Opinions are subjective. So is your interpretation of something you saw or heard. The objective represents cold hard facts, like numbers in an account ledger or the size of a building or the service revenues generated for a year.
While we often get to visit with tire dealers and see their facilities at work, rarely do we have the opportunity to see a tire dealership as a data set, let alone a comprehensive measure of the physical, financial and philosophical facts of such a business.
But thanks to the massive amounts of data obtained in the first Tire Review Tire Industry Benchmarking Study, we can see not only the inner workings of a modern tire business, but understand how various elements interact, what elements are most important, and what really separates the top tire dealers from all others.
Welcome to the very first Tire Review Platinum Performers Awards.
Not only did our Benchmarking Study set standards of performance against dozens of real-world business measures, the results also allowed us to grade the actual results of participating dealers against the group. The end result is 10 tire dealers – some are pure retail, some with a mix of vibrant wholesale and/or commercial elements – that statistically rise above the rest: our 2014 Platinum Performers.
Download the Tire Review Platinum Performer Awards feature here.
So how did we arrive at these 10 tire dealers as Platinum Performers? Without giving away the secret recipe, certain questions in the study were scored on a 1 to 4 scale, with 4 being the top score possible for each graded question. Scores were awarded based on the dealer’s response to objective questions dealing with building/equipment, sales, operations, marketing and personnel.
While our 2014 Platinum Performers certainly scored well, they were not head and shoulders above the dealer group as a whole. A perfect score was 156, yet no dealer came within shouting distance of the mark; the best overall score posted was 118.6. So while Platinum Performers were fairly consistent, it isn’t surprising that they often did not outgun the rest of the dealer body; in fact they were considerably worse in certain categories.
And while some of the trends we found among the top dealers surprised us, it was quite impressive to see just how well the majority of participating dealers did score against both the benchmarks and themselves. What it showed us most clearly is that the majority of dealers, while perhaps a bit short on executing identified “must dos” (like having a business plan), have raised their games, becoming more formidable competitors in a very tough tire market.
The goal of this entire exercise – from the benchmarking study through the Platinum Performers Awards – is to uncover the real metrics today’s tire dealers face, and provide details readers can use to not only measure their businesses but also see opportunities for improvement.
In reviewing the data sets for us, researcher George Taninecz, remarked, “The overriding differences among the top performing dealers versus the others is their ability to generate revenues and profits from services beyond tire work (based on space dedicated to services, revenues from, etc.), and their willingness to invest in their businesses.”
As you go through each of the five sections highlighted in this article and consider each of the 10 top dealers, I’m sure you will also spot areas in your own dealership that require attention.
The dealers who participated in the 2014 Benchmarking Study are each receiving a personalized report that analyzes their business against other respondents and the benchmarks established by the study. The full data sets are only being made available to our sponsors: Tire Pros and Pirelli.
We plan to kick off our 2015 Benchmarking Study in the first quarter of the new year, so watch for announcements in Tire Review, on our website and via our daily e-newsletter. Remember, it costs nothing for tire dealers to take part in the study, and those dealers who do complete the survey will receive a detailed management report that can serve as an important road map to sustainable growth.
