EXPO interviews
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ALEX ORAZIETTI, TRI-MOTIVE Tel 01792 652011;
sales@tri-motive.com
A start-up business only 18 months ago, Tri-Motive has come into the new year in bullish mood targeting a 30 per cent sales increase. The company, which largely rose
from the ashes of On Two Wheels, is the importer and distributor of MT Helmets, Renntec luggage, and its own-brand Armr clothing currently sold through a core of 100 dealers. Marketing expert and salesman Alex
Orazietti reckons several factors have contributed to a successful first year of trading. “It was tough, especially with the
rain we had throughout the year, but we’ve got through it and are in a good position to supply more gear to the trade this year,” he said. “We’re still a small company and don’t have the huge overheads of some of our competitors. We’re probably selling our clothing too cheaply, but we have to be keen on the price points. “There’s still business to be done, but it’s in £50-£150 clothing and £50-£70 helmets. No-one is buying £600 suits or helmets today. The guys who buy scooters buy a £50 helmet and a £30 pair of gloves. That’s where the action is and that’s where you’ve got to be. “All staff at Tri-Motive have good relationships with dealers through our years in the trade and those dealers have supported us,” added Orazietti. “We’re not going to appoint thousands of new dealers. We’d rather settle for fewer sales through the right dealers than perhaps sell more through the wrong dealers. “We also have excellent suppliers. The number of returns has been negligible and the products have proved spot on.” Tri-Motive is now planning to appoint an additional area manager to cover the south-west.
NORRIE KERR, VE (UK) Tel 0115 946 2991;
sales@ve-uk.com Talismanic Norrie Kerr, specialist wholesaler of scooter parts and accessories, has relevant and forthright opinions on most topics and is telling dealers that the way ahead is to take full advantage of the internet. VE (UK) managing director Kerr suggests
that dealers engage with websites and on- line shopping to boost profitability. And he can help! “Tablet computers are now being made for two-year-olds, so in a flat market there’s
every reason why dealers should be using the services we offer,” said the proud Scot, who has masterminded the multi-million pound development of VE (UK) during its 24 years. “Dealers who do not have their own online ordering shop can use our online supermarket. When they subscribe, their details are listed and orders from customers in their own or a nearby postcode are automatically credited to their accounts with a 20 per cent profit margin – and they don’t have to lift a finger,” he says. “Dealers with their own websites and online shops can have our parts data and images on thousands of products to list on their own sites. We constantly update this database with fresh pictures, images and text. All the dealer has to do is supply ordering customers from their own stock, or email us details and we will despatch and drop-ship it direct to the end user – the dealer gets the profit,” he added. “These systems are the agile sales tools the trade needs to be using,”
concluded Kerr, who recently added Schwalbe and Sava tyres and NZi helmets to his inventory. He can offer 24-hour delivery to dealers who want to sell stock from the shop but not carry too much inventory.
PHIL BALMENT, RATRACE MOTORCYCLES Tel 01509 813895;
jandbstone@tiscali.co.uk Phil Balment’s one-man-band second-hand bike and Peugeot dealership in Loughborough, Leicestershire, was expanding apace until the 2008 banking crisis and subsequent recession put the brakes on. But Balment remains stoic. “I’m selling about 75 bikes a year now and I still
look forward to getting up and going to work in the mornings,” he said. “It’s tough, but it’s just a question of keeping the overheads low and hanging in there until the market comes back, as it will do sometime. “If the right franchise came up I probably
wouldn’t say no. If I had a cup, it would be half full,” joked the life-long motorcyclist whose main focus is retailing popular scooters and motorcycles in the £1000 to £5000 category. “I only started the business seven years ago and it was really going well. I was selling around 120 bikes a year up until 2008. But now there seems to be a lot of 30 to 50-year-old riders who are getting rid of their bikes and leaving motorcycling,” said Balment. “Margins are getting squeezed and the internet is having a big effect. People buy off the net, but they can’t get the customer service offered by a dealer. Instead of buying, say, a pair of tyres from a dealer, they buy off the internet, but come to us just to get them fitted. “But I’m selling about 75 bikes a year across the board to 16-year-olds on
scooters right up to an 87-year-old who traded in an BMW F650 for a scooter and then moved on to a Suzuki Address scooter. “Peugeot has been good for the business because its pricing is now very
competitive and it’s a good product. I also have a contract with Europcar to service the monkey bikes their drivers use to ride back to base after they’ve delivered a hire car to a customer, ” added Balment, who has been in the motor trade all his working life and raced sidecars for five years.
JODI KIRKHAM, DAVIDA Tel 0151 647 2419;
sales@davida.co.uk
Britain’s only helmet manufacturer continues to plough its own furrow, selling thousands of helmets worldwide even though its market has remained largely static over the last five years, according to salesman Jodi Kirkham. The famous brand run by enigmatic
Dave Fiddaman is now far removed from the cottage industry producion it once was, Fiddaman having invested in new premises and superior tooling five years ago. But having upgraded in the teeth of the credit squeeze the company, whose helmets retail in the £240-£270 bracket, has yet to fully reap the benefits in terms of increased sales.
“But everything is fine,” said Kirkham. “We can’t complain. The market is tough, but as some dealers go out of business others spring up to take their place and we are finding that riders in their mid-40s, who are getting rid of their rice rockets and replacing them with cruisers, come to us for a helmet. “We’ve always been a steady company but we have now expanded the range with more sizes and different shells. There are four models of helmet with 60 colourways in each, and customers can even choose their own designs. “We introduced a universal visor to fit open-face helmets and have brought in the D4Vi9A range of five gloves. We also import and sell Aviator goggles, and sunglasses that can be transformed into goggles,” added Kirkham. The big improvement at Davida has been the far more efficient production facilities, which have dramatically improved production rates so that helmet batches can be made and despatched within 10-14 days of receiving an order. “We also have products which are in the final stages of development and these will come on to the market later this year. We also intend to take advantage of social media to build the brand,”concluded Kirkham.
Contact Ian Edwards on:
01327 855 999 or alternatively email
sales@modeperformance.co.uk
SOLE UK IMPORTER & DISTRIBUTOR ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
42 MARCH 2013 HIGH PERFORMANCE RACING
2210 Silverstone Tech. Park Silverstone Circuit Northants NN12 8TN
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