|
|
It IS a BusinessMay 22 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The most important thing one should know about BMW Dealerships and Sales is that you are dealing with a business. No Difference The most important thing one should know about BMW Dealerships and Sales is that you are dealing with a business. Keeping that big picture in mind it is a lot easier to understand that these are no different from other businesses in general, or automotive businesses, in particular. It, gasp, all goes back to the stuff you wanted to sleep through in Economics 101. Someone presents a product to the marketplace, charging a little more than its production costs and hopes to continue this at a high enough pace to eat three times a day using the profits. But a Motorcycle is Not an Automobile Motorcycle dealerships have to cater to the culture of their market the same as an automobile dealership, but they still have to maintain their franchise by purchasing new stock from their distributor and adhere to some basic franchise rules drawn up to protect that distributor’s image and reputation. Other than that, you will find a selection of new and used models, accessories, parts, and a service department filled with motorcycle stuff that caters to the specific motorcycle market culture the marque supports. In other words, while a motorcycle, even a BMW motorcycle, is not an automobile, you will always find the same classifications of products in both franchise retail outlets. But it IS a BMW Ah, I knew you would bring that up. The BMW motorcycle market culture is a little different from either their automotive relatives or that of other motorcycles. This market culture like to think of itself as one of lone riding over vast distances. BMW motorcycle riders generally like to think of themselves as being self-sufficient. A lot of this stems from the 1950’s and 1960’s product market, and a marque reputation of utilitarian reliability and comfort shared with the motorcycle's automotive brethren. Designs for BMW motorcycles were geared toward owner serviceability and reliability rather than market penetration percentage. Easily, this helped and hurt dealer development in North America because buyers did not economically need a dealership on every corner or a new motorcycle every other year. So look around and you will see that there are not as many dealerships in competition for your hard earned wages. And that means that without the competition needed to drive specialization among dealerships, each dealership has to stand on its own in all aspects of sales and service. This is a daunting task that is difficult to live up to. Bust My Wallet? Expectations of lower volume sales and service put BMW dealerships in a position of not always being able to match the draconian price slashing seen in other marque retail outlets. Margins, the difference between what the dealership pays for products and other overhead and sales prices can be a lot smaller than other marques. The same will be true for accessories, parts, and service pricing. Without a lot cut, retail prices are not easy for dealership to lower. But at the same time, that culture of owner service continues to support the ability to dodge maintenance costs normally borne by owners of other marques. This culture also assures a tendency for veteran machines to have enjoyed a service history that really does include all those services necessary for long life – if you are doing it yourself you will be more likely to actually complete all the expected service tasks. Sadly, dealerships for neither cars nor motorcycles of other marques are known for this level of maintenance responsibility. What does that mean? Performing your own easy services means that the dealership cannot increase profits by hiring a lower trained, and lower paid, mechanic to tasks like oil changes. It also means that when you finally bring the motorcycle that the dealer could not heavily discount in for a repair you could not handle yourself, it will usually be for either a very difficult service task or a high technology component. In other words, do not be surprised to find yourself trying to remember how much credit limit is left on your Visa card as you enter the service department! You are paying for what you get. Too Reliable? Newer (not to be confused with my 1965 R69S model) BMW's are actually reliable! (Before some other BMW diehard tries to lynch me, let me say that I put almost 70,000 of the most enjoyable miles imaginable on my R69S, tuning it up and tightening all the nuts and bolts every 2,000 miles). Not having to tune up or adjust the newer motorcycles as often can cause you to forget to watch for the little things that can go wrong down the road. You can go for so long just putting gas and oils in them that you forget that there is other "stuff" in there that just might need attention. Second is that on these "newer" motorcycles, the old mechanical systems have been replaced by electronic systems. But more importantly, the wires no longer go directly from the generator to where the action is. The new wires are now "broken up" into shorter lengths, which are connected with "other than" copper connections (just like that new suburban assault vehicle you see in all the upscale subdivisions). That makes assembly and parts replacement easier, and therefore your retail price lower (yeah, that bike could have cost even more). Those connectors usually do work really well. Most of the time these connectors seal out any moisture. But that also means that they can seal "in" any moisture. Where can you get moisture when you're afraid to ride in the rain? Here in Alabama there's more than enough in the air! (In the summer time we can't let kids sit too long in the back yard, it's so humid that moss grows on their north side.) Not tuning and adjusting keeps you from cleaning the corrosion from those vital connectors. Corrosion in those connectors can lead to the most expensive failures and troubleshooting known to modern man. Why do I bring this up? I bring this up because with that reliability and the potential for expensive troubleshooting brings the dealership the requirement to assure you that the technician who works on your bike can do it. That technician must be trained and equipped to troubleshoot and repair models from all five of the last decades! Those are expensive guys to train, pay, and equip. You will be hard pressed to find that kind of background and support in the service department of almost any other motorcycle or automotive dealership. The "People" Factor Last but not least is the people factor. Like any other dealership, the BMW ones are owned and operated by people. Some people are better at business and customer relations than others, and some people view their market with different priorities than others. I know of some that I have ridden hundreds of miles out of my way so as not to allow them to touch either my credit card or motorcycle. I know others where I have offered the owner free reign over use of that credit card. A dealership must be chosen with the same care as any other business relationship decision. Consider that you are not running down to the 7-11 for snack, but to a highly specialized provider of important services. Figure out what your customer priorities are and then match those with the visible abilities of each potential dealership, because this is a business.  |
| Read all comments (2)|Write your own comment |
