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Business Wire
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Wire
BMW Motorrad Dealers Top-Ranked in 2025 Powersports Study for Providing Quick and Easy Service Appointments
MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BMW Motorrad dealerships ranked highest in the 2025 Pied Piper PSI ® Service Telephone Effectiveness ® (STE ®) Powersports Industry Study, which measured the efficiency and quality of customer attempts to schedule service appointments by telephone. Following BMW were Kubota, Triumph, Polaris Off-Road and Harley-Davidson. 'Well-run service departments focus on building customer loyalty, and the first opportunity to drive that loyalty is a customer's phone call to schedule an appointment.' Share Pied Piper submitted service calls to 1,531 powersports dealerships representing 27 brands, then evaluated the telephone interactions. Each brand's overall STE Score is a combined average of its individual dealer performances. Scores range from 0 to 100 and include over 30 differently weighted measurements tracking the best practices most likely to generate service revenue and customer loyalty. BMW Ranked Highest: Consistency in Challenging Conditions 'BMW has consistently been ranked among the top three performing brands during the three years this annual study has been conducted,' said Cameron O'Hagan, Pied Piper's Vice President of Metrics and Analytics. ' This year they have achieved the top position due to that consistency.' BMW led the 2025 STE study with an average STE score of 50 – the same score BMW achieved in both 2023 and 2024. The following are examples of behaviors which set BMW dealers apart from the industry average when customers call for service: Higher Rate of Setting Appointments – 65% of BMW service calls resulted in an appointment being set, compared to only 52% for the industry overall. More Likely to Ask About Other Issues – BMW customers were asked if they had any other issues or needed any additional service 35% of the time on average, compared to only 22% of the time for the industry overall. More Likely to Ask if Visited Before – On average, BMW dealers asked service customers whether they had visited the dealership before 44% of the time, compared to 28% of the time for the industry overall. Reach Service Advisor Quickly – BMW customers on average reached a service advisor within one minute 84% of the time, compared to 78% of the time for the industry overall. Why Should We Care About a Customer's Service Telephone Experience? ' Well-run service departments focus on building customer loyalty, and the first opportunity to drive that loyalty is a customer's phone call to schedule an appointment,' said O'Hagan. ' Powersports customers who struggle to schedule service vote with their feet by moving to another dealership or independent shop. In extreme cases, due to most powersports purchases being discretionary, if ownership becomes frustrating, many customers will begin to question whether it's worth the effort and may sell the vehicle and become sour with the brand. ' The industry's average STE score improved one point over the past year, reaching an average score of 44, one point higher than 2024 but trailing the 2023 high watermark average score by two points. Performance varied substantially from dealership to dealership, with a minority of dealerships clearly benefiting from their superior processes. 16% of dealerships nationally achieved STE scores over 70, by providing an interaction with their service customers that was speedy, efficient and proactively helpful. In contrast, customers for 11% of the dealerships hung up their phone having completely failed in their attempt to schedule service. The business implications between those two extremes are substantial. Powersport Industry Performance Lacking in Key Areas Customer expectations for scheduling service aren't set by the powersports industry. Nearly all powersports customers also schedule service for their cars and trucks, and over the past few years the auto industry has significantly improved the service scheduling experience for their customers. Fail to Live up to Expectations – Today, half of all auto service appointments for basic needs like oil changes are quickly booked online, and with the help of AI-powered chat, 87% of auto customers who phone to schedule service end their call with an appointment—compared to only 52% of the powersports customers. Too Many 'Just Drop it Off' Demands – 41% of the time powersports customers were told to 'just drop it off' and wait an undetermined amount of time, rather than the dealership committing to a specific date and time. In comparison, this unfavorable behavior occurs only 2% of the time in the auto industry. Rarely Ask About Additional Services – Across the industry, only 22% of customers were asked if they had other issues or needed additional services—significantly lower than the 40% rate seen in the auto industry. Industry's Greatest Opportunities for Improvement ' The cliché is true: sales sells the first; service sells the rest,' said O'Hagan. ' Dealerships that prioritize a superior service experience gain in both sales and service.' Turn 'Just Drop it Off' Into a Positive – 41% of powersports customers are told to 'just drop it off,' where the vehicle will wait—often outside in the elements—for an undetermined number of days, before the dealership will get to it. This demonstrates little concern for a customer's time or expectations. However, this 'drop it off' mentality can be transformed from a frustration into a positive experience by also offering an appointment. For example: ' I can schedule you two weeks from today, or if you prefer, you're welcome to bring it in and we'll try to get to it sooner. ' Framing it this way respects the customer's time and shows that the dealership is organized and responsive—turning a traditionally negative interaction into a loyalty-building moment. Understand What Customers Are Really Experiencing – In the 2025 study there were 14 brands which improved their STE score over the previous year. The brand with the greatest improvement was Kubota, with a six-point gain since last year, moving from a tenth-place ranking in 2024 to second in this year's study. Kubota dealers nearly doubled their rate of setting appointments, occurring 58% of the time in 2025 compared to 31% of the time last year. Kubota dealers also drastically cut the rate of insisting 'just drop it off' from 62% of the time in 2024 to 38% of the time this year. The key to this improvement was showing dealers what their customers actually experienced when calling for service. 