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