Sales Talk: Focusing on Female Ridership

The Motorcycle Industry Council says there are an estimated 6.7 million women operators, which is roughly 25 percent of the riding population. Twelve and a half percent of motorcycle owners are female. With women riding down the road in record numbers, we are the fastest growing segment of the motorcycle marketplace, and we’re seeing the push to pull in female customers in all areas of the industry.
As a rider, industry insider and motorcycling evangelist, it is my desire to help dealers capitalize on this flourishing segment of the marketplace. Like it or not, women are the key to the industry’s bottom line. Through a combination of their buying power and influence, women drive 70-80 percent of all consumer purchasing, according to Forbes magazine. Often referred to the “Family CFO,” the woman is often the influence or veto vote behind someone else’s purchase.
I’m not a fan of the gender conversation, but deep down we all know women and men are wired differently. More significant than age or income, gender is the most powerful lens through which we view the world and everything in it. We women have our own filters through which we communicate, so I recommend buying a copy of Deborah Tannen’s book Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk among Friends.
A linguistics expert, Tannen focuses this foundational book on conversational styles and the differences in the way men and women communicate. As a sales person in a dealership, our ultimate goal is to tailor our message in such as way that it has maximum opportunity to be received. This, as we know, helps drive sales. Tannen’s book will not only help you do that, but also give everyone – both men and women – insight into different conversational styles.
Another classic book I recommend is Connie Podesta’s Make a Fortune Selling to Women: The Deal Makers and Deal Breakers You Must Know to Close the Deal Every Time! A classic that should be in every dealership’s lunch room library, the book gives great insight into the male and female approach to the buying experience. Podesta also offers a how-to guide for closing sales with women by combining both psychology and sales tactics.
Relating to your customer, male or female, is of the utmost importance. If women are 12.5 percent of the market, and your dealership is not actively invested in cultivating sales to women, your sales people are leaving at least 12.5 percent of sales right there on the table. Let’s fix that and bring the percentage of female rider-owners up even higher. Who knows? Female ridership might just reach 20 percent of riders once the MIC does their next survey.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame recently named Marilyn Stemp and Steve Piehl to its board of directors.

Stemp is a pioneering figure in the motorcycle industry, founding IronWorks Magazine with her late husband, Dennis, and becoming the first female editor of a nationally circulated, mainstream motorcycle magazine. She also revived their trade magazine, Iron Trader News; edits the monthly Kiwi Indian News; contributes to several powersports media outlets; and is the founding editor of Sturgis Rider Daily. Stemp is a noted editor and writer of several motorcycle-focused books. Her consistent support for charitable efforts in the industry include the annual Biker Belles Celebration, Las Vegas BikeFest and as campaign chair for the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum’s development plan in 2014. She co-founded the Flying Piston charity events taking place in Daytona and Sturgis each year and is a National Ambassador for All Kids Bike. Stemp was inducted into both the Las Vegas Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Museum's Hall of Fame in 2018, and in 2022 she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Powersports by DealerNews.