2025 Brand Performance Compared Performance varied substantially by brand, as shown by these examples: Why Was This Study Conducted? 'The first service interaction that drives loyalty and service revenue is a customer's initial phone call to schedule an appointment,' said O'Hagan. "Because these phone calls often go unnoticed in daily operations, they're frequently neglected — and without clear visibility, improvement becomes difficult." For more than 15 years, Pied Piper has independently published annual industry studies that rank the omnichannel performance of brands and dealer groups. These studies track how industry performance changes over time and let clients understand how their own performance compares. Pied Piper clients order ongoing Prospect Satisfaction Index ® (PSI ®) measurement and reporting – internet, telephone or in-person – for their dealerships, as tools to improve and maintain omnichannel sales and service effectiveness. Pied Piper clients have found that the key to driving dealership improvement is showing what sales and service customers are really experiencing – which is often a surprise. About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC Monterey, California - based Pied Piper helps brands and national retailer groups improve the omnichannel sales & service performance of their retailers. Pied Piper's PSI process applies data science analytics to determine the omnichannel sales and service best practices most likely to drive unit sales and loyalty. PSI then uses a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning and human actors to measure and report how effectively retail locations follow those best practices. Other recent Pied Piper PSI industry studies include: Learn more, request a presentation of industry study results, or request PSI measurement and reporting at ------------------------- This press release is provided for editorial use only, and information contained in this release may not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting brands mentioned in this release without specific, written permission from Pied Piper Management Co., LLC.
Associated Press
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Indian Motorcycle Dealers Top-Ranked for Third Year in 2025 Study Measuring Response to Website Customers
Polaris Inc's Indian Motorcycle dealerships ranked highest in the 2025 Pied Piper PSI ® Internet Lead Effectiveness ® (ILE ® ) Powersports Industry Study, measuring responsiveness to internet sales leads coming through dealership websites. Following Indian were Harley-Davidson, BMW, and BRP's Can-Am off-road dealers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Source: 2025 Pied Piper Powersports Internet Lead Effectiveness Industry Study (USA) Pied Piper submitted customer inquiries through 2,523 powersports dealership websites representing 27 brands. Each inquiry asked a specific question about a vehicle in inventory and included a new customer name, email address, and local telephone number. Pied Piper then evaluated the speed and quality of dealership responses by email, telephone, text message and chat over the next 24 hours. Each brand's overall ILE Score is a combined average of their individual dealer ILE performances. ILE evaluations consist of over 20 differently weighted measurements, based upon best practices that are mathematically most likely to generate sales, combining into an overall ILE score ranging from 0 to 100. Indian Ranked Highest for Third Consecutive Year: What Sets Them Apart? 2025 marks the third year in a row the Indian brand achieved the top score in the annual ILE powersports industry study. The Indian brand improved their average score by one point for 2025, reaching an average ILE score of 56. Answering Customer's Question More Often: Indian dealers this year answered their customer's question by email/text 67% of the time on average, improving six points over last year and 17 points higher than the 2025 industry average. Higher Rate of Phone Response: Compared to the industry overall, Indian dealers maintain an eight point lead in the rate of phone response to customer inquiries, occurring 58% of the time on average. 'Did Both' for More Inquiries: Indian dealers 'did both' (answering an inquiry by email/text and also phoning, improving the odds of a response reaching the customer) 46% of the time on average, eight points higher than last year and 20 points higher than the industry average. 'The Indian motorcycle brand has maintained industry leading web-response behaviors during a challenging time in the powersports industry,' said Cameron O'Hagan, Pied Piper's Vice President of Metrics and Analytics. 