Before I sell a bike, I will detail it like crazy. Sure, I make sure the bike is mechanically sound and and everything works as it should, but that means zip if the bike looks like crap when a potential buyer shows up to look at it. I don't think I have ever had to lower a price to sell one of my bikes. Looks matter!! In fact, the one bike that had issues I was unable to resolve still got top dollar without ANY haggling, even after I explained the issues it was having, because it looked so good.
Our local Dodge/Chrysler dealer gets this. There is a a guy here in town that I use to detail our vehicles. For $100 he makes them look brand new inside and out in about an hour. The dealership has been using him for a few years now. When they bring in a used vehicle, they fix whatever mechanical issues it might have and then take it to this guy for detailing. The used trucks sitting on their lots all look fantastic.
Bikes are not hard to clean. The suggestion to use some high school kids is spot on. Hire a few and make it there job to keep every single bike in the dealership looking perfect, new and used.
As for the general attitude of dealers, I think the period from 2000-2008 really went to their heads. Credit was CHEAP and bikes were flying off the floors. They could afford to lose customers and some of them got sloppy with their attitudes. On the flip side, customers got a bit on the haughty side sometimes, acting like the dealership should be licking their boots just because they had money. Let's face it, there are people on BOTH sides of the transaction and if there isn't a base level of respect for each other, things aren't likely to go well. A dealer that cares for nothing other than getting a bike sold isn't likely to do well. A customer that expects the dealer to eat any cost and give away tons of "freebies" is generally going to be disappointed.
I am self employed. I deal with customers daily. Most are very reasonable. My goal is to take care of them and give them what they want, where feasible. However, there are times where I have to tell them no, and they generally don't like hearing that. The phrase, "money is no object," comes up frequently. So I have to spend the time to educate them on the reasons why I am saying no and to get them to understand that it is because I am looking out for their best interests as well as my own when I say no. It has nothing to do with the money. Because I have spent the time working on the relationships, treating them with respect, and earning their trust, they will usually accept my advice and we move on. Most of these people have been customers for nearly 30 years. We have had a few customers that took the, "The customer always gets what they want!" attitude. We don't work with them any more. Sometimes that has cost us money, but again, it is not always about the money.
As I type this, Dad is in the other room on the phone having one of these "No" conversations right now... It is a relatively new customer, so it remains to be seen how it will turn out.
Customers can be a fickle bunch. But, they can also be very loyal. Trying to walk that tight rope to keep them happy can be a real challenge. It helps when you have reasonable customers.