Tire Pros Hosts Second Round of 'Think Tanks'

Tire-Pros-Dan-Brown — Tire Pros President Dan Brown

As part of its commitment to dealer training in 2015, Tire Pros facilitated a second round of its Think Tank Discussions by hosting 46 additional dealer-led sessions across the country in September and October.

Earlier this year, Tire Pros introduced the initiative as part of a revamped training program focused on dealer profitability and held exclusively for this elite group of independent tire dealers.

According to Tire Pros, Think Tank Discussions are small, informal and localized dealer-led roundtable meetings centered on operational topics and common challenges faced by franchisees every day, with a goal of sharing ideas and best practices and the application of proven techniques and practical solutions.

The topic for the recent round of discussions centered on “How to Build a Better Bottom Line,” a discussion that included tips on increasing profitability using practical strategies and applying best practices for increasing sales and gross profit while reducing expense. Earlier this year, the first Think Tanks focused on “Acquisition and Retention of Quality Employees” and generated more than 275 dealer participants in 48 sessions.

“Our Think Tanks exemplify one of the most valuable benefits of our program and that’s getting the dealers together to learn from each other,” said Dan Brown, Tire Pros president. “Think Tanks are an extension of our training commitment to the independent dealers that make up the Tire Pros franchise. These discussions are a nice complement to other training components that include Tire Pros University sessions, New Dealer Orientations and P.R.O.S. Training modules. Through our training initiatives, we have delivered more than 6,500 hours of training in 2015.”

Tire Pros is currently surveying dealers, council members and staff for content suggestions for 2016 Think Tank Discussions. For more information, contact B. Quick Chadwick, Tire Pros’ director of marketing, at 704-805-6846.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."