'Two years ago, when market conditions were more favorable, dealers could easily afford to expand their staff and refine operations. Today, however, tougher conditions have many dealers battling just to keep the lights on.' How Did the Industry Perform Over the Past Year? The overall powersports industry average ILE score remained the same over the last year, both with ILE scores of 44. Powersports dealers in 2025 improved phone behaviors and rate of response, but also experienced declines in other important areas, resulting in no overall change in total ILE Score. Behaviors that Improved: Powersports dealers in 2025 performed better in phone and text response, and the rate of dealers failing to respond occurred less often: More Phone Response: Dealers this year were 5 points more likely to respond to online customer inquiries by phone, occurring 50% of the time on average. Better Use of Texting: Customers were more likely to receive a text response answering their question, increasing 5 points to an overall rate this year of 30%. Fewer Failures to Respond: Dealers failed to respond to online inquiries less often this year, occurring only 9% of the time on average. Behaviors in Decline: There were two notable declines in behavior that held back overall industry score improvement: Less Emails Answering Questions: Dealers answered customers' questions by email 27% of the time on average in 2025, down from 35% last year. Not Offering Appointments as Often: Only 10% of customers in 2025 received a response that included an offer to set up an appointment, in contrast to last year where it occurred 13% of the time on average. What is the '80/40 Rule' and How Does it Relate to the Powersports Industry? In the 2025 powersports industry study, 13% of all dealerships measured scored above 80 (providing quick and thorough personal responses), while 42% of dealerships scored below 40 (failing to personally respond to website customers). The 'over 80' and 'under 40' segments each shrank by 1% since last year, with a larger pool of dealers performing in the space between both categories. 'The effort to improve from the under 40 bucket into the over 80 is worth it,' said O'Hagan. 'Historically, we have found that dealers who improve their ILE performance from scoring under 40 to scoring over 80 on average sell 50% more units from the same quantity of website customer leads.' What is the Powersports Industry's Greatest Opportunity for Improvement? There are two different key areas of improvement for powersports dealers, depending on their current performance level. One in four powersports dealerships currently fail to personally respond to website customer inquiries. For this group of dealers, the sole focus should be a commitment to always personally respond to online customers at least once each day. 'Just as you wouldn't lock up at the end of the day with a physical customer still wandering around the showroom, don't leave your digital customers hanging overnight in your digital showroom waiting for your reply,' said O'Hagan. For the rest of the dealers, the step with the greatest opportunity is to embrace a reliable multi-channel communication strategy, rather than responding to customers using only email, only phone, or only text. In this year's study, powersports dealers failed to use multiple paths 74% of time, leaving many of their responses susceptible to communication breakdowns beyond the dealer's control. 'Emails can land in spam/junk and be missed, customers often ignore calls from an unknown number and don't listen to voicemail, and even texts can be lost or ignored among the large volume of messages many people receive per day,' said O'Hagan. 'A consistent multi-pronged response to every customer is critical since you never know in advance which communication method will be most effective at reaching a specific customer. Then, once contact is established, adopt the successful method for future interactions with the customer.' 2025 Brand Performance Compared: Response to customer web inquiries within a 24-hour period in 2025 had large variations by brand, as shown by these examples: 'Phoned Customer' - How often did the brand's dealerships respond by phone to a website customer's inquiry? More than 50% of the time on average: Harley-Davidson, Indian, Honda, Can-Am Less than 30% of the time on average: Arctic Cat, Roxor, Moto Guzzi, Cub Cadet 'Offered an Appointment' - How often did the brand's dealerships offer to set an appointment for specific date/time? More than 15% of the time on average: Can-Am, Indian, Polaris, Segway Less than 1% of the time on average: John Deere, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops), Cub Cadet 'Did at Least One' - How often did the brand's dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer's question and/or respond by phone? More than 80% of the time on average: BMW, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Harley-Davidson Less than 50% of the time on average: Roxor, Cub Cadet 'Did Both' - How often did the brand's dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer's question and also phone the customer? More than 30% of the time on average: Indian, Harley-Davidson, Triumph Less than 10% of the time on average: Kymco, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops), Cub Cadet Why Was This Study Conducted? 'Customers today visit dealer websites first, and how dealers respond to those customers drives today's sales success,' said O'Hagan. 'The trouble is that website customers can be invisible in day-to-day operations which makes them too easy to overlook.' For more than 15 years, Pied Piper has independently published annual industry studies that rank the omnichannel performance of brands and dealer groups. These studies track how industry performance changes over time and let clients understand how their own performance compares. Pied Piper clients order ongoing Prospect Satisfaction Index ® (PSI ® ) measurement and reporting – internet, telephone or in-person – for their dealerships, as tools to improve and maintain omnichannel sales and service effectiveness. Pied Piper clients have found that the key to driving dealership improvement is showing what sales and service customers are really experiencing – which is often a surprise. About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC Monterey, California - based Pied Piper helps brands and national retailer groups improve the omnichannel sales & service performance of their retailers. Pied