I’ve been thinking a lot about defiance lately.  Actually, because I’m very much a contrarian at heart, I’m always thinking about ways to defy.  That’s what contrarians do; they defy conventional wisdom (among other things).  (By the way, it seems pretty clear that we need a lot more contrarians in the world.) I guess you […]

Repost: Napping as an Act of Defiance

Then you might have a loyal customer for life.

Back in 1985 when I was a young apprentice with much enthusian, but not a lot of money, I looked at upgrading to a new motorcycle.

The local Honda dealer was quite patronising in the extreme, and showed no interest in trading my old bike (Suzuki GSX250)

The Yamaha dealer took my bike as a trade in, and gave me a loan bike while we waited for my new one to arrive a month later.

I’ve had over 30 motorcycles over the years since then and most of them have been Suzuki’s or Yamaha’s. I’ve only ever reluntantly brought 2 Honda’s over that time, through a lack of other options.

Now in 2023, the local Yamaha/Suzuki dealer has no time for me and my teenage daughter, but the Honda dealer was very accomodating and friendly.

It’s the sort of positive experience that could set my daughter onto a lifetime of riding Honda’s.

So the lesson here is don’t crap on younger customers -you could turn them off your brand for life.