Denise Koeth - Senior Contributing Editor, Tire Review
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The Art of Purchasing: Knowing What to Stock

To stock, or not to stock? In the case of independent tire dealers, that often is the question. With a host of factors to consider – finances, storage space, SKU proliferation, instantaneous customer service and more – inventory strategy is not something to be taken lightly. When it comes to finding the right balance between

The Art of Purchasing: Quick Inspections

When it comes to maximizing efficiency and gaining customer trust, quick inspection systems can bring both benefits to your tire dealership. While they come in several forms depending on the manufacturer – with the ability to instantly check tire tread, vehicle alignment and more – these relatively new shop tools offer common benefits: a way

2015 Top Shop Finalist: Mountain View Tire & Auto Service

Chris Mitsos, vice president of Mountain View Tire & Auto Service, admits that no business is perfect. “We touch almost 17,000 vehicles a month,” he says of the dealership, which saw gross sales of nearly $48 million last year through a mix of 40% tires and 60% vehicle service. “Who’s going to go a perfect

How Did We Do Today?

It’s widely accepted that gathering customer feedback can help a tire dealership better meet its clients’ expectations. After that, the clear-cut details start to fade. What’s the best way to gather feedback – and exactly what customer satisfaction data should be sought? And once you have the data in hand, how do you translate that

Customized Solutions

With all that a quality marketing program entails – advertising, social media, public relations and more – doing it right is a big commitment. Tire dealers large and small must choose the best strategy to make sure all bases are covered. As we discovered when speaking with dealers for this article, sometimes the answer isn’t

Thwarting Cyber Attacks in the Digital Age

Home Depot. Target. Ebay. Anthem. These companies – successful retailers, online auction authority and healthcare giant – have many positive business attributes, to be sure. But during the last 12 months they have also been victims of significant data breaches caused by hackers. No company of any size is truly safe from those seeking to

Retreads Remain Even as Tier 3 Tires Gain

As fleets have come to realize the importance of a tire’s overall lifetime value – total cost versus up-front price – the purchase of high-quality new tires that can be used multiple times as retreads remains prevalent. While the overall truck tire and retread market is roughly split 50/50, the prevalence of retreads as trailer

Trailer Axle Tires

Vital to any fleet’s tire portfolio are trailer axle tires, the workhorses that carry the weight of a tractor-trailer’s cargo. Recommending the right tire for the application and being the go-to resource for fleets when it comes to questions of retreading, maintenance and market trends will put tire dealers a step ahead in the eyes

Lending a Hand

It’s already been proven – through countless success stories told in the very pages of Tire Review – that making charity a part of your marketing initiatives pays off both in brand recognition and positive word of mouth. While there are scores of worthy causes in need of support in any community, sometimes making the

Lights, Camera, Action

In the social media arena, Facebook and Twitter often get the most attention when it comes to marketing one’s business. But with the growing influence of online video – particularly with younger generations – should not be overlooked. To promote your brand, you don’t need a high tech studio and loads of editing software; you

Telematics: Closed Loop or Open Range for Tire Dealers?

Imagine you could save your customers time, money and frustration all while earning their loyalty and adding to your shop’s bottom line. Instead of trying to convince a mistrusting customer that his or her vehicle needs important maintenance work based on a mileage estimate programmed into your CRM software, imagine knowing to the exact mile

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Telematics & Tires

Just as vehicle telematics are affecting maintenance and repair, tire telematics are becoming reality, as well. Though several tiremakers may be working on “smart” tires or TPMS developments, Continental and Pirelli already have made waves in this arena. Here’s what their developments mean for right now, as well as a look ahead. Continental has developed