4 • August 2023 • Powersports Business

Pied Piper has shared the results of its Service Telephone Effectiveness ( STE ) Study , which measured the efficiency and quality of service telephone calls from a customer ’ s objective to quickly and easily set up a service appointment . Harley-Davidson was ranked first of 26 powersports brands . Following Harley-Davidson in the rankings were Polaris Off-Road , BMW and Indian Motorcycle .

“ Powersports customers soon decide whether their service experience is a reason to keep their product or get rid of it ,” says Fran O ’ Hagan , CEO of Pied Piper . “ Customers who find scheduling a service appointment difficult vote with their feet by moving to another dealership or independent shop , or postponing service .”

The study was completed between March 2023 and May 2023 , when Pied Piper phoned each of 1,608 dealerships representing all the major powersports brands , posing as a service customer attempting to schedule a service appointment . Overall STE scores range from 0 to 100 and are calculated from a mix of 39 individually weighted efficiency and quality data points that support the customer mission of quickly and easily setting up a service appointment for a specific date and time . 62 percent of the total score is determined by efficiency measurements , while 38 percent of the total score is determined by quality measurements .

Eleven percent of the study ’ s powersports customers hung up their phone , having failed in their attempt to schedule service . Twenty-five percent of the customers quickly accomplished their objective , speaking with a service advisor within one minute and scheduling an appointment within one week . Seven percent of the dealerships nationally went further , achieving STE scores over 80 , by providing an interaction with their service customers that was both “ frictionless ” and proactively helpful .

Performance of each measurement varied by brand and dealership , and the following are examples of performance variation by brand :

How many days out was the first available service appointment ?

5 days or less on average : Harley-Davidson , Kubota , John Deere

More than 12 days on average : Hisun , Tracker , Ducati , CFMoto , Arctic Cat , BMW

How often was a customer placed on hold for more than two minutes ?

Less than eight percent of the time on average : Ducati , LiveWire , Aprilia , Can-Am , Husqvarna , Kawasaki , Zero

More than 18 percent of the time on average : Triumph , CFMoto , Tracker

How often was a customer asked if they were experiencing any other issues ?

More than 30 percent of the time on average : Harley-Davidson , Arctic Cat , Polaris , BMW , Husqvarna

Less than 10 percent of the time on average : Tracker , Cub Cadet , Hisun

How often was a customer asked for their contact information ?

More than 50 percent of the time on average : LiveWire , Ducati , BMW

Less than 25 percent of the time on average : John Deere , Cub Cadet , Hisun , Kubota

Since 2007 , Pied Piper has applied Prospect Satisfaction Index ( PSI ) “ fact-based mystery shopping ” to measure how effectively dealerships for each major brand follow proven best practice sales and service behaviors . On average , dealerships with higher PSI scores have proven to sell more vehicles to the same quantity of online or in-person sales customers .

The same fact-based PSI approach has also been applied to measure behaviors that maximize service customer loyalty . A dealer ’ s relationship with a service customer typically starts with a customer phone call to schedule a service appointment . STE has been used to measure the effectiveness of those phone calls for more than ten years , but 2023 marks the first time that STE results have been compiled into industry studies .

This chart measures the efficiency and quality of service telephone calls from a customers objective to quickly and easily set up a service appointment . www . powersportsbusiness . com Editorial and Sales : 763.383.4400 Subscriber Service : 763.383.4492

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