Myers Tire Supply paired its recent annual sales meeting with a vendor fair. The event – MTS Power of One – was the first of its kind for Myers as the company invited not only its district sales managers, but also its 160 sales representatives.
The two-day fair in Cincinnati, Ohio, was designed to educate MTS salesmen on available products for its customer base of tire dealers, auto dealerships, commercial fleets and retreaders. In addition to showcasing its own line of MTS and Myers Tire Supply branded tools, the company invited more than 50 supply partners to showcase their newest products, as well.
“I think getting our whole sales team in here and getting a consistent message to the entire sales organization is going to drastically speed up how well we do,” said Todd Smith, vice president and general manager for Myers Tire Supply.
Steve Michaels, sales director for the West for MTS, agreed that one big benefit of the event is training of the sales reps – not only did they get to see the tools in hand, they got to talk with manufacturers, as well.
The event forces sales representatives to look outside their top 200 selling items and bring the customer the best solution for their needs, he said.
“It’s going to help us grow sales and add value to our customers. We’re really selling them the full line of our products and services that we have,” Michaels said.
On the show floor, salesmen got to visit various partner booths to learn more about products being offered as well as ask questions for problems they experience in the field.
Additionally, there were six different 50-minute breakout sessions from partner suppliers, including sessions from Perfect Equipment on wheel weights and information on tire changers and balancers from both Bosch and Hennessy Industries. Schrader and Ateq Corp. gave presentations on TPMS technology and International Marketing Inc. talked about new truck product offerings.
In addition to the breakout sessions and show floor, Myers had its own room of MTS branded products for the salesmen to visit. These products were solutions Myers worked on with partners.
New Directions
Smith said a big focus for MTS has been on innovation and growth. As a distribution company, Myers works through partnerships with manufacturers to help offer products and solutions to its customers.
“What we’re trying to do is be easy for our customers to do business with,” Smith said. “Some of the service and products we’re providing make our customers’ lives better and easier…We’re not going to survive long term on just selling wheel weights, valve stems and tire equipment; those are core to our market and important to our market, but we can’t just be a ‘me too.’ We have to bring value to our customers.”
One new solution debuted at the fair was a vending machine geared to the automotive aftermarket. The machines, manufactured by Apex Supply Chain Technologies, will be branded MTS Xpress and be offered exclusively through Myers.
There are different variations of the vending machines available depending on a business’ needs. During the show, Myers showcased two different vending machine options.
One option looked like a traditional vending machine and would be used with “high consumable items.” The thought process is to have the tools where they need to be and not take the technician away from the service job too long, said Jamie Untersinger, business development specialist at Apex Supply Chain Technologies.
The other vending machine looks like a locker and would be used more as asset management. Expensive tools, such as laptops for diagnostic checks, or TPMS diagnostic tools, would be stored here, Untersinger said.
“The machines let dealerships that have equipment with high value control who has it and when it comes back,” he said. “If it doesn’t come back in a certain time window it will trigger an alert, up to five different escalations.”
Tools that need to be calibrated also could be stored in the locker, with software locking the tool in until a calibration code has been input.
Untersinger said access to the machines can be given through a keypad, mag strip, ID card or bar code reader. Additionally, the machine also can be programed to ask for a work order number, he said.
Myers says the machines are already seeing a lot of use in retreading facilities, but would work well for any of its clients. The company also noted it has smaller TPMS vending machines that would work well for a tire dealer.
