BY MADELYN HUBBARD ASSOCIATE EDITOR

In 1996 , Rob Willey brought his motorcycle into a dealership to get repaired and 28 years later , he ’ s general manager at Team Charlotte Motorsports . “ I started at the bottom putting bikes together ,” he says . “ Since I was a kid , I had a Honda QA50 and my dad used to ride . I always wanted to ride and got my first street bike at 18 . I ’ ve been riding ever since .”

Team Charlotte Motorsports was established 40 years ago and in 2014 , Bill Shenk became the owner . “ He bought it , redid the place and we ’ ve been rocking ever since ,” Willey says . “ We ’ re the largest motorcycle dealership in the Carolinas . We have a branched-out dealership under T ’ s Euro Cycle , which is kind of under the same name , but they sell all the European [ brands ]. Everything European gets sold out of there and it ’ s also a new Aprilia , Moto Guzzi and Vespa dealership .”

The 50,000 square foot Team Charlotte Motorsports facility is located downtown and houses over 450 motorcycles , side-bysides , scooters , PWCs and ATVs . Overseeing 54 people as general manager , Willey describes his leadership style as “ fair across the board . I ’ m very calm unless they make me mad ,” he laughs . “ But normally , that really helps ,” he says about having a calm demeanor . “ Especially when you ’ re selling 30 bikes a day .”

To get every day started , Willey holds a meeting with the salespeople . He says the meeting is always positive and upbeat . “ We do a pretty intense meeting every Friday morning , which is a training meeting just to keep everybody on their toes ,” he adds .

A HANGOUT AND HOST OF EVENTS “ The motto of this dealership is to make a friend . We try to do that ,” Willey says . “ That makes us stand out as a little bit different . We treat customers like we want to be treated . It ’ s not always about the bottom line . It ’ s about keeping recurring customers .”

He shares that Shenk has a large collection of antique motorcycles throughout the store . “ You walk in here and there ’ s motorcycles everywhere ,” he says . “ The owner ,

Bill , has a crazy collection . We ’ ve got probably 50−plus motorcycles on the wall that are antique motorcycles from all brands .”

And before Covid−19 , the showroom included a 30− by 30−foot swimming pool that was used to display PWCs . When inventory lessened during the pandemic , the pool was removed . But this isn ’ t the only attraction offered by the dealership .

“ We do a few unique things here ,” Willey says . Every day the dealership makes popcorn out of an industrial popcorn machine and customers are offered soda and water . “ It ’ s funny because the UPS drivers come in to get popcorn and soda too ,” he laughs . “ We also feed our customers every Saturday . We cook hamburgers and hot dogs for every customer that walks through the door ; Bill is kind of crazy about that . We don ’ t just do hot dogs . He goes to Sam ’ s Club , and he gets those big quarter-pound hot dogs and the same thing with the burgers . They ’ re the big quarter-pound burgers .”

People come to the dealership simply to hang out , which has become less common within the motorcycle industry , because Team Charlotte offers a destination . While the dealership is large , its environment is welcoming and personable like many smaller motorcycle shops . “ That ’ s our goal . That ’ s how we keep it fresh and keep people coming in ,” he says .

In the past , the dealership would hire bands to play on the property throughout the day on Saturdays , and this is something Team Charlotte will start doing for its customers again . A tractor and trailer make a stage behind the dealership decorated with lights and speakers . “ We ’ ll get that going , and we also have a barbeque ,” Willey says . The dealership has a smoker made from a trike motorcycle and he says they will cook brisket and pork so customers can experience “ a real North Carolina barbeque when they come in .”

The Charlotte Motorsports team also hosts bike nights on Wednesdays at a local barbeque shop and bar . He says that every week , the dealership does things to stand out to its riding community , and this has led to its growth and the opportunity to continuously improve .

Rob Willey is the general manager at Team Charlotte Motorsports and oversees 54 employees . Photos courtesy of Team Charlotte Motorsports

IMPROVING AND PROMOTING “ It ’ s ongoing . Every day there ’ s new challenges and there ’ s new things to do ,” Willey says about improving the facility and operations . He uses the parking lot as an example of the continuous upgrades that are being made to the dealership . A few years ago , the parking lot was blacktopped , then lines were added . “ Things like that keep everything new and fresh ,” he says .

Marketing at Team Charlotte Motorsports is done in-house . Willey points out that most marketing is done digitally and on social media , and less often in print or on TV .

“ It ’ s pretty much getting your name out there on the internet and being the top Google searched dealership ,” he explains .

In the past , the dealership has booked live bands to play for its customers and will start doing this again , according to the general manager .

Before Covid-19 , Team Charlotte ’ s showroom included a pool that was used to display PWCs .

Shenk primarily ensures this by promoting the dealership and taking care of the back end digital marketing . The dealership uses Instagram , Facebook and TikTok and keeps each platform active with personalized content promoting specials and units for sale . “ You don ’ t want to overdo it , but you ’ ve got to do it just enough ,” Willey says about how often to post .

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT EQUALS SUCCESS

Inventory is back up and Willey says that dealers who take advantage of programs used to manage inventory are the ones that are going to succeed .

“ As of this quarter so far , we ’ re right on par with last year ,” he says about Q1 . “ To stay flat now is a good thing because if you look at industry dealers , the profit is not where it was two years ago . We ’ re keeping steady , and the numbers are still there .”