Cycle Springs Powersports, the family-owned franchise dealership in Clearwater, Florida, is taking customer satisfaction to a whole new, and higher level. Owned by Noel Hughes and Marty Skapik, Cycle Springs traces its history back to a small garage in 1989 on the Dunedin Causeway. Hughes and Skapik came to acquire the original Cycle Springs in 2001, and since that time have grown the dealership into one of the largest on the west coast of Florida, providing not only quality pricing, but superior service to customers across the nation.
In part to the dealer’s handling of Yamaha, Kawaski, Suzuki, Polaris, Sea-Doo, Kymco, Glastron, Quadski and Flyboard, Cycle Springs also excels at ensuring customers receive not only the best pricing, but levels of service and sense of security from a powersports dealer. This is accomplished by offering a first-of-its-kind Lifetime Engine Warranty, Money Back Guarantee and 50% Pre-paid Maintenance Plans, not just for some, but for all powersports products sold through their dealership. In addition to these offerings, Cycle Springs also offers a handful of additional features for PWC (and jet boat) buyers as well.
In an interview with Powersports Business in January 2013, Hughes recalled how a December 2011 Yamaha tech bulletin (WCA2011-003) prompted him to create his dealer-added “Salt Series package.” In the bulletin, Yamaha recommended service technicians and dealer representatives encourage owners to apply a protective fogging oil (through the intake housing/tube) to coat engine internals not just before periods of storage, but throughout the season – particularly for craft operated in saltwater.
“They basically tell you to pull the intake track off the unit,” Hughes explained, indicating how the fogging oil kept the valves from rusting. However, according to Hughes, the process is complicated enough to dissuade customers from performing this suggested maintenance. So he developed his own solution — a small port plumbed directly into the intake tract that would make fogging the engine a simple, 10-second task.
“It’s part of our sales approach,” Hughes explained to Powersports Business. “We pull out all the service bulletins — we have them laminated — and we throw them up there, say ‘Hey, every manufacturer recommends you do it, and we’re going to take care of it. Instead of making it a 15-minute process, ours is a 10-second process.”
Marked by a yellow rubberized nipple fixed to the decorative engine cover, the Salt Series fogging kit is only one part of a larger package. As explained by Cycle Spring’s Kenny Gore, a second external kit includes a perforated tube that encompasses the engine compartment, allowing users to effectively coat their engine compartment with a penetrating, water-displacing spray oil.
“It works really well for the Spark models,” Gore told The Watercraft Journal during a private tour of the facility. “Since most people will never take the top off of their Sparks, and access to the engine compartment is so hard, we made this [Salt Series kit] to allow them to clean off and protect their engines when they’re not using them.”
And second addition was the inclusion of four pop-up cleats – similar to those found on so-equipped Yamaha WaveRunners – except embossed with the Cycle Springs dealership logo on the pad. A final die-cut Salt Series emblem is also added to each so-equipped PWC and boat. “This is just another add-on that Cycle Springs customers have come to appreciate,” Gore continued. “By adding just a little extra convenience here and some easy-to-use maintenance there, we’ve been able to really set ourselves apart from the rest.”
Hughes estimated that anywhere between 85-to-90 percent of all of the units sold through Cycle Springs leave with the kit, stating, “As soon as you show the customer the ease of using the fogging port, paint a picture of taking your $10,000 watercraft to the dock and beating it up without the cleats, they want the extras the package provides. [It’s all of] those little things are just adding to the whole experience.”
This, added with the industry-leading Lifetime Engine Warranty, a stellar Money Back Guarantee and 50% Pre-paid Maintenance Plans, as well as sales and service representatives personally escorting new and return buyers through the process of launch and docking their new craft in the water (a benefit of being so close to the gulf), truly sets the experience of buying at Cycle Springs ahead of so, so many.
I look forward every month to Watercraft Journal hitting my inbox. Good stories and great pictures. Particularly enjoyed the article on the New Sealver wave boats. Perhaps a follow article will h a little more design/engineering focus. Overall, Kevin you do a great job. I am out of Pensacola, but will definitely will be stopping by Cycle Springs faculty when down that area.
Keep up the good work. Dave Carnley /Pensacola
Thank you, David! We really appreciate the kind words!