Press

For the second consecutive year, Ducati dealers led the industry in the annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI).

PSI measures how dealerships treat motorcycle shoppers in 50 different sales process categories. Though Ducati led the pack at 116 points, with a 4-point lead over second-place Harley-Davidson, the overall industry improved as well. The industry average increased 3 points to 107. Thirteen of the 17 brands studied increased their scores over 2014, while the four that saw decreases dropped by only 1 point each.

"It's very encouraging," Fran O'Hagan, president of Pied Piper Management Company LLC, told Powersports Business.

Collectively, motorcycle dealers from across the U.S. contributed to a 107 average score, the highest the industry has achieved since Pied Piper began tracking motorcycle dealer PSI in 2007. But there are certain areas where the dealers especially stood out in the 2015 survey.

"There are specific examples of where the industry has improved dramatically, and I would say the headline, the most compelling change has been the increase of test rides," O'Hagan reported.

PSI measures if salespeople offered an immediate test ride, or if they offered a future test ride. In 2011, salespeople offered immediate test rides 15 percent of the time and future test rides 19 percent of the time, meaning 34 percent of the time some sort of test ride was offered. However, as of 2015, test ride offers skyrocketed, with 35 percent of dealers offering an immediate test ride and 28 percent providing a future demo, for a total of 63 percent of the salespeople studied offering test rides.