When I walked back into my old dealership, the mission was simple— save it. Get it from bleeding cash to breaking even in 90 days.( You can read along with that journey in MAX MATERNE“ The Turn Around Project,” published in Powersports Business.)

But from the beginning, I knew that simply balancing the books wouldn’ t be enough. If this place was going to truly make it— not just survive but thrive— we’ d have to rebuild it from the inside out.

After nearly a decade of working with dealerships across the country, I already knew the truth: our industry doesn’ t run on logic. We don’ t sell necessities— we sell passion. We sell freedom, adventure, and belonging. We sell fun.

But walking back into the store made it clear what we really needed to fix. The problem wasn’ t just financial— it was emotional. The experience we were giving customers didn’ t match the emotion we were selling. And until we fixed that, the store would never become the incredible operation it has the potential to be.

THE PROBLEM NO ONE WANTS TO ADMIT

Before the turnaround work began, I thought: If we can make the experience match

the customer’ s expectations, this place will turn around in no time.

I was wrong— or at least, not completely right.

The truth is, customers expect an experience we can’ t consistently deliver. Not because we don’ t care. Not because we don’ t want to. But because it’ s nearly impossible to do the job and smile through the chaos at the same time.

I’ ll never forget what one of my best friends said after visiting my store back when it was humming. He looked around, nodded, and said:

“ Everyone’ s always staring at computer screens.”

It wasn’ t meant as an insult, but it landed like one. My instinct was to defend my team: Yeah, they’ re slammed. It’ s nonstop. If they look up for too long, the work piles up and that’ s when customers get upset.

The truth is, customers expect an experience we can’ t consistently deliver. Not because we don’ t care. Not because we don’ t want to. But because it’ s nearly impossible to do the job and smile through the chaos at the same time.

But that— right there— was the problem.

Customers don’ t come in to see us grind. They come in to feel seen. To feel like part of something bigger— a community, a lifestyle, a tribe. But instead, they’ re often greeted by the back of a monitor and a burned-out expression.

That doesn’ t build excitement. It doesn’ t build loyalty. It doesn’ t build trust.

It just looks like we’ re showing up to get through the day.

WHY IT HAPPENS The current dealership model— the one we’ ve built composites around, the one we staff to, train on, and measure success by— is designed around operations first, experience second.

And on paper, that makes perfect sense. The dealership must survive before it can thrive, right? But what if that logic is backward? I know how radical that sounds. Suggesting that the customer experience should come before the dealership’ s bottom line might seem naïve— or even career suicide for someone in my position. But here’ s what I believe to be true: when the experience is exceptional, the profits follow.

Customers who feel connected come back. They buy more. They bring friends. They become advocates.

So why don’ t more dealerships lead with that philosophy? Because we’ re trapped by the tools that define how we operate. The software dictates the process, and the process dictates the experience. And in most cases,

those systems weren’ t designed with emotion or connection in mind— they were designed to manage transactions, not relationships. That’ s the part we’ re flipping upside down. What if we started by designing the ideal customer experience, then reverse-engineered the processes— and built the software— to make it possible?

That’ s the experiment.

WELCOME TO THE DEALER LAB Now that we’ ve stabilized this dealership, we’ re turning it into something new— The Dealer Lab.

This store will serve as a real-world test site for what the future of the dealership could look like. A place to reimagine every part of the model— from staffing to processes to software— around a single mission: creating a better ownership experience.