Contributing Author: Glenice Wilder Vice President EFG Companies
It’s August and we are in the dog days of summer. Most powersports dealers and enthusiasts are between peak spring and fall seasons. So, how is your year going? Are you meeting your mid-year goals? On track for year-end sales projections?
According to the 2018 Powersports Business Market Data Book survey, 58 percent of dealers polled expected new unit sales to rise 10 percent this year. This increase follows an increase in new unit sales in 2017.
However, the surprise for me was the conflicting data around the sale of pre-owned bikes.
33 percent of responding dealers stated that their expectations were unchanged for used bike sales.
27 percent of dealers expected used sales to grow less than 10 percent.
14 percent of dealers expect used sales to increase more than 10 percent.
Contributing Author: Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been in the news a lot lately.
From Acting Director Mick Mulvany’s decommissioning of the Advisory Committee, to a federal district judge ruling its structure is unconstitutional, some might think that the CFPB’s days are numbered.
But history has a lesson to offer, compliments of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC was created on September 26, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act into law. The regulatory agency opened its doors in 1915, with a mission to protect consumers and promote competition. The FTC building was finished in 1938, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt stating, “May this permanent home of the Federal Trade Commission stand for all time as a symbol of the purpose of the government to insist on a greater application of the golden rule to conduct the corporation and business enterprises in their relationship to the body politic.”
Currently, the FTC houses three bureaus:
the Bureau of Consumer Protection
the Bureau of Competition
the Bureau of Economics
Each bureau has a set of mandates to guide its work. In the early 1970s, the agency became more aggressive in its prosecutions and sanctions. The business community and Congress criticized the FTC’s activism, claiming it had become too powerful, was insensitive to the needs of the public and business, and operated with little oversight from Congress or the president. During President Ronald Reagan’s first term, control of the FTC was moved under the president. Its direction was modified to become more cooperative with business interests, while continuing its consumer protective functions.
Disloyal, arrogant, selfish, overindulgent, high-maintenance, frivolous, image-driven, impatient, over-confident and spoiled – Generation Y has heard it all. And, now the generation that everyone thought would never grow up is starting to make up the bulk of the workforce. But, will they be successful in the powersports industry? Are they worth hiring?
Honestly, powersports dealerships can’t afford NOT to hire this challenging generation. The consumer purchase model is rapidly changing – driven in large part by the digital proclivity of Generation Y. Who better to engage with these new customers than people who speak their language – online and via text?
Raised in the era of digital technology, members of Generation Y can quickly prove their worth in the dealership workplace. But, some adjustments must be made to reach an equitable compromise with this generation. Here are some recommendations for dealerships seeking to successfully employ Generation Y.
They work to live
The members of Generation Y are committed to achieving work–life balance. While their career is highly important to them, they believe that working hard does not equate to working long hours. This can be a hard pill to swallow for dealership managers who live by the “sun-up to sun-down” model.
