Two of our biggest assets in our dealerships are the Factory Warranty and Factory Trained Technicians. Without that not much separates us from the Secondary Repair & Maintenance facilities. However we face the following:

Customers surveyed feel we are too expensive, do not fix it right the first time, are rude and we do not care about their problems!

We can change that perception with our customers from this moment forward!

So what does this have to do with tires? From the moment your customer purchased their vehicle and every single day since they have been bombarded with advertisements for tires from the National companies Goodyear, Firestone, NTB, etc… So, when there is the perceived need for tires are they thinking of you? NO!

The typical warranty on a new vehicle is 3 years/36,000 miles and statistics show that when the Factory Warranty runs out so then do 70% of our service customers! What an enormous loss! Where do they go? Why?

We know where they go! 70% of the time it is to a Secondary Repair/Maintenance facility to get a quote on tires.

At the same time that the Warranty expires so does the useful life of most original equipment tires! Why is this important? According to NADA over 80% of customers service their vehicle where they buy tires!

Upon further examination new car dealers only dealerships accounted for only 8 percent of the $29.2 billion U.S. market in replacement tires for cars and light trucks according to the trade publication Modern Tire Dealer. Although that number is up from a dismal past it is still worth examining the negative affect this has on our overall industry.

Customers pull out of the “Dealership Service Experience” as soon as the warranty or free maintenance has expired. When they enter the Secondary Service universe they are met by trained service professionals that have a process that is executed at a significantly higher level than at the average dealership. They get the tires, the LOF’s, the filters, brakes and everything over 70% of the time!

We are left with discounted LOF’s (designed to compete with the Jiffy Lubes of the world) and Factory Recalls that barely break even with and the occasional repair. It is very, very difficult indeed to grow our service business if the Sales Department is having an “off year” so what can we do?

Obviously sell tires but how? How do we do it bigger and better than ever before? That what this is all about!

When does the tire sale begin? Great question. What happens currently is IF a Technician determines the vehicle needs tires we present that need to the customer. Typically to be turned down cold. Why?

Let’s look at it from the customers point of view:

“I have been coming to this dealership for several years because I bought the car here and it is under warranty. Out of nowhere they spring $800 worth of tires on me! Really? All of a sudden I need tires? No thank you!”

The sale of tires, brakes, maintenance, et al begins on the first service visit! Even if the vehicle has only a few thousand, or even hundreds, of miles on it. We begin the “sale” by presenting the facts. Remember the following: Nothing is bad until it is compared to something else!

If a customer has been into our dealership, say, three times per year over the three years of the warranty period and we presented them with an MPI they would have had nine reports on their overall vehicle condition including tires and breaks.

Presenting the first MPI is simple:

(During the Active Delivery or in the Customer Lounge for Waiters)

“Ms. Customer I wanted to share a report with you, the systems inspection I told you about out at your car this morning. We call it and MPI or Multi Point Inspection and here is how it works: we measure and inspect all of the vital safety and operating systems in your vehicle. This, of course, is done by a Factory Certified Technician.

They assign a grade to each item they inspect such as Green means the system is operating perfectly and requires no attention. While a system or item in Yellow requires no immediate attention but will soon and shows us the rate of deterioration of that system or component. The final grade is red which means there is a safety issue and/or component failure and needs immediate attention.

As you can see your car is all Green and I am happy to report in excellent condition! We will complete one of these complimentary inspections for you every time you come in.”

That is where it all begins! As the service visits progress we can show, with no uncertainties, the deterioration of the tires, brakes, battery, etc…the customer will appreciate and actually look forward to these reports.

When the time comes, say for these purposes, on the ninth visit, reviewing the MPI and sale of the tires becomes a simple academic exercise. You have earned the right!

Ms. Customer on your last visit we discussed the tires being in the last stage of operational safety and your Technician advised me that the tires are no longer safe. I presented you with three options on your last visit good, better and best I have copies here, which set would you like me to review with you?”

It truly is as simple as that! On their eighth visit you shared the tread depth measurements at, say, 4/32nd and presented them with some choices to consider over the next several weeks or months, depending on their driving habits. Now upon their return visit it is time close the tire sale that you opened back when you first met them.

Recommend tires at 4/32nd and recommend immediate replacement at 3/32nd as a rule. On vehicles with longer maintenance intervals such as 7,500 or 10,000 miles you need to be more proactive. A rule of thumb is 3550 to 5,000 per 32nd on OEM tires.

