Here's Why You Should Always Fill Out That Motorcycle Dealership Survey

After signing on the dotted line to take possession of your new motorcycle, you will almost certainly be asked by the manufacturer to take a survey about your buying experience. How do you like your new motorcycle? Would you be inclined to buy from this dealership again? After these questions, you’ll be asked your age, gender, how many years you have been riding, what influenced you to make the purchase, and what other makes and models you considered.

This feedback is important to manufacturers, and while it doesn’t seem like it would make any difference in your world, it’s actually intended to improve buying experience at your local shop and give valuable insight to the manufacturers if you will buy their product again or not.

But who reads this stuff anyway? We do, and we take these surveys very seriously. Whether you were surveyed by phone or email, or received it in your mailbox at home, I get the results pretty quickly—in most cases within a day or two after this information is returned. So what happens next?

Obviously, a glowing review gets passed around to the appropriate departments because my employees need to know that what we are doing is working and that we have another satisfied customer. Also, we are graded on customer satisfaction by some OEMs, and any successful dealer wants to know the truth about your buying experience. Don’t think otherwise. And besides, it’s not as easy as you would think to get positive feedback because even the most loyal customers will reveal a dealership’s shortcomings under anonymity.

If a survey comes back with less-than-stellar reviews, we will drill down and see where the problem starts. Is it specifically a sales or finance issue? Did our customer not jibe with a parts associate? Is this a recurring theme or an isolated incident? We look to see if a customer’s negative experience can be corrected. I know this seems elementary in any business, but you would be surprised at some of the negative remarks made, such as, “The bike I wanted was not in stock, so I bought this one instead,” or, “I thought it would have more power than it does.”

There are legitimate gripes but nothing we have much control over. I remember one in particular where the customer complained the front tire was installed backward on the rim at the factory. The customer reflected this as a negative dealer experience because we didn’t check the factory’s work. We called the customer, picked his bike up, and flipped the tire around at no charge.

Your honesty when taking your survey is key to helping dealerships recognize their shortcomings, and it gives us all the opportunity to correct them. We reach out to our customers who are willing to put their names on the survey and ask to be contacted. It’s the least I can do to correct any issues you may have had during what is supposed to be a pleasurable buying experience.

Jeff Maddox is the sales manager for a multiline dealership in the Midwest. Questions for him? Email us at mcmail@bonniercorp.com with "Retail Confidential" in the subject line.