National Tire Safety Week offers service departments the perfect opportunity

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association set this year’s dates for National Tire Safety Week as June 28 through July 4. If you ever wanted to maximize tire sales at your dealership, now is the time. Here are a few steps you can make this week.

Display the Tires

From the second your customers walk through the door, they should be able to see that you sell tires. You can throw a four-tire quad display at the front of the service drive, add an easel board talking about tires and throw up some banners.

It also helps if you have a banner where customers walk in that says something along the lines of “To Protect You, We Check Your Tires at Every Service.”

Check Every Tire

To follow through on the promise, you must check every tire. Your technicians should be looking at the inflation, date codes and tread wear. The wheels should also be inspected for damage. Let’s say that 20% of the vehicles coming through your shop need new tires. If so, that’s a lot of revenue you could be losing.

You could think about using some sort of mobile tread depth detection system, such as what Discount Tire is using. This technology allows you to check tread depth in less than five seconds a tire. Otherwise, you need to:

• Pay staff to perform manual inspections
• Keep the car longer
• Possibly miss opportunities because of misread calculations

Educate Customers Between the OE vs NOT Tire

The manufacturer spends an average of $3 million to ensure the perfect tire is installed with every new vehicle. The OE tire is superior to the NOT (Not OE Tire). While you may know this, the customer does not.

Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with the NOT tire. It could even be from the same brand, such as Michelin or Bridgestone. However, it wasn’t specifically made just for this vehicle. It’s important that you promote materials that explain this to the customer. Otherwise, they might choose a different tire and wonder why the ride has changed.

Every Day Should Include a Tire Sale

While this week is a great time to launch a sale, you shouldn’t overlook the value of a tire sale every single day your service department is open. Most of your customers are only stopping in a couple of times a year. When they visit, there should be a big display showcasing the tire sale.

You can have special programs, manufacturer rebates or a Buy 3, Get 1 Free Sale. If you are regularly rotating the sales, there will always be something new. It’s an eye-catcher to put your sale information on a quad display with four tires.

Offer Financing

If you want to sell more tires, you need to offer flexible financing terms. With worry-free financing, your customers won’t feel as pressured as if they have to pay today. It will also be easier to sell the better tires with this option.

With these simple steps, you can cash in big during National Tire Safety Week and beyond. If you get your service department excited about the offers and new plans, the customers will follow.

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