Dealership insights
Harley-Davidson of Glendale Validates Its Switch to PSX: A 2019 CRM Case Study
Why Harley-Davidson of Glendale switched CRMs in 2019, how its managers led the rollout, what the GM reported, and a checklist for your own CRM switch.
Quick answer
In 2019, Harley-Davidson of Glendale replaced a CRM that was too slow to show where deals stood. GM Daniel Vartanian chose PSX for three reasons: mobility, call recording and a system built for powersports. Managers agreed to keep rollout frustrations away from staff, and the dealership reported real-time visibility into every associate's deals.
In 2019, Daniel Vartanian, General Manager of Harley-Davidson of Glendale, sat down with PSX to explain why his dealership had replaced its CRM and what it was already seeing a few months in. This post began as that recorded conversation. The video is no longer public, so what follows quotes what he said, word for word, and turns it into steps another dealer can use.
It is for dealer principals and sales managers weighing a CRM switch. Everything below describes 2019, not the dealership's systems today.
The switch at a glance
| What the dealership reported (2019) | |
|---|---|
| Dealership | Harley-Davidson of Glendale |
| Who spoke | Daniel Vartanian, General Manager |
| Why it changed | The old vendor "didn't have the information quick enough and it wasn't working well enough" |
| How it chose | Scheduled several demonstrations of different systems |
| What it chose | PSX's CXMAi platform, then sold under the PSXDigital name |
| Three deciding factors | Mobility, call tracking and recording, and a system built for powersports |
| Biggest change reported | Managers could see where every associate stood in real time, even off site |
Why the dealership went looking
Daniel's problem was time. Associates were tied to their desks, and the CRM showed yesterday rather than today.
"Prior to making the switch into the PSXDigital system, we were looking for mobility. Our sales associates found themselves living behind their desk and their computer monitors. We weren't interacting with enough of our clients that were in the dealership."
The delay hurt management too. Associates updated their steps at the end of the day, or the next morning.
"So we couldn't capture and report our data accurately to know where each individual was really at in the process. And so we didn't know what to say to the customer at any given step. We weren't really getting a good gauge, and there was a delay. That delay could potentially lose a deal to a competitor."
The three reasons, in Daniel's words
1. Mobility. "With PSX, we got to check the box off mobility." He expected it to help hiring as well: associates "don't have to be sitting next to a phone, or near a phone, or standing by a door to get connected with a customer. It brings the customer directly to their handheld phones, whether it's a web lead or an inbound phone call."
2. Call recording for training. "I was also looking for a feature that would record some of the calls, so we could better train our staff to manage the phone and so they can learn from those experiences." Our guide to sales call tracking for powersports dealerships covers how to turn recordings into coaching.
3. Built for powersports. "I believe one of the best selling points is that this platform was built specifically for the Powersports industry. It wasn't something that was for automotive that we're adapting to use for motorcycle sales."
His summary of the decision:
"It's not your dad's traditional CRM; it's using today's latest technology and the benefits of Ai it's bringing it into your dealership makes you stronger and puts you ahead of your competition."
Before and after, as the dealership reported it
| Area | With the old CRM | After the switch (dealer-reported, 2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Deal status | Associates updated steps at day's end or the next morning | "The sales managers now know where the associates are real-time" |
| Daily tasks | Managers had to chase activity | Associates "would actually handle their activities without management intervention all the time" |
| Customer data | Information arrived too slowly to use | "It made sure they had all the information for the client they're actually working with" |
| Manager reporting | No reliable midday picture | Managers checked one report at the halfway point and the end of the day |
| GM visibility | Tracking people down in person | "I can go into the dashboard myself, even when I'm not onsite and know what's going on" |
These are the dealership's own 2019 observations, not measured results, and no dealership gets them automatically.
The part most switch stories skip: the managers' pact
Most CRM switch stories, ours included in 2019, talk about features. Daniel's most useful point was about managers' behavior during the hard weeks.
"When we decided on PSX, we sat together with the sales managers early-on and committed that no matter how frustrated got during implementation because we are unfamiliar with the system, we would not let that bleed into the staff. Because if they felt the management team and the leadership team weren't bought-in, then it would erode the belief in the culture."
