I bought my first Harley Davidson in January of 2008; I only had an inkling of what I was doing, and a fair amount of research in hand as I trekked from one dealership to another in and around Central Florida. I bought my second one last weekend; and I was dismayed to discover that salesMEN have learned nothing about selling to WOMEN riders in the last five years.
From October of ’07 to January of ’08, I would walk into a Harley dealership - tentatively I suppose since I really didn’t know much about what I wanted - and wander up and down the aisles of shiny bikes......while the salesMEN just stood around shootin the breeze, or worse, just ‘watching’ me look at the bikes. The one salesMAN who did approach me, chatted with me a few minutes - obviously ascertained that I was a ‘virgin’ rider - and promptly told me I needed to buy a Sportster.
“A lot of women ride Sportsters,’ he boasted knowingly.
“Not any of the women I know,’ I offered unapologetically. ‘A Sportster is too small for me; I intend to travel.”
Now, right there, the salesMAN should have grasped that tidbit of knowledge and turned it into a selling point, but no, he was determined to promote the ‘benefits’ of women riding Sportsters: ‘they are lightweight’ (which means I will get blown off the road by a passing semi), ‘they are easy to handle’ (which translates to most women are wimps and lack upper body strength), ‘we sell a lot of Sportsters to the ladies’ (and really small men) ‘they come in pink’ (which means you are a dumb ass and I’m outta here). Needless to say, I walked out of that dealership without a bike.
Switching tactics, I took my MALE friend with me to the Orlando dealership in January of ‘08; the second we walked onto the lot, a salesMAN sidled over to us, introduced himself, and asked my MALE friend if he was interested in a bike. WTF?! My friend Bill just chuckled, gestured to me, and indicated that the bike was ‘for my girl here.’ So the salesMAN reluctantly introduced himself to ME....and automatically steered me towards the f*cking Sportsters! Really.
I stopped, turned around, and pointed to the Road Kings, and Softails and said, ‘No, I want a bigger bike. And you can save the ‘most women buy a Sportster’ spiel for someone else.’ Thinking ‘I really have his attention now,’ he proceeds to sell the features of the bike to my friend BILL! Like I wasn’t even standing right there!
I eventually bought the bike I liked (it had the most bling and was a good price); and she became my beloved ‘Bessie.’ She and I rode 76,000 miles together over the next four years until the accident that stopped us both this past April.
Statistically, over a fourth of all Harley Davidson motorcycle sales are to WOMEN; I read a recent article online about HD’s effort to ‘attract more women’ to the dealership - move potted plants close to the door, fence off a section for kids, carry more pink clothing - are you KIDDING me?
How about less misogynistic salesMEN, or here’s a novelty - a salesWOMAN! How about ‘fender candy’ for the women? Scantily clad firemen, draped suggestively across the fender of a new Street Glide? A bare-chested hunk astride a Road King beckoning seductively for us to ‘put something exciting between our legs?’ Now you’re talkin - screw the potted plants!
Three weeks ago - after months of wrestling with the emotional upheaval post- accident and the financial wrangling to receive compensation from the accident - I embarked on the purchase of my second Harley Davidson. This time I have thousands of road miles in experience under my belt, I’ve looked at hundreds of bikes over the last five years, I’ve had mine in the shop where the mechanics are grease monkey Gods who actually take the time to explain to me how my bike works AND I even learned to change my own oil .....and I have had ten months of NOT riding to sit around and lust after the ‘Bike of My Dreams,’ or one that is fairly close given my budget.
I walk into the Lakeland dealership, cruise the showroom floor - no one approaches me - I walk outside to the Tent Sale area - cruise up and down the rows of ‘pre-loved’ bikes - three sales guys watch me - and finally, I walk over to the knot of boys and say, ‘which one of you needs to sell a bike today?’ Of course they all do, but there’s some sort of salesMAN hierarchy at work and it’s ‘his’ turn. He introduces himself to me, and doesn’t ask questions! I start talking, telling him my experience (thinking this will have an impact I guess), when I say it’s my second bike, my first one was totaled. He actually says, ‘Were you on it when it was totaled?’ Duh. And if he steers me towards the Sportsters I’m going to get hateful.
