Point S Tire & Auto Service retailers in the U.S. have access to new tools to help them serve consumers online, manage customer feedback and pursue and track declined services. Leaders expect the tools will help Point S dealers beat the 10% increase in sales they recorded in 2018.
The Tire Factory Inc. cooperative unveiled the new tools during its 2019 dealer meeting. The All-Trac Platform includes three elements:
Online scheduler: When consumers visit the website of any Point S tire dealer in the U.S., they’ll have the ability to shop for tires, select maintenance services and make the appointment online. With All-Trac, the scheduler will access the dealer’s tire inventory, the Point S warehouse inventory, schedule and abilities of the store’s technicians, and the overall appointment calendar so consumers can choose a time that works.
Reputation management: Within a couple days of a consumer’s visit to a Point S location, a customer service agent will call the customer and ask “how did we do?” The company has partnered with BPO Solutions Group and a specific team is handling Point S phone calls, and will also manage after-hours questions submitted via online chats.
Declined services: Forty-five days after a consumer has declined one or multiple automotive services on an invoice, a customer service agent will call the customer to remind them of the work that needs to be done, and find out if it’s been addressed. If it’s been completed elsewhere, they’ll make a note of that. If it still needs to be done, the caller will attempt to set up an appointment. Fabien Bouquet, CEO of Point S International, says the group’s tire dealers in the U.K. have been focusing on declined services for the past two years, and have been able to add, on average, $65,000 in sales per location, by engaging with consumers and reminding them of those needed services.
Bob Fox and his son Nick Fox own two Point S stores in Montana. Nick Fox says the company’s database shows consumers decline $150,000 of automotive services at each of their stores every month. They’re piloting the program for other Point S dealers, and they recouped $6,000 in services in three weeks.
Pursuing those declined services is among the things tire dealers say they want to do, and know they should do, but there hasn’t been enough time in the day to get it done. Point S has partnered with BPO Solutions Group. BPO will offer both telephone and online chat support to Point S dealers who sign up. BPO has hired and trained a specific team to handle the Point S calls and after-hours chats. The employees work in an office that’s Point S branded and they wear Point S uniforms in their office, located in Tijuana, Mexico.
It’s part of a bigger goal to help Point S tire dealers with the technological assistance they need to run their businesses more efficiently, while closing more sales and increasing profits.
That’s also why Point S is working to help tire dealers sell tires online, but also be a resource for the vast majority of consumers who shop for tires online, but close the deal inside the store.
Walter Lybeck, CEO of Tire Factory, says, “The online experience to get tires on my car is not easy. But we’ve already got the customer’s trust.”
