GM focuses on employees and promotes fun

In December, Empire Powersports created a lot of excitement for kids in its community. The Grinch traveled all the way from Whoville to Phoenix, New York, to “rob” the dealership. Luckily, children of the community built a wall to keep him from entering the front doors. After a change of heart, the Grinch stuck around for photos and joined everyone in celebrating the holiday season.

Empire Powersports often hosts exciting community events, and the next one on its calendar is its Spring Open House. “Last year, I did an Easter egg hunt that was limited to 75 or 100 kids a day. We had a huge turnout,” says Doug Clarke, general manager of the dealership. The dealership hosted two Easter egg hunts, and each included one ATV key hidden in an egg. The key finders walked away with a new youth ATV.

“We’re a solid 10 minutes to the closest highway. We’re definitely in a country setting, so we try to do our best to let people know where we are, who we are and what we do,” Clarke says.

He and the team of 15 at Empire Powersports prioritize customer satisfaction. “‘No,’ is the worst thing that we can say here. We figure out a way to say ‘yes.’ We expedite ‘yes’ at every corner, and we make people feel welcome,” Clarke explains.

Clarke has been in the industry for 12 years. “I was previously a professional touring musician. I jumped right out of that off a tour bus and into my first dealership. I jokingly say this is my retirement gig even though it’s not,” he laughs. “I knew I loved powersports. It was always a goal to have a garage full and a barn full and we’ve always been into it with family and friends. It was a natural fit.”

Clarke gained five years of sales experience at a dealership before joining Freedom Cycles. After becoming the general manager, dealer group Motorcycles of Manchester (MOMS) acquired the business. The group then acquired Empire Powersports, and Clarke joined that team as general manager in December 2023.

Word of mouth, sponsorships, burnout

Clarke explains that the dealership is highly promoted by word of mouth because the Empire team is determined to help customers, even if that means sending them elsewhere. “Word of mouth in the local area is definitely strong,” he says. “That’s what I’m trying to build on – the things I can’t pay for. Other stores have a larger budget than me for marketing for sure, but it’s about that ground floor stuff that I think that’s garnering a lot of attention and making places like the radio station help us out without making us pay the big ticket like other places.”

Clarke consistently updates a local radio station about the dealership’s events. “I have iHeart Radio, which has a couple affiliated local and national stations, that we advertise on,” he says. “But local 93Q, which is the most listened to morning show in central New York, is amazing. I let them know what we’re doing, and they put a spot out for us. [They are] real genuine people.”

And what goes around, comes around. The dealership sponsors three racetracks in its area: Fulton Speedway, Brewerton Speedway, Oswego Speedway and the Syracuse Mets. Two side-by-sides and one ATV are donated to the racetracks annually. In return, they include the dealership’s employees in “Employee Night.” “We get VIP treatment,” Clarke says. “It makes it great for everybody to get together and do that during the year.”

At Fulton and Brewerton speedways, the dealership drives a side-by-side on the infield and launches t-shirts to the crowd. “I drive around in the pace car and we stand in the middle of the field while the race is going on – it’s nuts,” Clarke adds.

These activities also help prevent employee burnout. “It mixes it up. We have a lot of fun,” he says. “I understand what this industry can do – the monotony if you’re doing the same thing every day, as with anything.”

Clarke also keeps things exciting with demo units. Throughout the year, he coordinates groups of employees to take out Sea-Doos, Ski-Doos and ATVs. “[Employees] have to love what they do,” he says. “Here, it’s important that we love it, and we don’t get burnt out, and we don’t just look at the stuff but use it.”

Within the dealership

The parts, service and office managers are made up of women leaders at Empire Powersports. “That is unheard of in powersports,” Clarke says. “Both my parts manager and service manager have been here over 10 years. They’re staples in the business.” Customers ask to work specifically with these managers often. Clarke explains that female employees express their dedication to and investment in customers and their units well. “In this industry, things are not cheap,” he says. “Whether it’s your parts or your machine or your service.” He highlights the importance of explaining the value of those investments with customers.

Women within the dealership also inspire new female riders. “We love the opportunity to sell to women, get more women in the sport, to accommodate and have gear here that they can try on,” Clarke says, emphasizing that all customers are treated the same. “We’re the number one Sea-Doo dealer in the region. We get a ton of ladies involved in that,” he continues. “They love it.”

OEM support and low snow

While inventory levels remain uncomfortably high for many dealers, Clarke says OEMs have communicated their awareness and intent to aid the issue. “They’re still a little behind in a drastic move or a very clear-cut move to help the dealers with the flooring,” he adds.

He says that while manufacturers are offering more rebates and finance incentives, a more extreme action may be necessary to right size inventory. “Everyone is sitting on similar inventory and they’re at a similar state of aging,” Clarke says.

The snowmobile segment has been particularly impacted due to uncooperative weather. “The snow will be around for a couple of weeks and then it will be gone. That’s not the story we’re trying to tell over here, but reality is what it is. It’s tough to get somebody to take a gamble after a lack of snow for three years and having to travel. Backyard snow is our best friend.”

Empire Powersports was once driven heavily by snowmobile sales. Clarke says that dealerships must transition to other products that can sustain the business year-round. And when the snow does begin to fall, “It’s tough to prepare for that as a dealer,” he says. “You want to have everything ready so when the light switch flips on and all of a sudden we get slammed, we have everything.”

Despite these challenges, Clarke is optimistic. “Our goal is customer retention and growth and getting people to understand that we’re beyond the election,” he says. “As life gets more affordable again, hopefully we can start having more fun. The lack of purchases [last year] were dominated by people unsure if the year would play out the way they needed it to financially.”

Clarke adds, “We’re a fun group! My counter staff is always encouraged to make people laugh. We know, and I very much profess it when we have store meetings, that people buy from who they like. If they don’t like you, they won’t buy from you. If they don’t like the way they’re treated, they don’t like the way they’re greeted, they don’t like the level of attention they get, unfortunately, they’re going to find that somewhere else… We do our best and if we can’t come up with a solution, we try to facilitate it or point them in the right direction.”