A tire, on average, starts out life at 10/32nd and has a safe, useable tread life of 7/32nd so that equates to roughly 35,000 miles. Your customer should be made aware of this as the tires begin to enter the “Yellow” zone.

The sale does not stop at tires! Four wheel alignment and balance are also necessary to protect the investment and are pure labor operations for your shop and that is why we are all here isn’t it?

Let’s begin to think about what a tire actually does. According to the Michelin Tire Certification test it performs six functions:

1. Support

 A tire carries more than 50 times its own weight and is subject to more than 20 million deformations over its lifetime. It must also withstand considerable load transfers during both acceleration and braking.

2. Driving

 A tire must retain its performances on all sorts of road surfaces and at temperatures that can vary from -30 degrees F up to 120 degrees F For reasons of efficiency and environmental protection, it must also offer low rolling resistance.

3. Steering

 The tire must provide stability at all times on the vehicle's trajectory. This means that it must withstand the transversal forces without drift. Among other things, this property depends on the correct choice of pressure between the front and rear axles.

4. Handling

 Straight line, corner, acceleration, braking… The tire transmits the energy from the engine to the ground at all times. It must respond to the many demands of the drive, the road and the environment. It provides longitudinal and transversal efforts that can reach its own load on a surface hardly bigger than a hand.

5. Suspension

 The tire absorbs obstacles and dampens irregularities in the road, thus ensuring the comfort of drivers and their passengers and the longevity of the vehicle. Its main attribute is its flexibility, especially in the vertical direction.

6. Duration

 The lifespan of a tire depends on the conditions of use (load, speed, condition of the road surface, condition of the vehicle, driving style, etc.) and on the quality of the contact with the ground. Pressure therefore plays a major role in this field. It affects

A tire will NOT perform those six functions below 3/32nd!

Show & Tell:

We all loved it in kindergarten and we will love it even more now.

When a customer is in need of tires it is not always because of miles. Poorly maintained air pressures, cars out of alignment, excessive city driving and high speed driving are just a handful of reasons a tire needs to be replaced.

The Technician should always inform you and demonstrate what caused the wear out of the tire or tires in question. There are so many stories that can be read on tire tread:

1) No Tread in the center of the tire indicates an over inflation condition.

2) No tread on the edges is a sign of under inflation

3) Scalloping or feathering is a toe-in or camber issue

4) Cracking in between the treads is dry rot

5) Damaged or missing rubber requires immediate replacement

6) Bulging sidewall is also a critical safety issue.

Those are just a few of the conditions that require show & tell with the customer to close on the sale of the tires which is also the perfect time to present the absolute need of an alignment and balance on the new tires to protect the investment.

Once tires become a priority for you they will become a fast seller at your store and you will begin building the loyal base of customers that has eluded our business since the start!

Tread Depth Analyzers:

Some dealerships have invested in machines that will read and report the tread depth when your customer drives through the door. This is fantastic technology and is getting more affordable and accurate as each year rolls by.

Timing, they say, is everything. Just because you have instantaneous information does not mean you approach the customer with it. You have:

1. A professional Meet & Greet
2. Obtain information as it pertains to the customer
3. A professional Walk Around
4. Ascertain the purpose of the visit (primary complaint)
5. Preferred follow up method (drop off)

Putting tire information under the customer’s nose first thing might be the end of ANY potential sale because it is very pushy and that is a major reason consumers do not like car dealership service departments.

The same idea holds true for the alignment machines! Timing! Present what is required to solve the initial complaint first then discuss the safety items and finally the maintenance and convenience items.

Dealer Tire, Tire Rack, Ford, Chevrolet, etc. all offer some type of tire program. Several things stand in the way of tire sales beyond our control but can and should be corrected by the management team.

Inventory:

The Parts Department is hesitant to stock tires because of the enormous cost and potential for aging, handling, storage and generally not understanding the entire process.

A dealership that is seriously pursuing the tire business must make this a business inside of a business. First and foremost the parts department must be held harmless from the tire inventory cost and from the mark-up structure. The department can be paid a simple fee for handling the tires and nothing more. The archaic pay plans in most parts departments calling for 40% mark-ups and next day inventories will NOT allow a dealership to compete.

Where you source tires is important beyond price because information is as important a competitive tool as price can be. The Tire Supplier can provide you with the most efficient inventory investment possible and a great many will work on a consignment basis. This allows maximum efficiency and same day sale-installation flexibility which can prove critical to your dealership’s success.

 There is a lot of planning and execution that needs to go into building a tire business but the results just may well be the difference in success and failure in the very near future for a great many service departments.