MTD Flashback: Enduring Advice During Uncertain Times

Nearly 50 years ago during another period of economic uncertainty, Bernie Kovach offered some advice for tire dealers.

In the April 1977 issue of MTD, Kovach, MTD’s publisher at the time, assured tire dealers that it was “still time for a good year.

“With each new year, we wonder how it will turn out,” he wrote. “And predictably, come January 1, we get out the pad and pencil and set up a list of business and personal resolutions. Just as predictably, as the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months, the first quarter of the year has suddenly gone by. And you, as an owner or manager, are looking for control – financial and sales control so you can have a good year.

“Certainly, the first step toward planning a good year is to be sure that business activities are planned around the following: good merchandise, good service and goodwill. That holds true if it’s January 1 and you’re on a calendar year or it’s April 1 and you’re starting a new fiscal year.

“You cannot run a successful business without good merchandise. You need a complete line of products from reliable sources of supply. If your product lines do not meet these criteria, you’ll have trouble trying to meet your goal – namely, to have a successful year. You need quality goods for satisfied, happy customers.

“But if you cannot back these goods with top notch service, you are again in trouble. To give good service means different things to different customers. It means having adequate stock to ensure quick deliveries, prompt filling of orders, technical assistance and the general servicing of the account as expected in a customer-supplier relationship. Good service also means seeing that a piece of equipment functions as it should within its warranty and on some occasions, without warranty.

“Good merchandise and good service are elements well within your control. You can set the standards in the areas and see that they are met.

“Goodwill is something else. It is an intangible commodity that should have existed in your business since it first started. It is not a shelf system. It cannot be developed overnight. But it can be lost in a minute. The years of effort that have gone into the building of goodwill between your company and a customer can be destroyed, as far as the customer is concerned, by a single careless, thoughtless act on the part of you or one of your employees. That’s why sales resolutions have to be examined not only on January 1, but on April 1 and May 1 and June 1 – right on through the whole year. Sales resolutions should include  the handling of good products and the handling of all customers.

"A good year is in the making for tire dealers if individually and collectively you remember: sell good merchandise, render good service and protect your goodwill.”