Erico Motorsports – Denver, CO – Feb. 9, 2009

CONTACT
Erico Motorsports
2855 Walnut St.
Denver, Colo. 80205
303/308-1811
www.ericomotorsports.com
OWNER
John Beldock
BUSINESS PROFILE
Always an enthusiast, Erico Motorsports owner John Beldock road raced motorcycles before he owned the dealership. At the track he began buying and selling used bikes, and he used his garage as storage. “It just kind of grew from there,” Beldock said. “As we started taking on new franchises, we kind of melted into being an all-European dealer. Those are the best bikes. I think the heritage of motorcycling lies within the European brands.” He adds the dealership is in tune with vintage bikes and the heritage of vintage motorcycling. They carry Ducati, Triumph, Aprilia, Vespa, Piaggio, Bimota and Moto Guzzi. The brands have been accumulated during the 15 years the dealership has been in business. Having to move from his garage, Beldock says they’re now in a 20,000-square-foot facility and have about 30 employees. They’re all enthusiasts. “We live the motorcycle lifestyle,” he said. “Everybody here is motorcycle, scooter fanatic.”
GREATEST CONCERN
“My greatest concern is in the current market, the OEMs will inadvertently dilute their brand value by chasing higher volume,” Beldock said. “I think high volume is important and I don’t hold it against the OEMs to want more volume and work for more volume. Some manufacturers like Ducati do this really well. They have been growing their existing dealer network to be higher quality. They take their existing dealers and work with them to grow the volume and quality. What I see with other OEMs, they will grow the dealer network to gain volume. I think that’s at a detriment to the brand value.”
WHAT’S HOT
Track-type bikes are the biggest seller for Erico Motorsports because Beldock said, “We’re very performance-minded. We do a lot of track days here, so we sell a lot track-type bikes.” Since the dealership is big into vintage motorcycling, Beldock says they sell a lot of the modern classic Triumphs. Also hot ticket items are Triumph sport bikes as well as all the dealership’s scooters.
CUSTOMER BUYING TRENDS
Customers are more informed when they come into the dealership. “People often have a pretty good idea of what they want,” Beldock said. “However, they still look to us for guidance to confirm what they think to be the case. They want us to confirm what their ideas are coming in.”
PARTS AND SERVICE
Erico Motorsports’ clothing business does really well, says Beldock. “We sell a lot of lifestyle clothing, so the brands we carry are very in tuned into lifestyle wear, branded lifestyle wear,” he noted. “Everybody here wears the motorcycle, scooter lifestyle-type clothing. Our customers see that and that’s what they’re purchasing when they come in here. They’re buying into the whole lifestyle, which comes down to not just the machine but what you wear when you’re not on a motorcycle or scooter.” The service department also does well. “Service is definitely a big piece of the business,” Beldock said. The dealership has two service writers and six service technicians. Some of the technicians are specialists in certain brands, but they’re all trained in every brand Erico Motorsports carries. “(The technicians) always have a specialist in the group to go to if they run into trouble,” he said.
PROMOTIONAL HOME RUNS
The biggest thing Erico Motorsports puts emphasis on is customer relationship management, Beldock says. “We put a lot of effort into marketing to our existing customer base. We want new people to come in, and we want to get those referrals,” he said. “We feel that if we’re great to our existing customers base, that’s going to spread to their contact lists.” The dealership also sends out an e-mail newsletter every other week. “It talks about the events we do, rides that are coming up, new products in the clothing department and new performance modifications coming out of the service department,” he said. Another strategy that has worked well for the dealership is how it displays its motorcycles. The sales, accessories and service departments all team up to modify the units on the floor. “They’ve been building customized units to show what can be done to the motorcycles,” Beldock said.
WORDS OF ADVICE
“Never forget the reason you’re here. We’re all here because we love motorcycles and we want to love what we do,” Beldock said. “You go where you look. If you are positive and you look toward being the best and having your customers brought into your dealership because they see you as a guiding light for motorcycling, then you will be.”
— Karin Gelschus