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Dealer education credits program launches

Bintelli to offer discounts on orders based on dealer education credits

The impact of online retailers on brick and mortar stores has certainly been felt throughout segments of the powersports industry. To combat online retailors’ growing presence, Bintelli president Justin Jackrel is spearheading a noble effort to incentivize dealers to actively work at improving their businesses.

At the company’s annual dealer meeting aboard a cruise ship to the Bahamas in late February, Jackrel introduced the Continuing Education Credit Program. Through the program, Bintelli will offer order discounts to dealers if they attend trade shows and dealer seminars, such as the Powersports DEALER Seminars @ AIMExpo. Dealers will also receive more points off their orders if they watch the dealership-improvement videos that Bintelli produces exclusively for its dealers. 

“We want to reward them for buying in, and working towards improving their dealership,” Jackrel told Powersports Business. “It’s sort of a Hail Mary, but we need to do everything in our power to motivate these dealers to find out what the secret sauce is. I honestly believe that if we don’t do something, in five years, 75 percent of the powersports dealers are closed, and everyone is buying their stuff on Amazon.”

Bintelli president Justin Jackrel (left) announced the company’s continuing education credit program for dealers during the meeting.

It’s a somewhat risky move — at least financially speaking — for Bintelli, the South Carolina-based distributor of scooters, electric bicycles, golf carts and go-karts. According to Jackrel, if every dealership in their network attended two trade shows and watched 75 percent of their videos in the next year, the company would lose over $250,000 in incentive money. While Jackrel admits Bintelli won’t be able to offer such an incentive for the long run, he believes it will help encourage dealerships to get back on the path of improvement.

Along with the financial incentives, Bintelli will provide additional dealer support by making detailed business plans for each product to aid them in showroom setup, stocking, marketing and cross-promotion. They will also continue to offer assistance with online product advertising on sites like Craigslist and Letgo. 

Jackrel characterized the move as a last-ditch effort for Bintelli dealers. He said that the company increasingly struggles to compete against companies such as electric bike maker SONDORS, which sells its product direct to consumers at dealer prices. 

“For many struggling dealers, this is kind of a last-chance thing. If they don’t want to do it for themselves and then they don’t want to do it when we actually pay them to, then there’s no hope,” Jackrel said. 

A total of 74 people representing two dozen Bintelli dealerships took part in the 2nd annual Bintelli Dealer Cruise to the Bahamas in February. Photos courtesy of Bintelli

 

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