Ethical Sales and Full Disclosure
I am sure you will agree that in our industry there are a number of unwritten rules that tire dealers have followed for decades. They know that they have to hire gifted technicians, stay at the forefront of vehicle technology, and can never jeopardize their relationships with their customers; just to name a few. Unfortunately,
Rebranding After Acquisition
A dark and dingy showroom is a thing of the past. Before your customer service, even before your vehicle service, the showroom offers a first impression of your business. Customers expect a neat and clean showroom, but they also need to recognize your business. Branding your tire dealership is key to building a strong relationship
The Five Ws
Any sports coach worth his whistle will tell you that you must first learn, practice, and master the fundamentals if you’re going to be truly great in your sport. That same philosophy is true of your tire business: your sales and service team needs to learn, practice, and master the fundamentals of customer service if
Pricing, Ethics and the Reputation of Your Business
At Elite we know that once someone comes into your shop, you’ll do everything you can to generate a happy customer, and make a fair profit. Unfortunately, some customers will put you to the test when it comes to the prices you charge. They’ll tell you they can’t afford the recommended services, they’ll tell you
The Best-Kept Secret to Generating More Referrals
As we all know, the most powerful form of advertising always has been word of mouth. Although every tire dealer would like to believe the majority of their customers are songbirds, the reality is, they’re not. I am not suggesting that you don’t have some customers who love to sing your song, but it’s safe
Winning Customer Service
In my October 2015 article “A Winning Workplace,” I wrote about the importance of employee engagement and creating an organization that top talent want to be a part of. In this article, we’ll focus further on the people in your tire business and how to hire to support a world-class customer service organization. Start at
The Best-Kept Secrets to Dealing with Sales Objections
When it comes to dealing with objections, most service advisers shut down as soon as the customer says, “It’s too much money,” or “I’d like to think it over.” There are a number of reasons why, but the single most common reason is that the advisers don’t know how to handle the objections. Here is
Valuable Perks To Keep Your Shop ‘Top Of Mind’
What would one more visit per year from your best customers mean for your shop? Let’s say you have 100 current customers and the average customer comes in twice per year. If you can get each one to come in once more every year, you would grow your sales by 50% without spending a dime.
6 Rules of Maximizing Customer Retention
We all know that there are many things you can do when it comes to customer retention. Follow-up calls, sending out service reminder notices, ongoing advertising campaigns that keep your name at the top of the customer’s mind, and scheduling the next visit at the time of car delivery are just a few. Yet there
8 Tools Every Service Advisor Needs in Their Toolbox
As is true with the top techs, the top service advisors in America need a number of tools in order to succeed. Here’s a list of important tools you can provide to your advisors that will help them maximize sales, customer satisfaction and your shop’s profits. 1. Clearly defined sales goals and car count goals
The Path to Shop Growth is Adaptable Leadership, Customer Service
The key to running a better shop is improving customer service and employing a motivated, professional team, with strategic leadership as the foundation. Strategic or “situational” leadership comes down to understanding others and adapting both service levels and management styles to accommodate each individual personality, says Kim Trochlil, national account manager for Leadership 3p, Minneapolis,
Drafting Your Fantasy Team
The only ticket to growth is freedom. The only ticket to freedom for an entrepreneur is a team you trust to follow your business vision. Established businesses fall into certain ruts. Things are moving along and people on your team will leave while others are hired. This can become routine and done without a lot