We recently surveyed tire and service business owners and asked what business activities they conducted on a regular basis.

Not surprisingly, the dealers’ top two business activities revolve around “customer retention” and “customer satisfaction.” 56% of dealers have customer retention and loyalty programs in place along with a formal customer satisfaction and follow-up programs.

Additionally – and suddenly out of nowhere – 43% of the surveyed dealers say they now take appointments online.

We also noted some activities that decreased over past few years. The two activities to decrease most were conducting regular financial analysis, such as identifying areas of ROI, and creating and managing an employee handbook.

(Editor’s note: See the Business Planning Guide, which starts on page 28, for help in these and other areas of your business.)

A focus on formal continuous improvement planning continues to grow steadily year over year. That means tire dealers are increasingly focused on doing things better, which is good news for the industry.