Piper's PSI process applies data science analytics to determine the omnichannel sales and service best practices most likely to drive unit sales and loyalty. PSI then uses a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning and human actors to measure and report how effectively retail locations follow those best practices. Examples of other recent Pied Piper PSI studies include the 2024 Service Telephone Effectiveness ® (STE ® ) Powersport Industry Study (Triumph brand was ranked first), the 2024 Telephone Lead Effectiveness ™ (TLE ™ ) Pontoon Boat Industry Study (BRP's Sea-Doo brand ranked first), and the 2025 Internet Lead Effectiveness ® (ILE ® ) Auto Industry Study (Subaru was ranked first). For more information about Prospect Satisfaction Index ® study results or to apply ongoing PSI measurement and reporting to improve performance, go to This press release is provided for editorial use only, and information contained in this release may not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting brands mentioned in this release without specific, written permission from Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. SOURCE: Pied Piper Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 04/07/2025 12:01 AM/DISC: 04/07/2025 12:02 AM
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Indian Motorcycle Dealers Top-Ranked for Third Year in 2025 Study Measuring Response to Website Customers
Overall industry average score unchanged: improvements in phone behaviors and overall response rate offset by fewer personal email responses MONTEREY, Calif., April 07, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Polaris Inc's Indian Motorcycle dealerships ranked highest in the 2025 Pied Piper PSI® Internet Lead Effectiveness® (ILE®) Powersports Industry Study, measuring responsiveness to internet sales leads coming through dealership websites. Following Indian were Harley-Davidson, BMW, and BRP's Can-Am off-road dealers. Pied Piper submitted customer inquiries through 2,523 powersports dealership websites representing 27 brands. Each inquiry asked a specific question about a vehicle in inventory and included a new customer name, email address, and local telephone number. Pied Piper then evaluated the speed and quality of dealership responses by email, telephone, text message and chat over the next 24 hours. Each brand's overall ILE Score is a combined average of their individual dealer ILE performances. ILE evaluations consist of over 20 differently weighted measurements, based upon best practices that are mathematically most likely to generate sales, combining into an overall ILE score ranging from 0 to 100. Indian Ranked Highest for Third Consecutive Year: What Sets Them Apart? 2025 marks the third year in a row the Indian brand achieved the top score in the annual ILE powersports industry study. The Indian brand improved their average score by one point for 2025, reaching an average ILE score of 56. Answering Customer's Question More Often: Indian dealers this year answered their customer's question by email/text 67% of the time on average, improving six points over last year and 17 points higher than the 2025 industry average. Higher Rate of Phone Response: Compared to the industry overall, Indian dealers maintain an eight point lead in the rate of phone response to customer inquiries, occurring 58% of the time on average. "Did Both" for More Inquiries: Indian dealers "did both" (answering an inquiry by email/text and also phoning, improving the odds of a response reaching the customer) 46% of the time on average, eight points higher than last year and 20 points higher than the industry average. "The Indian motorcycle brand has maintained industry leading web-response behaviors during a challenging time in the powersports industry," said Cameron O'Hagan, Pied Piper's Vice President of Metrics and Analytics. "Two years ago, when market conditions were more favorable, dealers could easily afford to expand their staff and refine operations. Today, however, tougher conditions have many dealers battling just to keep the lights on." How Did the Industry Perform Over the Past Year? The overall powersports industry average ILE score remained the same over the last year, both with ILE scores of 44. Powersports dealers in 2025 improved phone behaviors and rate of response, but also experienced declines in other important areas, resulting in no overall change in total ILE Score. Behaviors that Improved: Powersports dealers in 2025 performed better in phone and text response, and the rate of dealers failing to respond occurred less often: More Phone Response: Dealers this year were 5 points more likely to respond to online customer inquiries by phone, occurring 50% of the time on average. Better Use of Texting: Customers were more likely to receive a text response answering their question, increasing 5 points to an overall rate this year of 30%. Fewer Failures to Respond: Dealers failed to respond to online inquiries less often this year, occurring only 9% of the time on average. Behaviors in Decline: There were two notable declines in behavior that held back overall industry score improvement: Less Emails Answering Questions: Dealers answered customers' questions by email 27% of the time on average in 2025, down from 35% last year. Not Offering Appointments as Often: Only 10% of customers in 2025 received a response that included an offer to set up an appointment, in contrast to last year where it occurred 13% of the time on average. What is the "80/40 Rule" and How Does it Relate to the Powersports Industry? In the 2025 powersports industry study, 13% of all dealerships measured scored above 80 (providing quick and thorough personal responses), while 42% of dealerships scored below 40 (failing to personally respond to website customers). The "over 80" and "under 40" segments each shrank by 1% since last year, with a larger pool of dealers performing in the space between