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
The Far, Far East
equipment in sight. Looked like an Ohio road construction project. • Very stratified pecking order in most workplaces. Employees know only enough to perform precisely their job. Nothing more. If you ask them for anything beyond that, they have to go find the next guy in the order. • China has re-embraced its ancient cultures,
Shrewd Investing
Most experienced fleet managers and professional tire service providers appreciate the important role tires play in the overall operating cost equation for a trucking business. Much has been written and documented about the benefits of selecting the best tires for specific applications and vehicle configurations and then maintaining those tires to assure long service life.
Mutual Rewards: The Case for Outsourcing Has Never Been Stronger
“We hang on to our tire dealership relationships for dear life,” says Gary F. Petty, president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council (NPTC). Petty presumably speaks for most private fleets when he says, ®a lot of them rely on tire dealerships for servicing the tire function. They need that special expertise.® Without question,
Tires and Towing: Before Your Customers Hitch Up, Check Weights, Load Capacities
Are your customers trailering boats, cars, horses or campers this season? They are? Well, are they checking the lug nuts on their trailers on a regular basis? Do they know how much air pressure their towing vehicle tires need? The most likely answer: an emphatic “No.” You are the one these people should be talking
Tuning In: How a Pennsylvania Dealer Tapped into a Growing Market
You wouldn’t expect the northeast quadrant of Pennsylvania to be a high performance hotbed. Four-wheel drive pickups and SUVs would be more like it. But from Scranton and Wilkes-Barre south to Allentown and Harrisburg, the high performance market did grow, aided by the emerging tuner segment and the proliferation of high-end sports cars. Well-heeled customers
OTR Market Climbs
As the OTR market starts to rebound, dealers need to focus on the value they bring to these demanding customers. "A lot of our dealers think we’re in the tire business. We’re not," says Manny Cicero, vice president, North American OTR sales for Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT). That’s an interesting sentiment for someone who
Roadmap to Success: Business Plans that Work
Building a Business Plan is Critical to Reaching Your Goals Some business plans start as odd scribbles on the back of a napkin, circles and arrows and boxes and code words jotted furiously by a suddenly inspired entrepreneur. Others are highly detailed, a thorough point-by-point plan carefully reasoned and annotated after weeks, months or even
Back to Black: Lampe Looks Back on a Long Two Years and What It Took For BFAH to Recover
It was two years ago this month that Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. – and the tire industry – changed for all time. On that day, BFS announced the recall of millions of tires, a single voluntary act that set off a chain of events – including the TREAD Act – the tire industry will feel for decades
Dear Mr. Customer: Effective Collections Take Savvy and Diplomacy to Keep Them Customers
The story goes that there was a small tire dealer in a tiny west Texas hamlet. On a big chalk board behind his counter were the names of a couple dozen or so people, many with the same last names. Now this was a very, very small town, the kind where everyone knew everyone else