For many, the winter tire market might seem like a world of its own. Tire dealers may think they need to use different techniques when selling these products to consumers. But in reality, many dealers say that selling winter tires boils down to listening to customers’ needs and matching the right tire to their driving patterns.
Ray Ramirez, owner of Utopia Tire & Auto Repair in Frisco, Colo., says the most effective strategy is to really understand your customers and your environment.
“We live in a mountain community and the customers who live here understand and know that winter tires work,” says Ramirez, whose dealership sells Nokian brand products. “However, we do get a good stream of tourists coming through who don’t have a lot of faith in — or education about — winter tires.”
Don Rutherford, wholesale manager at Alyeska Tire, which is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and has eight stores, says that he promotes the stopping capability of winter tires.
“A studded tire will stop first,” he says. “A studless winter tire will stop second. An all-weather tire will (go) beyond that studless tire. And an all-season tire will (travel) all the way across a (street) interssection before it stops.”
Ramirez says winter tires make up about 40% of Utopia Tires’ total revenue.
Rutherford says that in 2022, winter tires made up 42% of his company’s sales.
Providing educational materials — both online and in-person — also is important, according to Ramirez. “Have education materials on your website,” he advises. “Show third-party sources that demonstrate the stopping power and braking distance of cars with winter tires versus cars with non-winter tires.
“If I quote third-party statistics, it’s better than me sitting there (stating) my opinion.”
Ramirez says it helps if salespeople are driving on winter tires, too, so they can speak from experience. Rutherford notes that having a good point-of-sales system has been “crucial” to his company’s success because it keeps track of sales and inventory. (He bases next year’s order of winter tires on the past three years’ worth of sales data.)
“I place the order a year in advance — around February — and then by next June and July, I start getting shipments in and by September, I am starting to sell the winter tires. By Oct. 30, our inventory is almost eliminated.”
As of last month, Rutherford had plenty of winter tires left to sell — enough to get Alyeska Tire through the rest of the season.
It also helps to anticipate questions that customers will ask, says Ramirez, who adds that the best way to ensure repeat winter tire business is to educate vehicle owners.
“The customer is going to come in here asking if winter tires actually work,” he says. “If we have a video on our website demonstrating the stopping capabilities of a winter tire, then the question is answered already. Once you create a market that is educated, they come back to you again and again.”
Room for more
Andrew Harpole is a firm believer in consumer education. As one of the new owners of Shervin’s Auto and Tire Care in Jackson, Wyo., Harpole says longtime customers who are familiar with the benefits of winter tires and are accustomed to driving on them will not go a season without them.
Two generations of the Shervin family operated the dealership for more than 50 years before Harpole and two business partners, Marc and Ciara Malone, purchased it last year. Marc is the store’s manager.
The Bridgestone Blizzak and Firestone WinterForce are big sellers for Shervin’s Auto and Tire Care.
“People bought Blizzaks from the Shervin brothers for enough years that the tire has a pretty loyal following in Jackson. People understand it. They’re fine with swapping (tires) every six months.”
The Jackson market is unique in that it serves not just the local community of 10,000 people and the larger Teton County population of 23,000, but also travelers who visit Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park each year.
Harpole says there’s room in his market for all-weather tires, too. He has a customer who lives and works in East Jackson and is “more of a procrastinator than proactive when it comes to taking care of her car.”
He doesn’t think the traditional seasonal tire swap is ideal for her. “She’ll be fine in the (Bridgestone) WeatherPeak,” which is an all-weather product, he says. “I feel very comfortable putting someone in those tires.”
Another Shervin’s Auto and Tire Care customer is a hockey mom who drives “all over creation all winter for tournaments.”
She’s a better candidate for dedicated winter tires, he explains.
Harpole says the nine-bay dealership has the capacity to store about 2,000 tires, and also relies on deliveries from warehouses in Denver, Colo., and Salt Lake City, Utah.
“We’re having one of our best snowfall years in quite a while. It is a matter of life and death in these parts” during the winter months, making it essential “that you have the best tire possible.”
