Press

All but one motorcycle brand's dealers declined in their year-over-year Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) as measured in a benchmarking study by independent company, Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. Overall motorcycle industry performance declined across a majority of the sales process activities tracked by the study, which led to lower PSI scores for 13 of the 14 major brands. Only Husqvarna didn't decline, as it maintained its PSI score of 90 it had achieved in last year's study.

“What I find very interesting is that from 2009 to 2010, the industry PSI scores went up,” explains Fran O'Hagan, President and CEO of Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. “If you think about it, in that time period, the motorcycle industry was hating life, but the industry's scores went up. Why did the scores go up so much last year and then go back down this year?”

The drop, O'Hagan suggests, is likely due to staffing issues at dealerships. Throughout the recession, dealerships cut back on staffing, including in the sales department. Indeed, in a recent study conducted by Powersports Business, 50 percent of the dealership respondents suggested they reduced staff levels in 2010.