22 • December 2023 • Powersports Business

BY MADELYN HUBBARD ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Sean Coplen hung up his suit in the tech industry and opened Roseville Motorsports of Rocklin , California , in 2002 after having a poor experience at a dealership . His goal was to offer excellent customer service and spend more time with his family . Roseville Motorsports opened as a one-line Yamaha dealership and , between 2015 and 2019 , Kawasaki , Polaris , and Suzuki were added to the dealership ’ s lineup .

Colby Moore joined the Roseville Motorsports team in 2018 and is now the assistant manager . He has worked in a dealership since 2012 and has held multiple managerial positions .

Moore has been around powersports all his life . “ When I was a kid , me and my friend would ride his little Honda 50 minibike ,” he says . In his early teens , he would visit family in Maine every summer and ride quads .

“ I remember being 12 years old and I ’ d get on my quad that my parents bought me , and I ’ d be gone for like four hours . I ’ d go 30 miles to a different town on the railroad tracks and I ’ d get back and my grandparents would get so mad ,” he says . ( Maine converted inactive railroad tracks to recreational trails ). He started riding on the street after his dad bought him his first street bike at the age of 17 .

SHOP TALK Moore is excited to see the new Polaris Ranger XD 1500 . “ It ’ s going to be a new hot model coming out just because there ’ s no other UTV like that on the market right now ,” he says . “ We ’ re anxiously awaiting the Yamaha YZ bike to show up on the showroom floor . Other than that , we ’ re monitoring our flooring costs and trying to move older inventory because , with interest rates higher , it ’ s been tougher for people to buy . Not only that ,” he continues , “ but California has been very unfriendly to off-road riders .” And the dealership has seen dirt bike sales drop over the years .

“ Parents come in looking for kid ’ s bikes and employees have to explain where certain units can be ridden and when . It ’ s quite a shocker for people who haven ’ t been in the industry ,” he shares . “ And for people looking to get a new bike , when you tell them that they can ’ t use it in any state facility because they can ’ t get registered , people keep their old bike .”

In response , the dealership may take on an electric line in the future . Roseville carried Alta Motors , an electric dirt bike manufacturer , until the company closed in 2018 . Because of this , Moore explains that the next electric line will be carefully chosen .

“ We don ’ t want to sell the customer a bike and not be able to help a year later ,” he says . “ The customer can be somewhat understanding , but they ’ ll hold the dealership somewhat accountable – which we should be . If we ’ re selling a product , we need to stand behind it .”

TAKING ON E-BIKES While the dealership does not currently carry an electric dirt bike line , Roseville Motorsports customers are familiar with electric products on the showroom floor . The dealership took on Specialized Bicycles in October of 2022 .

“ It was a slow start ,” Moore says . “ We recently hired our e-bike department manager who is also the lead technician for that department .” The new department manager and technician is a cyclist and former coowner of a local bicycle shop . His knowledge and experience in the bicycle industry are a necessity for most e-bike customers .

“ The customers that are buying these $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 bikes know more than most of us do ,” Moore says . “ We need someone that can match that level of knowledge , otherwise they ’ ll question buying from the dealership or question if any issues they have can be fixed . It was a slow start with e-bikes because we didn ’ t have that person , and now that we do , it ’ s pretty cool to see the department start gaining traction .”

A TENURED TEAM Besides the hire of the latest department manager , most employees have worked at the dealership for over a year , and every employee working in the parts department has worked at the dealership for two or more years . Eight key staff members have been a part of the Roseville team for almost 10 years or more .

“ Sean , as an owner , really takes care of us and it shows ,” Moore says , explaining that he ensures employees are heard and that concerns are always addressed . “ He ’ s very compassionate , too . When someone feels like they ’ re being listened to by an owner or a boss , it makes a big difference . And he rewards hard work .”

Roseville Motorsports opened in 2002 as a single-line Yamaha dealership . Between 2015 and 2019 , Kawasaki , Polaris , and Suzuki were added to the dealership ’ s lineup .

Pictured left to right is Service Manager Zac Mickel , Assistant General Manager Colby Moore , Owner / General Manager Sean Coplen , General Sales Manager Sanjeet “ G ” Heisser , Assistant Service Manager Dean Mosser , and Parts & Accessories Manager Cody Holdsclaw .

PROMOTING ROSEVILLE The dealership staff is usually made up of about 30 employees , two of whom oversee marketing and social media alongside the owner – an unofficial marketing team . “ It ’ s something that we really need because we could really make a bigger impact on social media if we had a full-time marketing team ,” Moore says . “ But we don ’ t , and we ’ ve been very fortunate to have a good group of core

CHANGE OF SEASON , CHANGE OF FOCUS

As time allows , employees focus on merchandising , especially during this time of the year . Moore shares that rearranging the showroom is not a favorite task , but beneficial for the sales department . “ We ’ ll reorganize a glove rack , and we ’ ll look at the sales report the next week and the glove sales have doubled . Until I saw it , I couldn ’ t believe the correlation ,” he says . “ We keep it looking different so customers ’ eyes will see a difference and scan the area again .”

Colby Moore is the assistant manager of Roseville

Motorsports and has worked in a dealership since 2012 . Photos courtesy of Roseville Motorsports

customers . Word of mouth works really well because when you provide such a high level of customer service , people tell their friends .”

The dealership also sponsors itself by supporting local organizations and events . “ We ’ re also big in sponsoring Bayside Adventure Sports , a local church group , and their focus is getting kids on bikes . They do an annual ride that we always sponsor .”

SECURING CUSTOMER LOYALTY As a dealership established to provide an excellent customer experience , Roseville employees strive to ensure customer satisfaction . “ If you have an issue , there ’ s no resistance . If we mess up or if we do something wrong , we believe in fixing it ,” Moore says . “ We ’ re not going to let the customer suffer . We ’ re really leaning on our return policy too . We have a policy in place that is strict enough when it needs to be , but I would say we probably bend that policy every day .”

Employees have the authority to reimburse a customer if it costs the dealership $ 50 or less when a manager is not present . “ We just want the customer to be happy ,” Moore says .

“ I ’ ve been the parts manager and inventory control manager here at Roseville Motorsports for several years and the most important thing I ’ ve learned is to set your pride aside when you have to , and listen to concerns ,” he continues . “ Especially with customers ; you have to make sure they ’ re happy . Make sure other people are happy , and it makes your job easier .”