“I’m looking for a pre-owned Road King or Street Glide, 2009, 10, 11, or 12, with low mileage, black.” I offer in my most authoritative voice.
‘I have a 2013 on the showroom floor I can sell you today.’ he automatically offers.
‘I don’t want a 2013,’ I declare (and I would say the same thing 6 times to three different salesMEN at this dealership)
He shows me a couple of pre-owned Road Kings - not black, and one had way too many miles on it (but my salesMAN pointed out that it had a nice luggage rack, as if THAT should make up for the high mileage) and again, told me he could ‘put you in a new Road King today.’
I said, No, why don’t you take my number and look for a pre-owned bike that is the model year I seek, low mileage, and gave him a few other specs I was willing to start with. He dutifully jots down my number in his little book ; and for two weeks I don’t here from him.
I went back to the dealership, walked onto the showroom, looked right at the sales manager - who was more interested in my ample cleavage - and said, ‘where will I find George? (not his real name). He’s had my number for two weeks and hasn’t called.’
No lie - here’s what he said to me - ‘Honey, if I had your number, you can bet I would have called before now.’ Really?
George walks over and is apparently startled that I actually came back and I am apparently serious about buying a bike.
I look at another pre-owned Road King - too many miles. Than George reminds me AGAIN that he can sell me a 2013, blah, blah, blah. I remind him, AGAIN, that I don’t want a new bike - and the reasons are numerous.
I indicated to numb nuts that I want to ride both the Road King and the Street Glide and I will be back on Thursday to do that - I didn’t have good riding boots on that day.
I return Thursday - gear up to ride both bikes - he’s on the Street Glide, I’m on the Road King. I remark that I would need to have the Road King ‘cut down’ about an inch so my feet were flat on the ground. He remarks, you might as well buy a Street Glide then.
Okay, so we ride. We switch bikes. I don’t like the Street Glide, I like the Road King. I don’t like the ‘dashboard’ on the Street Glide for a couple of reasons; it adds weight to the front end, and frankly if you’re going to have all that crap on a bike, stay in the car.
We get back to the dealership and the conversation - with THREE men now - goes like this:
‘I want the Road King lowered.’
‘No, then you might as well get a Street Glide.’
‘I don’t like the Street Glide.’
‘Let’s put a short reach seat on the Road King, see if that helps’ (from the Parts Guy who joined the fun)
‘I don’t like how the seat looks, I want the Street Glide shocks put on the Road King.’
‘That’s gonna cost ya about $600; why don’t you go over there and buy a nice pair of boots with a really thick heel to give you some height?’
Are you KIDDING me?? This is pathetic.
No lie, that’s what he said to me. These guys were NOT listening to what I WANTED, they didn’t care I had CASH MONEY in hand. I left the Lakeland dealership after my THIRD attempt at trying to buy a bike.
The guys at Tampa Harley Davidson restored my faith in salesMEN. I was greeted with smiles, it was cold - I was offered coffee while I browsed (this is what I’m talkin about!), I sat on three or four, identified myself, my experience, my needs and my budget.
I asked to ride the one Road King - that ‘spoke’ to me, just like my first Bessie did - we geared up, I connected with the bike, rode it back to the lot and said ‘I’ll take it, but.....I want Street Glide shocks (no problem, we will change out the shocks at no charge), I want 14” mini ape hangers (no problem, let me get the parts guy over here to measure and see what all he needs to order), I want this, this, this changed out for chrome (no problem, head over to the parts counter and tell them what you want) and before I knew it, three guys with clipboards were taking notes on what I WANTED ON MY BIKE!
Three hours later, I’ve got a smile on my face, a rockin Road King that is pre-loved, and will be even more loved once I wrap my legs around her and break her in as ‘Bessie 2.’
The moral of my story? Harley Davidson, if you are listening, learn how to sell motorcycles to women. If we don’t know what we want - take the time to educate us by finding out what makes us tick and why we want to ride. If we are experienced riders - your suggestions are welcome, but don’t discourage a women who knows what she wants and can ask for it. It would also help if you employed some FEMALE sales associates; a woman would have sold me the bike I wanted the FIRST time I walked into the Lakeland dealership.
Comments
Post a Comment