Power Profiles

Pro Team Harley Davidson – Lawton, OK – Dec. 26, 2005

CONTACT
Pro Team Harley Davidson
301 SE Interstate Dr.
Lawton OK 73501
(580) 353-5088
www.proteamhd.com
OWNERS
Larry Hay, Dealer Principal
Brandon Hay, Sales Manager
BUSINESS PROFILE
The Hay family started its business operations in the oil fields of Texas. They also owned three Mack/Volvo truck dealerships, one of which was the largest dealership in the nation in Odessa, Texas. The truck dealerships were sold when Larry Hay retired. The next move in the family business plans was the purchase of McKinney Harley Davidson when son Brandon graduated from college. Changing the name to ProTeam Harley-Davidson, the Hays have been going strong ever since. The current facility is 15,000 square feet, though Brandon Hay says they are plans to build on to the existing space. Current floor space allows for about 35 bikes on the showroom floor. ProTeam has 18 full- time employees. Pro Team is a MSRP dealer.
GREATEST CONCERN
“Not getting enough motorcycles from Harley,” says sales manager Brandon Hay. “That’s always our biggest problem. Last year, we went into the winter with about 130 bikes in stock and we ended up selling so many bikes that we’re looking at having about 70 bikes in stock at the end of this month.”
WHAT’S HOT?
“Well, you have to consider model year changes,” says Hay. “We’ve had a lot of people wanting the new Street Bob. Like always, the Ultra Classic and the Heritage are our number one sellers. Those are the hardest to get and the hardest to keep in stock.” As for parts, Hay says nothing really stands out. The typical accessories and chrome parts do well as always.
CUSTOMER BUYING TRENDS
“Just like always, any new model is going to be talked about a lot,” says Hay. “People want to see them. We do get a lot of women in here. We sell a lot of Sportsters and Dynas to women. We have the largest Army base in the nation here, and we sell a lot of bikes to those 18-22-year-old guys who don’t have anything to do with their time.”
PARTS AND SERVICE
“Our service department is probably one of the best,” says Hay. “We don’t hire a technician unless he is AMI certified. We have four techs and a service writer and a service manager. They stay booked two weeks in advance. We have four techs and eight stalls. We always have a tear down rack and a regular rack. We watch the W time and all that for efficiency. We build a lot of motors. We have some of the best motor technicians and they build some pretty wild motors. Our Dynamometer is sitting back there in boxes waiting to be installed when we build our new building.” Aside from the six employees in service, there are three people in hard parts and three dedicated to Motorclothes.
PROMOTIONAL HOME RUNS
“We do a lot of advertising,” says Hay. “We do personal ads on TV. It helps our business a lot. I can’t go out anywhere in town without somebody saying ‘Hey, you’re the guy on TV.’ We do mainly TV and radio. Of course, like any dealership, we do certain events. We do an open house and a Chromecoming and a lot of charity poker runs. We do one to two of those a month.” Hay says the biggest open house each year draws about 500 bikes, but ProTeam typically draws between 250 and 400 people per event.
“Biggest draw is about 500 bikes. But typically we get between 250 and 400 people for an event.”
WORDS OF ADVICE
“Customer service,” says Hay. “Harley dealerships are real bad, most of the ones I’ve seen are real bad. They don’t talk to anybody. A customer walks in the door and wants a bike and (they say) ‘Alright, there it is.’ They have the mentality of ‘either you buy it or you don’t. We’ll sell it to somebody else.’ We are very big on customer service. You don’t walk in the door without at least one or two people saying ‘Hi’ and offering you a cup of coffee. They walk around with you and show you the bikes.”
—Blake Stranz
If you would like to share your story with the readers of Powersports Business, please contact Blake Stranz at bstranz@comcast.net.

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