Tech night focuses on gadgets, brings sales
Dealership spotlights cameras, communication systems during event
North County’s House of Motorcycles in Vista, Calif., has a supreme selection of the latest in high-tech products and gadgets for its customers. To show off its plethora of technology-based products and accessories, the dealership treated its customers to an in-house product showcase.
Alex Van Wey, marketing manager at House of Motorcycles, said the point of the event was to showcase the new products available for all bikes. A holiday-season event led to another Tech Night in March that featured the Skully AR-1 helmet.
“The primary focus of the first event was to feature the latest and greatest gadgets that we have these days. We had cellular mounts, link systems, action camera systems and action camera accessories,” he said. “It went really well. I’d say there were around 100 people and about 50 bikes — primarily sport bike riders.”
Van Wey gives credit to the dealership’s parts associate Isaiah Taylor, who came up with the idea to host a bike tech night. “He initially conceptualized the event,” Van Wey said. After a rep from XSories, an action camera accessories brand, came in to showcase the company’s products to the dealership, it was clear that they would want to take advantage of the opportunity to tell their customers.
While the dealership has hosted large vendor expos and bike nights in the past, this two-hour event was more specific and integrated into a bike night feel. On one hand, the dealership had exciting products to share, and on the other, the store had maintained good relationships with its vendors. Van Wey said the decision of which gadgets to showcase was a cross between the product availability and the relationship that the dealership has with its vendors.
Among the companies represented were XSories, SENA, WASP, RAM Mounts and SHOEI.
“We had products we were excited about, and we wanted to let everyone know we had them in stock,” he said. “We have a good relationship with SENA, and then Parts Unlimited came to bring their product that was relevant to the tech event.”
XSories served as one of the main features of the debut event, with its new mounting systems and accessories. Van Wey says XSories’ new mini Wi-Fi-enabled and Bluetooth-enabled projection system was a real crowd pleaser. The X-Project Wi-Fi portable mini projector has the ability to project a 1080p high-definition video on any wall, for anything from backyard movies to boasting with friends in the garage.
The event included reps from several of the showcased companies, who were available to answer questions and help spread the excitement. Parts Unlimited and SENA reps were among those to host a table, and a SHOEI representative also visited with customers.
From a sales standpoint, the event had a positive effect on the dealership. “It was probably the busiest two hours that we had in the entire month,” Van Wey said. “We had a couple of bike sales, too. We had people browsing because they came for the event and did eventually buy.”
