OTHER VIEWS: Think of winter tires as year-long business

For those in Snow Belt areas, the winter tire season represents a time where the advent of November begins the silly season as winter preparation and new tire sales keep technicians and cash registers happy.

My start in the tire industry dates back to the late 1990s, when I started working for Tire Rack. In fact, my first season in sales even involved groups of salespeople — and owners — coming in on a Sunday afternoon to help mount and balance outgoing steel wheel and tire packages to be shipped out on Monday to meet demand.

I know Tire Rack has come a long way from those days, but it was fun being a part of that process beyond the sale over the phone.

It also helped me see the value in selling a customer on a seasonal winter tire/wheel package changeover. The value proposition being that if, on average, a winter tire lasts "about three seasons," you would justify your higher up-front cost of tires, wheels and covers or inexpensive aluminum wheel set — by doing the math.

Paying an installer $15 to $20 per tire twice a year to dismount, remount and balance could run around $450 for the three-season life cycle.

Whereas you factor the DIY ability to change your own wheel sets as you wish on your own, to many performance-minded customers had a certain value — after all, time IS money too. Plus, you get the added ego boost of being a mechanically inclined fellow.

What I have seen over the years, as our industry has advanced, is a trend toward reduced demand for wheel and tire sets. In the beginning of this decade, you might have argued "the economy" is to blame, but I am not so sure anymore.

With the trend of cars themselves growing in size in recent years, and manufacturers using larger brake kits, we typically see 17-inch tires today as the standard as opposed to 14-inch years ago. And with many OE wheel sets being 18 to 22 inches in rim diameter, the ability to "minus size" down a size or two becomes challenging.

And then there is the tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) to contend with. In the early 2000s you could equip a base model BMW 3 series with a 16-inch wheel-and-tire package for around $700 and leverage the DIY value proposition to a customer for a real bang for the buck.

Using the Tire Rack website for a current generation BMW 3 series, the recommended wheel and Pirelli winter tire set in a 17-inch fitment runs $1,154.

The Tire Rack website does not price the TPMS system in that cost, however. (It is an additional $216 to have a separate set added to your package if you don't use your existing ones for changeover, negating the savings.) So, the package now becomes nearly $1,500 to have a set delivered to do it yourself.

It becomes a little harder for many customers to justify the additional cost difference between the set vs. life cycle changeover when the difference isn't that great (greater than $150) over the winter tire life cycle.

And the issue of storage is always a question in many minds. Whether a tire is mounted or not, it takes up garage space to store your set(s) all year long. This, too, presents a solid opportunity for the retailer to win the sale vs. the online experience if you present it properly.

For those in Snow Belt areas, the winter tire sale and change process is a nice, annual business. Many retailers, like Belle Tire in Michigan, offer customers a winter tire-storage program as an added value.

I have seen a section of Belle's warehouse dedicated to a tagged-and-bagged storage-and-inventory system of customers who have their appropriate set awaiting that seasonal changeover.

Your advantage as a retailer lies in the automatic appointment twice a year for your customer, as well as more presence of mind in that customer's head to call you for other automotive needs the rest of the year. By offering storage in your shop for a modest fee, you can offer convenience and win a multiple repeat customer.

One other trend to consider over the last few years is the condition of "mild winters" in many parts of the country. The consumer mindset of a NEED to change over to "winter tires" — please stop calling them snow tires — is also diminished when the roads and schools aren't closed due to snow conditions.

I believe our greatest failure in the industry in this regard is a lack of consumer education about the benefits of winter tires.

The safety factor of winter tires for traction and especially braking, when compared with an all-season tire, simply cannot be argued. Yet how many of you retailers in areas that see winter driving conditions are leveraging customer-facing advertising as an education for the customer?

For example, I live in the Indianapolis market. We do not see quite as much snow compared with the northern part of the state/country, yet this winter I have not seen one tire or auto dealer ad specifically mentioning winter tires.

We do see a great deal of icy conditions. The fact is that the performance of all-season tires greatly diminishes below roughly 45 degrees F, which means the opportunity is there to educate customers and win the sales business.

If a customer "doesn't know what they don't know," is it not our responsibility as tire people to take time to educate them to the obvious safety benefits and definite peace of mind about having dedicated specialty tires on your car as a "multi-seasonal" approach? I sure say it is.

The key to winning additional, incremental, business as a seasonal climate tire dealer is simple. You should:

1. present safety and driving confidence aggressively to customers in your advertising in-market;
2. educate customers on the benefit of an inexpensive wheel/tire set where possible, or sell the value and convenience of a "let us take care of it for you" approach to the mount/balance program; and
3. strongly consider a tire-storage program as an additional value and profit center for your stores.

Embracing winter tires as a valuable sales channel to your customer base is a sure-fire way to see green amidst the white snowfall in Snow Belt cities.

Edward Koczan is a veteran of the tire industry, having worked with Tire Rack Inc. and as territory manager for several tire manufacturers. Currently a director of sales with Sentury Tire North America, Mr. Koczan is passionate about the tire industry and trends in the business. You may reach Edward at [email protected].