How many things can go wrong in one day? Thousands, if you consider that every single thing you do – from brushing your teeth to placing that long overdue call to your accountant – has one of two possible, if relatively minor, consequences.

But in any given day, how many actions taken by you and your staff have the potential to run you out of business? Every time you touch a customer’s vehicle, you open the door to possible career-ending liability suits. In some cases, you don’t even have to physically touch a car; simply giving a customer advice leaves you exposed.

That’s why TIA, SEMA, state associations, tire companies and associated vendors continue to urge tire dealers to get the best possible training.

Complex cars, pickups and SUVs bring with them more complex tire and wheel options. With the number of wheel and tire SKUs out there, it takes a supercomputer to assess the best combination of fit, performance and price. Customers don’t make it easier for you. Their desire for ‘bigger, badder and better’ cloud sound judgment, just as the hopes for a big sale can cloud yours.

The result can be the wrong product, an incorrect process or an impossible-to-diagnose problem. At best, this only costs you a frustrated customer who moves on to another shop. At worst, it costs you in court.

For years, we annually produced the Performance Tire & Custom Wheel Guide as a means to encourage tire dealers to embrace the coming high performance world. Now, with high performance – even UHP – tires and wheels on most new vehicles, we have refocused our efforts to give you some real-world education.

This first Performance Training Guide takes training out of the classroom and puts it right into your service bays, with seven real-life scenarios you could see every day. Scott Blair, our accomplished performance editor and respected training authority, gathered these case studies from actual situations he has encountered in tire dealerships and performance shops across the U.S.

Please take the time to read through Scott’s feature story, and make sure to pass it along to your sales staff and technicians. They are your first-contact offense in dealing with customers and the front-line defense in keeping them safe and you out of hot water.