That is a specific, repeatable agreement, and it explains why the rollout went better than he feared:
"With anything new, human nature doesn't like change. So I expected a ton of resistance. We prepped the sales associates, letting them know that this is going to be a different system and they took to it pretty well."
Not everyone bought in at once. What changed minds was seeing the system as a tool: "when they understood the benefits and how it was a tool and that the investment was to make them better at their jobs and us to execute more sales, that flipped the switch."
Research backs the timing risk. A study of 454 salespeople at two firms, published in the Journal of Marketing, found positive views of a sales force automation tool right after training, but wide rejection six months after implementation, which is why a switch is not finished at go-live. For the salesperson side of the problem, see how to get salesperson buy-in for a new CRM.
How the rollout ran, step by step
From Daniel's account, the switch followed this order:
- Name the real problem. Information was too slow and associates were stuck at desks.
- See several systems. The dealership scheduled demonstrations from more than one vendor before deciding.
- Pick the deciding factors in advance. Mobility, call recording and a powersports-first design.
- Make the managers' pact. Sales managers agreed to keep their own frustrations away from the floor.
- Prepare the associates. Staff were told plainly that a different system was coming, and why.
- Lean on the vendor's implementation team. "PSX was there every time we called. We never had to wait to get a question answered."
- Set two daily checkpoints. Managers reviewed one report at midday and at the end of the day, then used it in one-on-ones.
A checklist for your own CRM switch
Use this before you sign, and again 90 days after go-live.
- We can describe the problem in one sentence, without naming a feature.
- We saw at least two systems and wrote our deciding factors down before the demos.
- Every sales manager has agreed, out loud, to keep rollout complaints off the floor.
- Associates have been told what is changing, when, and what is in it for them.
- We know who at the vendor answers implementation questions, and how fast.
- Managers have a midday and end-of-day report they will actually use in one-on-ones.
- If we record calls, we have checked consent rules for every state we call into.
- We will check adoption again at 30, 90 and 180 days, not just at launch.
On call recording: federal law allows a recording when one party to the call consents, and state laws can add their own requirements. This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your own counsel before you record.
For the mechanics, read how to switch dealership CRM systems and the sales manager CRM dashboard guide.
What has changed since 2019
In 2019, the company sold its CXMAi platform under the PSXDigital name. Today the company is PSX Ascend, and so is the platform: the AI-powered powersports CRM runs within the PSX Ascend platform, bringing customer data, inventory context and marketing together. What PSX offers now, as stated on its product pages:
- Call recording. PSX records and tags every inbound call, and every outbound call where state law permits. Recordings sit in the customer record and in a dashboard view where managers can review them quickly or in detail.
- ALMA, the Automated Lead Management Assistant. After a short period of active follow-up by associates, ALMA takes over the repetitive work of re-engaging stalled prospects and brings them back to a live conversation with a person. It does not use AI to call customers.
- A required process. Associates work new leads with quick, multiple touches. If a sale does not happen, they leave quality notes and an accurate disposition, and managers are prompted to review stalled deals. PSX sums it up as "close deals, not chase them."
In 2019, PSXDigital described itself as a Harley-Davidson Dealer Digital Certified Provider. This post does not claim that the program or the certification is active today. A related 2019 story, why Edge Performance Sports focuses on vendor relationships, looks at the same kind of switch from the dealer-vendor side.
You can also see the same AI-powered powersports CRM on our sister site, PSXDigital's AI-powered powersports CRM page.
Sources
- Daniel Vartanian, General Manager, Harley-Davidson of Glendale, recorded conversation with PSX (2019). The video is no longer public.
- Cheri Speier and Viswanath Venkatesh, "The Hidden Minefields in the Adoption of Sales Force Automation Technologies," Journal of Marketing 66, no. 3 (2002), DOI 10.1509/jmkg.66.3.98.18510 (bibliographic record and abstract, OpenAlex)
- 18 U.S. Code § 2511, interception of communications (one-party consent in paragraph (2)(d)), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School