Tire Pros seeking to solidify 'expert' credentials

Bruce Davis, Tire Business staff
Tire Business photo by Bruce Davis
Tire Pros President Dan Brown (right) thanks Greg Moore, owner of Discount Tire & Service Tire Pros in Terrell, Texas, for his service as chairman of the Tire Pros Dealer Council.

ORLANDO (Jan. 13, 2014) — American Tire Distributors Inc.'s (ATD) Tire Pros dealer marketing program is rolling out a series of marketing, advertising and training initiatives designed to reinforce the impression that the Tire Pros retailer is the definitive expert in his or her market.

West Stephenson, vice president of operations, told several hundred Tire Pros dealers attending the group's 2015 National Dealer Business Conference at Disney World in Orlando that a key goal of the program's initiatives is to help dealers become the repair shop customers refer to as “my mechanic.”

Citing lyrics from the “Cheers” TV show theme song, Mr. Stephenson said car owners want to have a trusted adviser who's also involved in his or her local community.

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(Tire Business photo by Bruce Davis)

Tire Pros Vice President Wes Stephenson delivers the second of the group's 'one-two punch' of new marketing initiatives and training programs.

The new programs are being launched after a year that saw the Tire Pros program grow by 75 stores to 635 locations nationwide. The program now counts 460 owners, according to Tire Pros President Dan Brown, including 86 with multiple locations and 261 single-location owners.

ATD now has Tire Pros in 43 states, including the first locations in New Jersey and New York.  The network is now nearly three times the size it was in 2009 after ATD took over and began revamping it. Tire Pros continues to recruit new dealers as well, Mr. Brown said.

Collective sales volume by the network of Tire Pros dealers was up 15 percent over 2013, according to Mr. Brown.

Among specific initiatives presented at the meeting were:

  • Plans for a national consumer advertising program, buoyed by a $1 million commitment from ATD and for which Tire Pros is pitching a $100 per month per location dealer contribution for up to $750,000 more;

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Tire Pros will add 'PROfessor Tire' mascot this year.

  • Increased emphasis on a consistent store appearance, enhanced by “ProView” images generated by ATD of potential exterior and interior renovations to put the Tire Pros identity more into the public view;

  • Launch of Car Care Rewards, a cloud-based tire and auto service marketing platform that provides customer loyalty incentives. Customers get one point for every dollar spent, which they then can redeem with the dealer. Community Tire Pros Owners Howard and Pat Fleischmann and Kim Sigman worked with the developer of Car Care Rewards to fine-tune the idea, which they market under the “High Mile Club.” 

  • Introduction of “Professor Tire,” the Tire Pros mascot, an owl wearing round glasses with rims that look like tires.

  • Support of “Independent We Stand,” a movement of independent business owners that seeks to educate consumers on the benefits of shopping at local stores. 

  • Plans to launch two apps — a “hassle-free” one for customers that will provide them with appointment scheduling assistance, and an “answers” app designed to help educate consumers about tires, tire care, etc., that will help underscore Tire Pros goal of becoming the local experts.

  • Four quarterly sales promotions.

 

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Additionally Tire Pros is negotiating with five major college conferences — Big 10, Southeast Conference, Big 12, Pac 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) — to establish some form of partnership status, according to B. Quick Chadwick, director of marketing. This follows Tire Pros' negotiating to be the official tire retail partner of the ACC last year.

On the training front, Tire Pros is enhancing its efforts, adding a PROS — Professional Retail Operations & Sales — component aimed at franchisee store personnel. This series of training sessions will be held throughout the year in each region, stressing basics such as phone etiquette, wheel sales, tire protection plans, credit card sales, etc.

The Tire Pros University, held just once annually, will now be refocused more on business acumen for owners, Mr. Stephenson said, and can be considered more like graduate level.

In addition, the new dealer orientation session will be extended by a day to 2 ¾ days to make it more worthwhile, Tire Pros said.

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 To reach this reporter: bd[email protected]; 330-865-6145. Twitter: @reifenmensch

 

 

 

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