Unlock the culture code to find would-be riders - Larry Little of MIC - Episode 46

Joining me today was Larry Little. You may not know who he is, but Larry is one of many people working behind the scenes to keep the doors of your dealership swinging. I think it's important for dealership folks to understand that they do have a network of people working on their behalf to help their business stay healthy. How? Larry is with the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) - who works on things that those of us working IN the powersports retail side of the business don't always have time to do, like ... determine what motorcycle consumers want from us as well as what consumers that didn't know they want to be a motorcyclist; want. Yes, new MIC research has determined that there is a certain culture code that can be used to find people with a propensity to become motorcyclists. He admits this is a long term play but the insights in that are huge starting with you reading this, TODAY.  There is a lot more to come as I got Larry on to talk about this early in their roll out. Heck, they haven't even named the initiative yet. So please be sure you watch www.mic.org for updates on that. What can you do today? Well, maybe re-examine how well you are tapping into your local area/regional culture of not just current customers - but WOULD-BE customers. Remember, we now know that as many as 8% of U.S. households have a motorcycle in their garage. Are you seeing that percentage of your local population in your store? Is your location sitting in the middle of a certain subset of the population that you don't include in your message? If so, they are probably having a hard time seeing themselves within your message and that could be setting a hurdle that you hadn't anticipated. As a realtor prepares a house for sale so that the vision is easier for the prospective buyer to see the result of their problem being solved - a "staged" house shown is a home that is ready to live in. If you have - as Larry mentions - just old white guys like him or I in your messaging, it may be harder for all the NON-old white guys to easily see themselves a part of it.  I am not saying to pander, I'd never recommend that as it is immediately and obviously disingenuous and will work against you in the fastest way. What I am saying is that you need to look at who your current and prospective customers are and be sure your messaging speaks to them as a LIFEstyle they can see fitting into their LIFE. This is a much deeper conversation but I'm honored that Larry took some time to share the scratched surface with me.  My call to action for all my listeners is to:  1) follow the MIC now and be informed about coming initiatives like the one mentioned above 2) email them your insights or feedback at: [email protected] 3) look at your current messaging to your local population to see if it fits to them Lastly, share this message and podcast episode. The podcast continues to grow and I'm so thankful to all of you who have shared it. It is a labor of love for me that I only do in my off work hours. I have spent no money promoting the podcast so it's a slow road and that is ok by me. I'm here for the long run.  The Dealership fiXit podcast exists to tap dealers into high performance ideas! Contact me here: [email protected]