culture that Eric is
creating, and the results are already
starting to speak for themselves.”
Asked if Biker’s Choice had increased
the level of dealer buy-in, in line with
practices seen elsewhere in the
market, Ikels said “No. For us it is not
about any specific artificial minimum.
For us it is about the customer’s
commitment to the motorcycle
industry.
“One shop’s $5,000 may be another
shop’s $50,000. Ours is a level playing
‘ever improving service’
field approach. As far as we are
concerned all opportunities are equal
opportunities in terms of their
importance to the motorcycle industry,
and we want to help all our customers
make the most of their local
opportunity. We want to help them
leverage what we have to offer and to
make the most of what we and our
vendors can do for their bottom line.
“If we are able to grow all our dealers’
businesses and, crucially, do so
profitability, then everybody wins. We
would take a great deal of satisfaction
in helping smaller shops make more
money, just as we would in helping a
relatively modest sized vendor grow
their business. It really is all about
partnership and our improvements, so
we can improve the quality of that
partnership for all concerned.”
“We are now seeing some
of the synergies emerge”
Andy Graves, CEO MAG
At the recent Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice Dealer
and Brand Expo in Texas we met again with
MAG CEO Andy Graves for an update on where
the company was in emergence from their
November 2017 Chapter 11 reorganizat