Consumer education sells winter tires DEALERS SHARE EFFECTIVE WINTER TIRE SELLING STRATEGIES

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TPMS Hyundai Elantra – 2023

By

Madison Gehring and Joy Kopcha

For many, the winter tire market might seem like a world of its own. Tire dealers may think they need to use di erent 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 e ective 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 rst,” 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) intersection 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.

“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 le 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.

“ e 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 bene ts 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 procras-