It’s that time of year again … Fall?  Thanksgiving?  Halloween? No. Even better, Tire Season! 

I like to call this 911 time in the car business.  It’s a time when the phones are ringing and customers are trying to get in for an appointment at your dealership.  This is a very valuable time when it comes to the data game.  We have some big opportunities and you can take advantage and make the best of Tire Season in your store.  I have heard from customers too many time around tire season that they tried to book an appointment and were quickly turned away by their local dealership.  “I just bought my car there, can you believe they wouldn’t put on my snow tire because they were too busy?”  We can sometimes be our own worst enemy and drive our best customers away and force them into seeking a third party service provider. 

Here are 5 Easy Steps your dealership can take to capitalize on the season and not lose customers.

1. Get Help!

You know your Service Department is going to be super busy and this is not the time to spread your people thin and risk ticking off what might be your most valuable customers.  Recruit some extra help for the phones (look at who you already have that could help during busy tire season; part-time reception, staff you might use for inventory, accounting personal that may want extra hours.  Dealerships need to start doing more cross training.  There is no reason that a Salesperson or Business Office Staff or any staff couldn’t understand the shop schedule and learn to set a service appointment.  This is the time to ensure your collecting all the data on the inbound.

2. Do More!

Look at extending service hours during this time.  A longer day Saturday, one or two extra evenings will allow your shop to accommodate some extra tire swaps and allow techs some extra time inspecting brakes while the tires are off anyway!  Get your team on side and avoid alienating them by getting them involved.  I hear staff complain when they are not involved in the process; ‘I was told I have to work extra.” Get their ideas on how to accommodate everyone during this season.  Be creative like reminding staff the holidays are coming and help them save (bank if for them) and offer some incentives for team members who put in extra hours.  Reward their hard work!   

3. Work your List!

This may seem obvious, but you can’t start looking at the tire list soon enough.  If you haven’t started, right now is the time.  Call everyone on your tire storage list and don’t take no for an answer.  Book out and book early.  Aside from your tire storage list, what about your people who have their tires stored elsewhere?  You may have a great service CRM that is building a work plan for your Service Appointment Coordinator, but a great way to make sure you are not missing anyone is to run a list of closed repair orders with a tire swap (careful you may have more than one op code; on rims, off rims, inside the winter/spring special etc.)  Run it for last spring (March to May) and the fall before (October to January) and this should pick everyone up who had their tires swapped out in your shop, but don’t forget about any new or used car deliveries that may have taken a set home in the trunk. 

4. Don’t say “We’re Booked”

Okay we may be swamped, but this is no reason to throw out good process.  We should be starting with our customer’s phone number every single time, no matter what.  We may be booked out for a week, but our answer to “can I get my winter tires on tomorrow?”  still should be “thank you, I can help, may I start with the home phone number for your vehicle?”  You may say, my people are doing this, but are you sure?  Are you checking what is happening on your inbound service calls?  You might be surprised when the shop is full the baby is getting tossed out with the bathwater.  What about right at the service desk with walk-ins?  What are your customers hearing in parts where they might be pricing winter tires?  Get everyone on the same page on checking info before telling customers when we can accommodate them.  If you find an outstanding update, recall or important due for service item you will not only increase the pay on the R/O, but build value in the appointment for next week.

5. Offer Choices

Avoid introducing a negative too early and apologizing for availability of the next appointment.     Give the customer something they can say yes too!  Never ask the customer when they can come in.  This is guaranteed to set us up for failure during tire season.  Offer two or three choices for people to pick from.  We are accustomed to making choices we make many every day.  Our brains are trained to pick something in threes; one that doesn’t work and then we make a choice of the best option between the two.  “We can help you at this same time next week or I have an evening appointment or are you in town next Saturday?”  Don’t forget to get creative with drop offs, shuttle, test-drive loaners or dropping people at transit, when their car is at your store for the whole day you can probably fit it in!  A room full of waiters is not what you want this season.