Team Bozeman – Bozeman, MT – Nov. 13, 2006

Contact
Team Bozeman
2595 Simmental Way
Bozeman, Mont., 59715
406/587-4671
www.team-bozeman.com
Owner
Cliff Gullett
Business Profile
Team Bozeman was started in 1988 as a Polaris-only store and later added on Kawasaki and Yamaha. Current owner Cliff Gullett purchased the store in 1995 and moved it to a new, larger location in 2003. The 30,000-square-foot facility includes a 6,000-square-foot service area and a 10,000-square-foot showroom. The store carries snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles, PWC and scooters. It currently has 22 employees.
Greatest Concern
Gullett primarily has two — finding enough good help and inventory expectations by some OEMs. Bozeman has an unemployment rate of around 11?2 percent, which is below the national average. “Even though we’re in a college town, it’s hard to find employees and employees who will stick,” he said.
He’s also concerned with inventory levels, “what we’re expected to carry by some of the OEMs versus what is reasonable sell-through for our area.”
What’s Hot
Because Bozeman is in the mountains, utility quads are big sellers, especially the Polaris Sportsmen 500 and 800. Yamaha’s new Grizzly quads also have done well. Utility vehicles have been steady sellers. “We’ve done real well with Rangers and Rhinos,” Gullett said.
Customer Buying Trends
Multiple-unit purchases are becoming more commonplace, Gullett has noticed. Team Bozeman also is seeing more accessorizing by utility quad customers, even before they leave with their new ATV. Hand and thumb warmers, rack extensions and winches are all common accessory purchases at the time of the new unit sale. Hefty UTV accessory sales also are common. Gullett said the dealership averages $2,800 in accessory sales for each new Ranger sale.
Parts and service
The dealership is moving toward a service department system that Gullett learned about in his dealer 20 group. The menu-driven system offers consumers a gold, silver or bronze service plan, with the gold being the most-service and highest-dollar option. Gullett said the service department also has made a commitment to up-selling to consumers, resulting in higher sales.
Promotional Home Run
Team Bozeman holds two open houses each year, one to coincide with the ATV and street motorcycle selling season and one that’s held in the fall and highlights ATVs and snowmobiles. The open houses are three-day events (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and each day features a live radio broadcast from the event. Gullett said the dealership traditionally has new unit specials during the events. During the last open house, the dealership extended the specials to include accessories and service. “That worked out well,” he said. “We got a lot of preseason service for snowmobiles scheduled and winterization on some of the bikes done.”
Words of advice
Being proactive on stocking the basic PG&A items is key, Gullett said. “Every once in a while we’ll miss the boat on something and not take care of our customer and pretty soon it gives him a reason to go somewhere else,” he said. “As long as we stay proactive on having what the customer needs, then that keeps him at our store.”
— Neil Pascale
Dealers interested in having their dealerships profiled in Powersports Business should e-mail Editor Neil Pascale at npascale@ehlertpublishing.com.