both categories. "The effort to improve from the under 40 bucket into the over 80 is worth it," said O'Hagan. "Historically, we have found that dealers who improve their ILE performance from scoring under 40 to scoring over 80 on average sell 50% more units from the same quantity of website customer leads." What is the Powersports Industry's Greatest Opportunity for Improvement? There are two different key areas of improvement for powersports dealers, depending on their current performance level. One in four powersports dealerships currently fail to personally respond to website customer inquiries. For this group of dealers, the sole focus should be a commitment to always personally respond to online customers at least once each day. "Just as you wouldn't lock up at the end of the day with a physical customer still wandering around the showroom, don't leave your digital customers hanging overnight in your digital showroom waiting for your reply," said O'Hagan. For the rest of the dealers, the step with the greatest opportunity is to embrace a reliable multi-channel communication strategy, rather than responding to customers using only email, only phone, or only text. In this year's study, powersports dealers failed to use multiple paths 74% of time, leaving many of their responses susceptible to communication breakdowns beyond the dealer's control. "Emails can land in spam/junk and be missed, customers often ignore calls from an unknown number and don't listen to voicemail, and even texts can be lost or ignored among the large volume of messages many people receive per day," said O'Hagan. "A consistent multi-pronged response to every customer is critical since you never know in advance which communication method will be most effective at reaching a specific customer. Then, once contact is established, adopt the successful method for future interactions with the customer." 2025 Brand Performance Compared: Response to customer web inquiries within a 24-hour period in 2025 had large variations by brand, as shown by these examples: "Answered Question" - How often did the brand's dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer's question? More than 65% of the time on average: BMW, Moto Guzzi, Indian, Ducati Less than 35% of the time on average: Roxor, Kymco, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops) "Phoned Customer" - How often did the brand's dealerships respond by phone to a website customer's inquiry? More than 50% of the time on average: Harley-Davidson, Indian, Honda, Can-Am Less than 30% of the time on average: Arctic Cat, Roxor, Moto Guzzi, Cub Cadet "Offered an Appointment" - How often did the brand's dealerships offer to set an appointment for specific date/time? More than 15% of the time on average: Can-Am, Indian, Polaris, Segway Less than 1% of the time on average: John Deere, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops), Cub Cadet "Did at Least One" - How often did the brand's dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer's question and/or respond by phone? More than 80% of the time on average: BMW, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Harley-Davidson Less than 50% of the time on average: Roxor, Cub Cadet "Did Both" - How often did the brand's dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer's question and also phone the customer? More than 30% of the time on average: Indian, Harley-Davidson, Triumph Less than 10% of the time on average: Kymco, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops), Cub Cadet Why Was This Study Conducted? "Customers today visit dealer websites first, and how dealers respond to those customers drives today's sales success," said O'Hagan. "The trouble is that website customers can be invisible in day-to-day operations which makes them too easy to overlook." For more than 15 years, Pied Piper has independently published annual industry studies that rank the omnichannel performance of brands and dealer groups. These studies track how industry performance changes over time and let clients understand how their own performance compares. Pied Piper clients order ongoing Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) measurement and reporting – internet, telephone or in-person – for their dealerships, as tools to improve and maintain omnichannel sales and service effectiveness. Pied Piper clients have found that the key to driving dealership improvement is showing what sales and service customers are really experiencing – which is often a surprise. About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC Monterey, California - based Pied Piper helps brands and national retailer groups improve the omnichannel sales & service performance of their retailers. Pied Piper's PSI process applies data science analytics to determine the omnichannel sales and service best practices most likely to drive unit sales and loyalty. PSI then uses a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning and human actors to measure and report how effectively retail locations follow those best practices. Examples of other recent Pied Piper PSI studies include the 2024 Service Telephone Effectiveness® (STE®) Powersport Industry Study (Triumph brand was ranked first), the 2024 Telephone Lead Effectiveness™ (TLE™) Pontoon Boat Industry Study (BRP's Sea-Doo brand ranked first), and the 2025 Internet Lead Effectiveness® (ILE®) Auto Industry Study (Subaru was ranked first). For more information about Prospect Satisfaction Index® study results or to apply ongoing PSI measurement and reporting to improve performance, go to This press release is provided for editorial use only, and information contained in this release may not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting brands mentioned in this release without specific, written permission from Pied Piper Management Co., LLC. View source version on Contacts Ryan Scottrscott@ (831)648-1075 Sign in to access your portfolio
