Push the Envelope: Master the Performance Upsell By Knowing About Offsets
“Upsell.” This might be a new word for you or your staff. Or, perhaps your staff has been trained on upselling techniques, and this term is nothing new. In any case, if you want to increase your average sales ticket, there are opportunities that you should look into that will allow you to sell a
A Dangerous Game
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
Fitment Blues: Seven Real-Life Cases Show You How to Handle ‘Common’ Tire/Wheel Problems
You must have at least one employee with some basic knowledge of custom wheels and non-OE high performance tires, even if you don’t sell them. Why would you want to know about something that you don’t sell? First, if you’re not selling custom wheels, you’re missing a huge profit opportunity. Even then, you will certainly
Like a Glove: Top Wheel Makers Keep Up With Changing Vehicle Specs
A couple of months ago, we discussed one of the dark secrets of the wheel industry – substituting bolt patterns. Many in our industry have made a good living by practicing this method of selling aftermarket wheels. It is time that we ask – and, yes, demand – better from suppliers that are doing this
Double Jeopardy: Right Size, Wrong Load Index Can Mean Liability Risk
When you sell a set of non-OE tires, do you set the air pressure the same as it was in the OE tires? Do your sales staff, manager and technicians understand the importance of load index? Can they read a load and inflation table? Can they recite, from memory, the inflation rule – that the
Fitment Faux Pas: Wheel Misapplications Come Down to Fractions of an Inch
Last month, we discussed a number of topics dealing with the installation of aftermarket wheels and non-OE tires. This month, we’ll begin Part 2 – overall width. You wouldn’t think that the width of a wheel would be a concern, but it can cause problems, as the following cases show. The information here will help
Devil’s in the Details: Selling and Installing Aftermarket Wheels Can Be Tricky Business
As many of you know, I’ve been involved with aftermarket wheels and hardcore fitment problems for most of my career. This has exposed me to a lifetime of diagnosing drivability complaints and fitment issues that most people rarely, if ever, experience. Still, there’s always that one time when something unique and out of the ordinary
Staggering Results: Stocking and Selling Innovative Products Can Boost Profits
Over the next few months, you will be reading a great deal about who had the biggest, most expensive or most outrageously modified product or vehicle at the SEMA show. Sure, it all looks good, but how will it help you grow your business? I want to take a different approach and tell you about
Strange But True Tire Tales
Too often, we’re consumed by the Ordinary. We get into our daily routines and never waver. No matter how much you love what you do every day, it’s still refreshing to take a break once in a while from the Everyday. To help you do that, we’ve tracked down some of the most unusual tire
Alternative Pressure: Performance Customers are Good Targets for Nitrogen Inflation
What’s wrong with air? Like a slumbering giant, the passenger and light truck tire industry is slow to evolve and slower to accept new products and ways of thinking. Take the current buzzword going around: nitrogen. That inert gas has the industry and, as I found out, consumers, in an uproar about who and what
No End in Sight: Whether Premium- or Value-Priced, UHP Tires Are Here to Stay
Need some good news for once? Ultra-high performance tires have mushroomed into the single fastest-growing tire segment. From 2000 to 2004, sales of UHP tires were up 161%, jumping 32% from 2003 to 2004 alone. In terms of units sold, the numbers look like this: 3.99 million in 2000, 7.9 million in 2003 and 10.4
Pedal to the Metal: Drag Tires, Lightweight Wheels Quench Customers’ Thirst for Speed
Speed: (sped) n. Magnitude of a velocity. The act or state of moving rapidly. An unquenchable thirst for more. OK, I made up the last one, but you know what I’m talking about. In the world of instant gratification, motorsports is king. If a 10-second quarter was great yesterday, it’s just a start today. Because