Victory Salespeople Top Expectations From Motorcycle Shoppers.

Independent market research firm Pied Piper just released its Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI), a study now in its fourth year of how dealerships treat motorcycle shoppers. The study was conducted by sending 2,014 “mystery shoppers” to motorcycle dealerships around the country between July 2009 and April 2010 with for objective to rate dealership salespeople on how they help or hinder potential motorcycle buyers.

14 major motorcycle brands were visited and Victory, a division of Polaris, rated # 1 overall. As a plus, Victory salespeople appeared to be the most interactive, asking for a prospect’s name and contact information and encouraging him to sit on motorcycles in the showroom.

2nd ranked brand is Harley-Davidson scorig high in remaining attentive to the needs of a prospect and describing features and benefits of each model. 3rd ranked Ducati appeared to be the most knowledgeable and able to answer the largest number of technical questions.  In reference to the 2009 study, the PSI results suggest that salespeople were on average 42% more likely to ask about a trade-in, 23% more likely to ask about factors preventing purchase, and 22% more likely to mention features the competition doesn’t have. But the availability of different financing options is mentioned only 52% of the time. From 2009 to 2010 Triumph, Victory and Yamaha are the 3 brands showing the biggest score improvements.

14 Responses to “Victory Salespeople Top Expectations From Motorcycle Shoppers.”


  1. 1 John Waterbury May 4th, 2010 at 10:35 am

    Reason why Victory is doing better than Harley. Lesson to be learned by the mostly arrogant Harley dealers.

  2. 2 Fisel May 4th, 2010 at 11:05 am

    A bullshit study. This is like how “they” rate airlines. I don’t give a rat’s ass about how “on-time” an airline is, or how many bags they don’t lose. I just care I don’t wind up in a smoking aluminum filled hole in the ground.

  3. 3 hddave May 4th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

    Gee, guess you couldn’t afford a Harley huh John?

  4. 4 Seymour May 4th, 2010 at 2:42 pm

    Well Dave, Harley charges by the pound…

  5. 5 JUST MY OPINION May 4th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    Hddave your statement sounds like the arrogance mentioned by john. He may be on to something.

  6. 6 Motorcycle Madness May 5th, 2010 at 8:46 am

    I don’t even ride a Victory but I’d agree with John. Ever been into a Harley Dealership? If you ain’t wearin Harley stuff, and God forbid you walk in with something else, like a Honda or Victory Jacket, they either ignore you, or give ya side jabs about what you’re riding. Nice way of luring in the customer. There’s a good reason why Harley is failing.. most of their parts now, are made in Japan. They sent most of their Jobs overseas.. (See Cyrils post of the new plant IN INDIA!!!)
    So Harley is NOT so “American Made” anymore. American assembled maybe, but even THAT is being tried to be taken away from Wisconsin.. So Harley riders.. cheer up! Wether its Victory or Honda.. they are now your brothers and sisters.. as it should be anyway… Harley’s are now more Japenese or made over seas than they are american.. fact is fact. Plus anyone riding whatever they are riding should be welcomed into ANY dealership if they are riding on two wheels.

  7. 7 Sturgis Rider May 5th, 2010 at 9:17 am

    Salesmen at Harley-Davidson dealerships in the not so distant past have been order takers more than they have been sales people focused on servicing the customer. Victory has identified this trend and is taking advantage of it as evident by the results of this study. Victory is progressive, forward thinking and has great products. This study comes as no surprise to me and it seems as though the movement is beginning to catch on.

  8. 8 Sturgis biker May 5th, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Try getting your oil changed at Black Hills quick oil change tent during bike week. Not going to happen if your Harley has an S&S motor !! Love that policy as much as I love going into a Harley dealership now! Typical attitude for a Harley dealership.

  9. 9 KAM May 5th, 2010 at 10:05 am

    I’ve been riding different road bikes for over 30 years, but I will admit the Harley is in my heart. However, we are speaking of Victory’s sales technique. I recently met the owner of the local Victory dealership. Knowing how dedicated to riding I am he always has the same thing to say “Kim, that’s an awful nice bike you have but come on in anytime, pick any bike you want and ride it for a few days. You’ll want to keep it”

    The Harley dealerships I have been to are not that giving.

    I still ride the Harleys.

  10. 10 sdbiker May 5th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Look at the stats, Harley has gained an 8% market share in a down economy, not bad. Also, fyi harley assembly plant in india is for tax purposes, they don’t build them there, they assemble. just like they do in Brazil. They are built here in the U.S. then sent over there. Every H-D that is sold in the U.S. is built in the U.S.

  11. 11 The Producer May 5th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    I would be interested in knowing what dealerships they visited. Our local Victory wasn’t at all carring when I stopped in 2 years ago. Maybe I need to stop by and see how they treat me now with the econ doing so poorly.

    A local online motorcycle magazine does a yearly pole of their own based on reader response. They rate dealers by how well they treat you after you have bought the bike including getting serviced or just looking at new bikes and gear. Its a very telling pole and I suspect far more acurate than mystery shoppers looking to buy a new bike. Everyone is treated well when you want to buy a new bike and have cash in hand but what about someone who is saving up and won’t be able to purchase one for another year or so?

  12. 12 FRED JOHNSON May 5th, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    may the best person win; product presentation; demo rides ,write ups = SALES.KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID..AUTOSPHEREFRED.

  13. 13 New Victory May 9th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    Stopping at a Harley dealer is a joke. If your not dressed like a pirate with the full Harley outfit on or you are without the required tattoos the sales people ignore you. I stopped at two different Harley dealers in the past week. I asked the salesman a question on the XR1200. He looked at me like I had 3 eyes and said. That bike is not a very good seller. He then asked me what jacket size I wore because they were having a “huge sale” on HD branded clothes. I looked at a Ultra and it had Screaming Eagle pipes on it. I asked him why they put the loud pipes on the bike before it was even sold. He said a Harley is not a Harley unless it has Screaming Eagle pipes on it. This is the typical mentality of Harley dealers. I did not even get to the test ride stage at the Harley dealers. I ended up buying a Victory Cross Roads. It is a smooth running bike with no vibration like a Harley. It has more power, better brakes, more storage and best of all – a far superior dealer network. I am glad I did not buy a Harley. I would not have bought a new Harley anyway. My local paper is full of late model Harley’s with low miles and very low prices. Every one of the used Harley’s has a aftermarket exhaust system which I do not want and the used Harley owners do not have the original mufflers. It would be too expensive to buy a new muffler. Most of the Used Harley’s also had some kind of kit to increase the horsepower also. Why buy a new Harley when you can get a low mileage used one cheap?

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Cyril Huze