On the Front Lines: Service Managers Are Critical Weapons in Battle With Car Dealers
Car dealers are getting better at serving your clients. How? By delivering what your clients want: information and service. They succeed through fear tactics, implying to new purchasers that warranty problems may arise if factory scheduled maintenance is performed by an independent service shop. And, they speak with forked tongue. They promote OE-quality parts yet
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
High-Stakes Niche: Industrial Tires Can Offer High Margins and Opportunity, But at a Cost
In the simplest of terms, if U.S. factories are working at or near capacity, warehouses should be busy and the market for forklift or towmotor tires should be strong. To that point, the National Association of Manufacturers reports that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding, and manufacturing employment is up by 12,000 jobs as of
Pushing Rope?: How High Will Another Price Increase Fly With Strapped End-Users?
Rumblings are up about an upcoming round of across-the-board tire price hikes. No one should be surprised. Legacy costs, operating costs and, most especially, raw material costs, are chewing up tiremakers, especially those on these shores. The price increases invoked over the last three years have certainly been warranted, and, for the most part, those
Real Balancing Act: Phasing Out Lead Wheel Weights May Change Balancing Forever
If you missed the news, it’s no longer legal to use lead wheel weights in Europe. So, what should that mean to you? Start planning now for the same thing to happen here. Already, wheel-weight maker Perfect Equipment Co. is producing zinc clip-on and steel adhesive wheel weights for GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler vehicles being
Revealing Your Potential: The Complete Business Makeover
When was the last time you looked at your tire dealership – not as a business manager but as an objective observer? If it’s been a while, take a step back and really study your business. What do you see? Sagging sales? Unbalanced balance sheets? Peeling paint? If you’re suffering from any of those, it
10 Easy Ways to Boost Sales
Here’s something you may not know: American consumers spent $46.2 billion on tires and other auto accessories in 2002, the last year in which the U.S. Bureau of Economics has accurate numbers. That figure may sound impressive, but the Bureau also reported that Americans spent even more than that on shoes. The point: Don’t take
10 Sales Smashers: Avoid These Common Missteps to Ensure Solid Sales Growth and Content Customers
Retail business can be brutal. A tire dealer can spend countless hours contemplating broad business strategy, making sure each facet of the business is in line with overall profitability goals. But you don’t sell to a plan. You have to deal with real customers who, by their nature, are fickle, demanding and unforgiving. No matter
Staged to Explode: Still Young, China’s Growing Tire Industry is Catching Up
Still Young, China’s Growing Tire Industry is Catching Up
Parts Fake Out: Counterfeiting a Growing Crime; Tire Dealers Can Be Held Liable
Counterfeiting a Growing Crime; Tire Dealers Can Be Held Liable