Summer promotions to heat up sales

Liz KeenerJune 19, 2013

Summer officially comes this Friday, but we in the powersports industry know “summer” hits as soon as the weather breaks and people are ready to ride.

In that vein, many dealerships have launched some great promotions over the last several weeks. One of my favorites that I saw recently was the Women and Men’s Riders Contests at Tifton Harley-Davidson in Tifton, Ga.

The dealership’s Women Riders Contest went through the month of May, while the Men’s Riders Contest is running in June. For each, riders register their starting mileage at the dealership at the beginning of the month and check in again at the end. For every 100 miles each participant puts on, he or she receives one entry into an end-of-the-month drawing for a $50, $100 and $200 gift certificate.

What could be better than a contest like this? For a $350 investment in each month, the dealership guaranteed a set number of customers stopped by the store at both the beginning and the end of the month. PLUS, those riders are putting miles on their bikes, meaning they’re probably going to have a service appointment in their near future. Not too bad of an idea.

It actually reminded me of a similar contest I wrote about in a Power Profile a couple years ago. Destination Cyclesports in Kerrville, Texas, launched a mileage contest that pitted the dealership’s top 50 customers with high mileage and frequent service visits against each other. The winner, who logged the most miles over a three-month period, received a free set of tires. Again, for a minimal investment — one set of tires — the dealership was able to get 50 of its loyal customers to rack up miles, and later, service visits. It was one of the dealership’s most successful marketing campaigns.

So with a few months left in the summer, what will you be doing to encourage your customers to ride? Fun promotions like these bring out the competitive spirit in customers, and contribute to the dealership’s bottom line.

Liz Hochstedler is the managing editor of Powersports Business, a trade magazine for the powersports industry. She reports on the powersports industry through Powersports Business’ varied media, including in the magazine and online. She assembles the brand’s twice-a-week e-news and handles a variety of assignments for the magazine. Powersports Business is known for its exclusive national dealer surveys, in-depth industry analysis and dealership conference, Profit Xcelerator.