Sell Like a
Harley
Everyone knows Harley-Davidson. You need to wait in
line if you want one of their motorcycles. And you’ll pay a premium
for your hog because they’re so popular. Maybe you forgot when no
one wanted to buy them. In 1981 when AMF tried to sell them, not one
company offered to buy them. That’s quite a turn around from no one
wanting you, to everyone who wants you standing in line. Their
strategy for turning their business around has some powerful seeds of
wisdom that can help us grow our businesses.
Know
your business. Before they
could focus on the customer they had to first focus on themselves.
They had a product whose reputation for performance was less than
stellar. They later got to poke fun at themselves in an ad.
The ad had Malcolm Forbes’ hot air balloon hovering over a massive crowd
of people. Forbes’ balloon was in the shape of a Harley bike.
The caption said, “Thank G-d they don’t leak oil anymore.” They knew
they had manufacturing and product problems. They focused on
identifying the problems before they did anything else. They fixed
their problems before they focused on their customers.
Know
your customers. Harley-Davidson leadership identified who their customer was.
Sure there’s the beefy, leather-clad tattooed rider who buys their
product. Now their customer is most likely to be over 40.
There are more women buyers than ever. When they examined who their
true customer was, they decided it was their dealers. Their dealers
were the focal point for the decision to buy a Harley.
Harley-Davidson management decided that their job was to help their
customers, the dealers, get customers. Their dealers became the
customers that all programs were focused on.
Pay attention to details. Harley-Davidson now licenses a wide range of products. They
range from helmets to clothing and accessories. You may have eaten at one
of the Harley-Davidson Cafes. They even sell Harley-Davidson
toys! Harley-Davidson is absolutely vigilant in protecting its logo
in its placement and how it is used. They see every Harley-Davidson
product with its logo as part of the Harley-Davidson experience. By
paying very close attention to managing all the details in their licensing
process, management can promote a positive Harley experience for their
customers.
What
Harley-Davidson does applies to everyone in sales. How they do it
may be different than what each of us does in our businesses. The
overall strategy works. Harley-Davidson went from losing $15.5
million in 1982 to earning $333.6 million in 1998. And they see
themselves as a renewable company not a surviving one. Surviving
companies don’t last. They are so focused on surviving that when the
crisis passes, employees have nothing to hold on to. Renewable
companies have continuity. They have employees who operate with a
sense of personal responsibility. They don’t need a rulebook 2
inches thick. Their employees take the initiative to make the tough
business decisions.
Harley-Davidson once had an
ad showing the Harley-Davidson logo tattooed on a rider’s biceps.
The caption said, “When’s the last time you felt so strongly about
anything?” They don’t expect all their loyal customers to tattoo the
Harley-Davidson logo on their arms. They do hope they’ll tattoo
their Harley-Davidson experience on their hearts. Is the experience
of buying from you tattooed on your customers’ hearts?
Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of
Best@Selling (http://www.bestatselling.com/).
She works with business and sales professionals at company and trade
association meetings to make selling easier and more productive. She is
the author of the book Real-World
Selling for Out-of-this-World Results. She can be reached at 972
380 0200 or info@BestatSelling.com.
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