Now that we are in the throws of the winter tire season and all the problems it brings let's take a look at how we can mitigate them next season.
Every year, twice a year, it is the same. In the Fall, people wait to put the winter tires on until they see the first snowfall. They are suddenly driven into a state of panic, calling the dealership and looking to book in as soon as possible to get them on.
In the spring, the same is true, of course.
Most advisors dread this time of year. I love it. I love to be busy and have the shop bursting at the seams.
Every year we have the same struggles, so why don't we take steps to avoid things we know will happen?
What is the number 1 issue we have during this time? Shop Capacity. We only have so many hours in the day. The math on that cannot change. Or can it?
When considering this situation, we must remember that people will still need oil changes and other repairs, especially if we do not have an express lane.
Vehicles do not stop breaking because it is tire season. In fact, Winter is usually when things start to give up and finally break down. The water pump that has been seeping suddenly dumps all the coolant on the ground. Or that weak battery we have been warning them about, finally, will not start the car.
Yes, "because of poor planning, it is suddenly our problem." That will never change.
How many times have I heard that statement? Since tire season started to become a thing. Decades! So, let's stop complaining about it, and let's begin to plan for it! Some people will ask, why do we need to preplan?
How much pushback do you get when it is early November, and we tell customers that we are booking oil changes in early December? In today's market, there is too much choice and too many impatient people to even try and say this.
As well, most survey questions include one that asks, "How easy was it for you to book your appointment?" If it takes a month to book an oil change and a tire swap, the answer is one out of five or ten at best because zero is not a choice.
Usually, when I tell people we are booking three weeks out, I get a big fat "Seriously?" on the other end of the phone.
From a customer service standpoint, when your regular customers call to book in, we need to find a way to accommodate them.
Tire season should not be when we have dedicated customers defecting and going to an independent because they have staff working until 9:00 pm every night swapping tires. We need to do a better job at the dealership level. We have the means to do better if we have the foresight to plan better.
Your motivation, as managers, should be to find a way to retain the customers and the dollars they are trying to spend with you and your facility.
So we can either keep booking people out further and further, risk losing them totally or find a way to increase the shop capacity and available hours for that month and a half we need. How?
If we preplan for this, as we know it is coming, we could hire seasonal help to mount and balance tires for the techs. We could have tire techs working late to catch up on building packages and doing tire swaps dropped off the night before.
We could reschedule and have techs working on larger jobs until 8:00 or 9:00 pm and free up more shop space for the next day. (This was an excellent idea proposed by my parts manager pre-tire season.)
There are always jobs carried over.
To make this more attractive to them, we could pay them a premium to do so. On every team, there are dedicated techs. Techs that are part of the dealership's vision and who are dedicated to your customers. These techs see tire season as a challenge that has to be managed well. These techs will know that sometimes we need to think out of the box to develop solutions for our customers and make excellent service happen.
What do you think those independent shops are doing until 9:00 pm? Don't you think they are likely paying a shift differential or some incentive when tire season is in full swing? If they are doing it, we can do it also. And, we can do it better because our resources are vast!
Managers: Don't think about the added expense here. That is a marginal cost when you compare it to the lost revenue you calculate when considering the retention report you will run next year. What's important is the service you're delivering. That will win customers and keep them with you for life.
This is the long game we must play.
How great would it be if we had a few done when we opened the door the following day?
In addition to increasing the available hours, we could bring people in early! On purpose!! If we offer storage, why don't we send out a reminder in early Fall that tire season is coming?
We could explain that you can immediately get snow tires installed as temperatures start dropping to an average of 7 degrees Celsius. And in the Spring, we could do the same.
At the same time, we could offer a discount on the storage if they choose to come in early motivating them to call us sooner. We could also let them know if they wait, the booking times might be two weeks out as the shop capacity reaches its limits.
This would effectively start your tire season early, so every customer is not trying to book into the shop in a two-week period and being frustrated they cannot get in. Doing something like this would reduce stress all over the parts and service departments.
It is important to remember. Winter tires are a safety consideration. Most customers feel more secure with them on.
If we cannot get the job done, they will find someone that can. When choosing whether to remain a loyal customer or make their vehicle safe for them and their family, they will choose the latter every time.
What would you choose?
This is not an ideal situation to be in as the people that are supposed to be taking care of them and their vehicle. If we choose not to find ways to accommodate our people, we are choosing to fail in the retention of those customers.
We must start to see tire season as a time to retain the customer, not to push them into the arms of another, more accommodating service provider.
If you need help finding solutions to tire season stress, reach out!
You can also check out my book.
"Building A Gold Standard Service Advisor: The Evolution of Service"
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