Successfully selling a high number of tires each month involves constant and consistent communication with your clients. For a lot of customers tires are something they do not think about until they need them and then they seem to think of an independent tire store as the go-to-place rather than the dealer.
The problem is that when your customer gets to the tire store, the employees are going to remind them of all the other services they need. These are service that hopefully YOU have been setting the groundwork for and now someone else is going to reap the reward for all of your hard work.
BUT NOT SO FAST! What are the steps you CAN DO NOW to prevent this tragedy from unfolding?
I’m glad you asked! Here are some tried and true ways to consistently sell more tires. In order for these techniques to work, you must do them unfailingly.
During your walkaround….(note to self, actually start doing walkarounds!)
- INSPECT TIRE CONDITION 100 percent of the time.
- Turn wheels to left, check with tire tread depth gauge, inspect for abnormal tread wear – Offer rotation/balance/alignment when recommended.
- Do this even on NEW cars!…The idea is to always keep your customers’ tires and safety top-of-mind and visual in front of the customer.
Develop your own tailored word tracks so that you are mentioning tires EVERY SINGLE TIME you write up a car
- If Green – “Your tires are in the GREEN – When it comes time please remember that we can get you the best prices on tires.”
- If YELLOW – “Your Tires are now ____/32, about ½ way worn. You don’t need tires now but I will get you an estimate so you will have that information well ahead of time.”
- If RED – “Your tires are 2/32,” which are unsafe. We have the best prices (Or whatever sale details you currently have) on tires, would you want to stay with XX brand?” Be careful when the tires are RED not to “Broadcast” your pitch…Don’t ASK “Can I get you a quote on tires?”…Rather tell them the information when you have a complete picture of their prime concern, immediate needs and maintenance requirements, once the MPI and prime concert are addressed.
- Quote Tires for ALL Customers that are Yellow or Red.
- Quote two different Tire Quotes (Remember 70-plus percent of people buy tires from whoever first offers them and have their car serviced WHERE they purchase tires.)
- Quote what IS ON THE CAR – A lot of owners will replace the tires with what they currently have, especially if it is a premium tire like Michelin. The other type of owner, like myself, will put the most inexpensive tires on….REMEMBER, tires themselves are not really a profit center with great margins! The key is keeping the customer captive so we can be there to sell them the current and future additional needed services and keep ALL of their business.
- Quote THE LEAST EXPENSIVE OPTION – Remember, we want the customer to know we have the least expensive tire available AND we can and will MEET OR BEAT any competitor on the exact same tire. Some savvy advisors will even SHOP FOR THE CUSTOMER and give them the least expensive price and let them know the fact that they already did the shopping for them
- Give a complete quote with nitrogen and lifetime alignment included if those products are available at your store. Also assure your customer that they will receive free rotations if your Dealership has such a program.
- Ensure you inform the customer about the consumer credit card without first mentioning the words “Credit Card,” which are trigger words that often repulses the customer.
“Sir, are you interested in our 12 month same as cash payment plan?”…
If they are, then explain it’s a consumer credit card and we can get their application sent in and an answer back in a few minutes.
- Have an application ready and highlighted where the customer needs to input their information. (Get them to agree to fill out the application and you have literally closed the sale as long as they are approved.)
- Create a date file system, op code retrieval system or other form of organizing your customers who have been quoted tires. PERSONALLY follow up with RED tires that did not buy ASAP, perhaps the next day or two days maximum. For customers whose tires were yellow, follow up with them in four months to make sure we are hitting them BEFORE they have a chance to shop another tire store or dealer.
Follow these rules and YOU will SELL MORE TIRES and have happier customers!!
Remember, WHERE THERE’S A WHEEL, THERE’S A WAY!
