BY MADELYN PEGG ASSOCIATE EDITOR

vehicles gets taken care of . It ’ s literally the most fun I ’ ve ever had at a job in my entire life .”

Sarah Walker of Team Powersports in Garner , North Carolina , grew up around motorcycles and for as long as she can remember , she had always wanted one of her own . When she turned 18 , her father helped her buy her first bike .

“ It was a Honda Shadow 750 , and it came from Team Powersports , right here where I work today ,” she says . “ That started the lifelong obsession . I rode from my senior year of high school all the way through college . When I graduated , I wasn ’ t sure what I wanted to do with my life yet , so I decided I would go and sell motorcycles for a couple of years until I figured it all out . That was 13 years ago , and I have figured it out . What I want to do is sell powersports .”

She joined Team Powersports as a salesperson and after two years in that position , she became marketing manager . In 2019 , as marketing became more digitized , she took on the role of director of sales and marketing .

“ We have a sales manager and then me , sales and marketing . Our sales manager is very much on the leads , on the follow up , does backup F & I , and keeps control of inventory . He ’ s a very organized fellow and does everything by the charts and by the book , which allows me to run around with a camera in my hand and act like a crazy person ,” she laughs . “ It ’ s more of a parallel thing where we have two people doing the work of the sales manager , but we have slightly different , specialized roles to make sure the other stuff that ’ s not selling

Team Powersports of North Carolina was founded in the 70s and the current owner ’ s father , Carol Stephenson , acquired the business in 1985 .

OPTIMIZING SOCIAL MEDIA Walker has become the face of the dealership through Team Powersport ’ s social media . She is typically the spokesperson featured in posts and keeps viewers ’ attention with her infectious energy and comically animated mannerisms .

Before she took over marketing , “ Our dealership was pretty much on the cutting edge when it came to videos ,” she says . “ Our general manager of Team Powersports , both locations , was making videos long before I even worked here for the original YouTube channel .

“ Prior to me , they would do videos at events or have a salesperson talk about a motorcycle , but I tried to rejuvenate or revive the video content just to try and bring something that nobody else was doing ,” she continues . “ How many dealerships are there in the U . S . and what can I do to make us different ? How can we stand apart ? It was energy , excitement , comedy , and a little bit of a Loony Toons character that is me .”

She shares that when she was younger , she didn ’ t hesitate to talk to anybody . She preferred to be in front of the camera instead of behind it , and spent her time in drama , plays , and in marching and concert bands . She also marched with the East Carolina Pirates during her freshman year of college . “ It ’ s just always been fun for me to put on a show , be the life of the party , and tell the joke ,” she says .

She strives to create content that is entertaining and informative . “ Powersports should be fun … I want that sense of fun to be conveyed

and I don ’ t want it to be scary for a new rider or somebody who hasn ’ t been in the dealership for a long time to cross the precipices ,” she says .

She posts mostly on YouTube , Facebook , and Instagram , and she describes the type of content she posts as one of three categories : high-quality , “ quick and dirty ,” and commercial content .

“ My passion project is on YouTube ,” she says . “ It ’ s our moto blog where I ’ ve got a helmet mounted camera and microphone , I take a half hour ride on a motorcycle and whittle it down until it ’ s 10 or 15 minutes of content , and do decent editing and intros . I call that my high-quality content . Then , the opposite of that , we call them ‘ quick and dirty .’ That ’ s just whatever the promotion is , or the new thing , or something funny we thought up . I can film it in vertical mode for an [ Instagram ] Reel or a [ Facebook ] Short and just slap it out there really quick with no editing . We do a commercial every holiday season . That ’ s typically the funniest thing of the year because my boss lets me get a little zany with it .”

The dealership has shifted to a mostly digital-based marketing strategy , and it ’ s working well . Team Powersports hosted a Can-Am , Spyder , and Ryker On-Road Demo Ride Experience , and the event was 40 percent booked before it took place . Can-Am informed the dealership that the average pre-booking rate was 10 percent . Walker credits the higher prebooking numbers to the dealership ’ s heavy promotion on social media .

SUNDAY FUNDAY Her other passion project is Team Powersports ’ Sunday Funday Lunch Ride . The dealership hosted a bike night with a local Harley-Davidson dealership until about five years ago . When the bike nights halted , the dealership ’ s Sunday Funday Lunch Rides kicked off .

The dealership invites customers to ride with Team Powersports employees on the second Sunday of every month from March through November . “ Having lived in this town for the last 35 years , I ’ ve got some pretty cool routes planned out that go to different places ,” Walker says . “ Each month , we choose a different location , take a 45−minute to hourand-a-half ride , and eat lunch together .”

She noticed that many customers were looking for something to do with the products they bought from the dealership . She says the bike nights offered a place for customers to hang out with other riders , but the Sunday Funday Lunch Rides offers that as well as friends to ride with .

“ The benefit for Team Powersports is that we always have something going on as opposed to constantly having to plan an event ,” she explains . “ We can just tell our customers , ‘ Hey , you just bought that bike , come out and join us for a Sunday Funday lunch ride .’ And the benefit for our customers is that they have a place where there ’ s no pressure to buy anything , the store is not even open , we just use it as a meeting place .

“ I ’ ve seen friendships forged through the Sunday Funday ride , both with patrons and myself ,” she continues . “ It ’ s something to talk about , it ’ s something to do , and let ’ s be honest , I ’ d be riding my motorcycle on a Sunday morning whether the store was doing a ride or not , so why not benefit Team Powersports and our customers .”

THE TEAM AT TEAM POWERSPORTS The dealership , originally known as Honda Raleigh , was founded in the ’ 70s . The current owner ’ s father , Carol Stephenson , acquired the business in 1985 . “ When we merged with

Sarah Walker joined Team Powersports as a salesperson and is now the director of sales and marketing . Photos courtesy of Team Powersports