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More changes coming to RPM – May 15, 2006

The transitioning of the former Lemco Management Group, the industry’s largest 20-group company, continues.
Sam Dantzler, president and CEO of the newly named Retail Powersports Management Group, said the industry could see further changes to the company that was until recently named after its founder, Ed Lemco, who has since retired.
Dantzler, in an interview with Powersports Business, said “We’re more of a total comprehensive dealership training company now.”
To achieve that, the RPM Group has partnered with several companies and is currently working on another joint venture. “One of the things we’re working on is to proactively deal with the turnover situation in the industry,” Dantzler said.
The expected partnership is part of a number of moves that are geared toward allowing the dealer to “see return on his money quicker than waiting for the 20-club experience to pay off, which typically takes six to eight months,” Dantzler said.
The RPM Group also has formed ties with Motorcycleindustryjobs.com, SPARTA financial services and K&K Insurance for that quicker turnaround to occur. Additional training, both in terms of number of classes and new subjects, also has been added to achieve that faster turnaround.
The new training opportunities and the new partnerships are not amounting to higher dealer costs, however. Dealers’ monthly service fees have not increased, said Dantzler, who is hoping the new services will build his dealer base. The RPM Group’s dealer base has increased nearly 15 percent since the buyout last year to top more than 300.
Dantzler, one of RPM’s three partners, also believes the recent name change could boost dealer numbers.
“Ed’s name was synonymous with 20 clubs. But when you say the name Lemco to people who had not heard of Lemco before, it did not mean anything,” he said. “They didn’t know what we were all about. They would see an ad and not really understand it. The Retail Powersports Management Group encapsulates what we do more so than ‘Lemco’ does.”

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