(To the music of the Mighty Mouse cartoon)
Here I come to poop on yer parade!!!!
Special K has somethin' to say!!!!
uh- hum...
An open letter to Erik Buell;
__________________________________________
Erik,
If you're out there, and if you're listening (reading, whatever...). Your peoples are calling out to you. You've created more than you ever bargained for. This is no longer about your bikes. It really isn't. Its about a peoples and a culture you've gather unto yourself. A peoples who have something to say. They are saying it already. Do you hear them?
Its time for Buell to think outside of the HD box. You've done this with your product, but I'm not talking about product, Buell motorcycles continue to evolve with each passing season, and while it'll never be enough, it is the greatest thing about your company- your product.
No. I'm mostly talking about marketing. There are a whole lot of us "weekend quarterbacks" out here, with a whole lot of frustration built up, and all we do is sit there and think, and think, and think, "What if?" It's this question that's burning in your peoples. They, I, we want to know, "What if?"
What if we could get HD to let us out of their "box"? What if Buell's could be sold by Buell enthusiasts, instead of unsympathetic, unknowledgeable, uncaring HD enthusiasts? What if you could order your Buell online, the way you want it, with the help of Buell's crack team of Buell Customizers and/or personallizers, and then just give the business to the closest HD dealership of your choosing (ala Dell Computers)? Call it the iBuell. What if there was a Buell Sales Team that went from dealership to dealership, helping to hire and train Buell Sales Specialist? What if Buell was in those dealerships monitoring Customer service and satisfaction and feeding the data back to HD? They have a vested interest in your success! What if you were asking US what we think? What if you were to acknowledge the phenomena that has become the Buell enthusiast culture? The Bueller.
What if you could get a third party contract to produce a line of Buell aftermarket products that satisfy the needs and wants of your clientele in a truly varied way that concentrated on just that and only that? What if you could get a third party contract to produce a line of aftermarket jackets and patches and other such stuff that rivals what HD offers their peoples and what other brands offer to their peoples? I know that I personally love the stuff I've got, but its just not enough and frankly, most of the time, its just not as cool as the other companies stuff? I sometimes feel like I'm settling, and that's not how I want it to be...
What if?
I speak from many a Bueller's perspective when I say that sales and service are just not to the standards we want or expect, and while I personally understand that being a Bueller is somethin' that's worth workin' for, I think that sentiment isn't enough to keep your peoples happy. The culture you created is suffering for you and your company. We deserve better. All Buellers deserve better!
I personally, live, eat, sleep, and breathe Buell. It is a defining part of who and what I am. I am often identified and defined by it. It says something about me. It says something about all of us who are Buellers. We treat it like a religion. Its time to make serious considerations as to where the value of being a Bueller lay? Is it worth the frustration? My answer is clear, but not so for others.
Read these forums. Ask the hard questions. Get a gameplan together. Make a commitment. Force the issue. Push back.
Do it for me. Do it for us. Do it for you peoples. This is the culture you created. Your name is what its built on. We are calling out to you! We don't just want to be exclusive for the sake of our stubbornness. We want more!
Thank you,
Robtk!42 a.k.a. "Special K"
Briarcliff (Spicewood), Texas ]
"As a card carrying HellBuelly, I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy."
--Tom "Thunderbolt" Waits
