Five ways to beat the winter blahs

Dealers share tips on 'rightsizing,' chasing new business and more

By: Mike Manges

“We don’t cut back on advertising,” says Rich Birsic, co-owner of Lakewood Firestone (pictured), on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. The single-location dealership reaches out to current customers with thank-you notes and service reminders and targets new customers with direct mail pieces.

In today’s economic environment, each month brings significant challenges to independent tire dealers. However, the holiday and post-holiday seasons remain two of the toughest periods of the year in terms of retail tire sales and automotive service revenue.

Whether you blame mild weather, holiday spending or general customer apathy, the effects are the same: December through February can be a tough period for dealers to weather.

In this feature, five veteran dealers share proven strategies for getting through those dark months while positioning your business for a return to prosperity after the winter thaw. Here’s what they recommend:

1. Launch a corporate discount program. December through February is a great time to promote your dealership and its menu of services to fellow businesspeople in your community via employee discount programs, says Paul Weaver, president of Princeton, Ind.-based Southern Indiana Tire, which has four retail stores.

Weaver says Southern Indiana Tire’s discount program is extremely effective. “We have people go out and talk to businesses (such as) lawyers’ offices, big doctors’ offices, companies that may have 20 or more people working there.”

The dealership hands out “preferred customer cards” that can be punched four times in order to receive a free, fifth oil change. (Southern Indiana Tire typically charges $24 for an oil change.)

 “Maybe we’ll also offer a discount on new tires. When we go into a new city we do a lot of that, just to let people know we’re there. They really like the oil change card.”

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Related Topics: Retail tire market, Winter blahs

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