Harley-Davidson Dealers Top 2012 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Harley-Davidson dealerships topped the rankings for the 2012 edition of the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, an industry benchmarking study examining how well dealerships treat customers, and turning shoppers into buyers.

The Pied Piper PSI rated different manufacturers’ dealerships in a number of categories to produce an overall score. The study was conducted between July 2011 and April 2012 with 1,653 anonymous “mystery shoppers” gathering information at different dealerships across the U.S.

The study gave Harley-Davidson dealers a score of 108, a four-point improvement from 2011 and five points above the industry average. According to researchers, Harley-Davidson dealers scored the highest of all brands in 16 different categories, including offering test rides, obtaining contact information and asking customers if for the sale.

BMW and Ducati dealers were tied for second in the 2012 study with scores of 105 while Victory Motorcycle dealers scored the industry average of 103 after topping all brands last year. Indian Motorcycles and Star Motorcycles were new additions to this year’s study. Indian scored 103, the same as sister company Victory. Meanwhile, Star scored 98, four-points lower than its parent Yamaha brand.

Overall, the industry average was 103, up from 101 in last year’s study. The 2012 study found dealers improved in 80% of the categories. Dealers were 14% more likely to provide compelling reasons to buy from their shop, 13% more likely to ask for a sale and 11% more likely to provide reasons to make a purchase immediately.

“Today’s motorcycle salespeople have become much more effective at helping shoppers become buyers,” says Fran O’Hagan, president and chief executive officer of Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. “For example, five years ago, a motorcycle salesperson would introduce him or herself to a prospect only six times out of ten. Today it is nine times out of ten.”

On the other hand, there is still room for improvement. Dealers only offered test rides 16% of the time.

According to the study, Ducati, Husqvarna and Triumph dealers were more likely to offer customers brochures than Suzuki, Honda or Kawasaki dealerships. Harley-Davidson, BMW, and Ducati were also twice as likely to ask for a customer’s contact information than Husqvarna, MV Agusta or Moto Guzzi dealers.

2012 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index
Brand 2012201120102009
Harley-Davidson108104106105
BMW105101104102
Ducati105102106107
Indian103N/AN/AN/A
Triumph10310210497
Victory103105107102
Industry Average103101103101
Yamaha10210110499
MV Agusta10098103101
Aprilia99959694
Kawasaki999610096
Suzuki99100102100
Honda98969795
Star98N/AN/AN/A
Husqvarna95909090
Moto Guzzi94878990
KTM92939592

[Source: Pied Piper Management Company]

Related Reading
2011 Pied Piper PSI Study Results

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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