The American Legend that won Bahrain’s heart

Manama 

Harley-Davidson is a name recognized and idolized worldwide.  The company does not just make American motorcycles; but it produces an American Legend. There is something unique that Harley Davidson beholds, which makes it stand out from other bikes.  Glamorised in dozens of movies, this American Legend has won millions of young hearts. A favourite of Bahrainis, the bikes have found its place in the Kingdom also. Understanding its popularity in the region, DT News had an interaction with Iqbal Alakkal, General Manager of Harley-Davidson Dealership in Bahrain. Read through. 

Harley-Davidson is known for its consistency in delivering high quality products. What are the processes that drive the quality?

Harley-Davidson products are put on thousands of miles live test before it reaches the customer.  A highly qualified team monitors the quality check at the factory and each model is test driven by fresh candidates to make sure that the old riding habits will not override the quality.  Moreover, each bike is on 24 months warranty to make sure that the customer concern on the road is addressed in time. For any manufacturing or design faults that come across later are met thorough recall campaign or product programmes.  All warranty and recall process are done on premium service free of any additional charges.

What type of strategies would you implement? What do you think is the most important thing in enhancing customer relation and the market of Bahrain?

Our strategy is to build personal relation and trust with the customer through socializing.  The most important way to improve customer relation is, always be honest in business.   We always adopt all possible latest technologies in business.

What is that biggest challenge you see in the Arab region and how do you describe the demand of Harley-Davidson in this region?

The major challenge is to get respect for motorcyclist from other motorists on the road.  There are many negative perceptions built across the region on motorcycling.  We are working hard to promote the positive perception and correct the negative perceptions through marketing and advertising campaigns. Through the Harley Owners Group Chapters across the region, we are promoting the culture of mature-riding. Harley-Davidson owns major share in motorcycle sales in the region in volume.

How are you building your teams and what qualities do you see in them?

70 per cent importance on attitude and passion and 30 per cent on knowledge is our recruitment policy. Once a member is on board, he/she gets an experienced staff as his mentor for 3 months. We have Harley-Davidson University online courses for each staff levels to be completed and refreshed in fixed intervals. Certain staff level requires mandatory classroom training, which will be scheduled by Harley-Davidson, and we send them wherever the classes are scheduled

Are you happy with Harley-Davidson in the Arab region and what has the growth been so far?

We are happy on the achievements so far but it will not stop us to do more. There has been an average 15 per cent  growth year on year.