What makes a retail tire store — or even a sales region — successful?
MTD recently sat down with five Black’s Tire Service Inc. region and store managers, who shared their hard-earned secrets of success.
Panelists included Greg Nobles, coastal regional manager; Jonathan Ransom, central regional manager; Brian Pierce, who runs Black’s Tire Service Myrtle Beach, S.C., area locations; Danny McNally, retail store manager in Clinton, N.C.; and Porsche Spann, retail store manager in Fayetteville, N.C.
Each has spent years in the tire industry and has witnessed first-hand how employees, customers and the tire industry itself have evolved over time.
They were joined by Cole Benton, who works in retail management and analytics for the dealership. Benton is part of the third generation of the Benton family who has joined the dealership in the last year and is learning from his grandfather, father and uncles.
Customer expectations
Spann, who has been with Black’s Tire for six years, has been a retail store manager for the last three years. She said customers are coming into tire dealerships more informed, which has changed the way she interacts with them. Many customers want to get right to the point — with price as their top factor.
“We’ve had to learn how to consolidate vital information to answer for the dollar amount that the customer is spending,” said Spann.
McNally, a 35-year tire industry veteran who has worked as a Black’s Tire store manager for the last four years, agreed that customers are more focused on price than ever before. He also agreed that customers are much more informed than in the past.
“As they say in the old days — because I am an old guy — ‘There was no internet,’ so the only way for customers to know the price of the tires we carried was by being here and (us) telling them,” said McNally.
Pierce, who has been with Black’s Tire for 14 years and in his current role for the last six years, said technology has changed how he approaches selling. “You can buy tires pretty much anywhere” these days.
“You have to go that extra mile for customers now because people come in and they’re more knowledgeable, they’re more tech-savvy, they understand the size of tires, what tread wear is or how many miles they will get out of the tire. But they still have to come see us to have those tires put on, so we still have to provide that service.”
“You have to get back to the basics and do them right because if you don’t, you’ll never get that customer back in again,” said McNally, who adds that “the basics” could mean doing simple things like shaking customers’ hands or offering them something to drink when they walk into a store.
Ransom added that customers are more time-oriented than in past years.
“Customers are more informed, for sure, but I would also say that even though our customers did not say they’ve never valued time before, everyone’s time is a little more valuable these days.”
He said this isn’t surprising as he’s seen the same trend in other industries, including the introduction of tools like Uber Eats or Instacart, which help people make the most of their time.
Is more knowledge good?
“I think it’s better that customers are coming in more informed,” said Spann, who explained that this presents an opportunity to sell the value of the product versus the price of the product.
“I can explain to them that they can go to an aftermarket store and get all the parts for their cars, but when they bring them in, ultimately if those parts fail, the warranty is no longer through us. They may save dollars now, but will they save dollars in the long run?”
Because customers are more informed, Spann said it’s become easier to explain necessary services to them. “If they need (brake) pads or rotors, they know what they look like and where they should be at. They’re already shopping before they come in, so when they do come in, they’re coming for something.”
However, Ransom said this can create new challenges. “No one likes to hear they’re wrong, so it’s hard to educate a customer on something else if they come in with a specific product in mind. The challenge for us is to not make them feel that they’re ‘wrong.’ It’s our job to educate them and that comes back to customer service in the way we approach and have this conversation with customers.”
Employee changes
“We’ve seen a shift in employment and employees” over the years, said Ransom.
“We went from a point where we couldn’t really find any employees and I think now we’re actually on the transition up.”
Ransom said he is seeing more qualified individuals apply for positions and believes this trend will continue.
Spann has noted this shift in employment trends, as well. “I had a lot of trained employees before COVID-19 and then COVID-19 hit and they all went away,” she said. “I had a sous chef from a Japanese restaurant who (recently) applied” to work at her store, plus “another guy who has never had a job before and another person still in school who applied” for a job at the outlet. “I just hired them all and trained them for what I needed.”
Spann said that when it comes to specialized technicians, the pool of skilled, highly qualified candidates has expanded.
However, on the general service side, Spann has had to grow her own talent.
“If you don’t want scratched rims, you show them how to mount a tire properly. If you want rotations done quickly, you show them your standard operating procedure and how it should be handled.
“It (can be) discouraging, but depending on how you look at it, you’re either entering a shop full of people who are afraid they’re going to mess up because you’re afraid or a shop full of people willing to take the risk and try,” she said.
McNally said finding employees during the pandemic was difficult. “You kind of had to take whatever you could get during COVID-19. I always hated that.
But once you got that person who didn’t know anything and you were able to build them from the ground up, it’s rewarding.”
He said he once hired someone who was a hostess at Texas Roadhouse to work the front counter of one of his stores. “She didn’t know the difference between a tire plug and a spark plug, but now she does” thanks to the training she received. “And she’s an absolute rock star.”
Not how it used to be
Roundtable participants agreed that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to managing employees from different generations.
“What I have learned is that it can’t be the way it used to be,” said McNally.
“I’m 56 now and I’ve been doing this a long time, but I’ve had to change my whole thought process of doing things. Now, I have two younger people at the counter and a shop full of young guys, so I’m the old guy!”
McNally noted that adapting to the expectations and circumstances of different generations requires flexibility.
“You have to learn to be able to adapt to the guy who has an electric bill that needs to be paid this week and he doesn’t have the money to the guy who makes $150,000 a year. You can’t put yourself in (any one) box if you want to be able to manage people the way they need to be handled and taken care of. So that was a personal challenge for me.”
“I grew up in a family where my dad was really disciplined and you worked,” said Pierce. “That’s just what life was. You worked hard. My dad was direct and everything with him was direct. Then, when I first started at Black’s Tire, the guy I worked for was the exact same way.”
Pierce recalled that when he moved into a managerial position, he realized that not everyone responded to this type of direct communication in the same way. He also noticed that younger workers value personal time more than older employees.
“When times change, you have to change the way you go about things, even if they weren’t necessarily bad or wrong,” said Pierce.
Ransom believes some younger people can have a more difficult time communicating than their older counterparts. “I don’t think it’s them, necessarily, but more how they were conditioned,” he said. “You have to find out how to communicate with them and which way is most effective.”
However, Ransom makes it clear that although Black’s Tire managers are adaptable and willing to meet their team members wherever they are, they don’t bend on non-negotiables. “It’s the same as when I teach my teenage son to look me in the eye when he’s talking to me or shake people’s hands when he meets them. We teach our team members that, too.”
McNally said some employees’ personal dynamics have changed over the years, which means managers have had to adjust. “We are in the age of single parents being a larger statistic. I can’t be so dogmatic (with) my employees by saying,
‘You have to be here by 7:15,’ when that’s the time the single moms and dads have to get their kids ready and on the school bus. You have to adapt.”
Pierce added that “the days of ‘This is our way and this is how it is going to be’ are pretty much over.”
Ransom believes one of the great things about Black’s Tire is that the organization has a large population of older team members and a large population of young team members. However, there are not a lot of team members that fall in between those two groups. Because of this, knowledge transfer can be a challenge.
“We want to get the knowledge and skill the older group has to the younger group and we want to get the energy and creativity the younger group has and give it to the older group,” he said.
Gender differences
Nobles shared his experience hiring both women and men for various roles and some of the differences he’s noticed between the two genders.
“I recently hired a lady who went through the NASCAR Institute and graduated from that and came looking to change tires, change oil and do all that,” he said. “She’s been with us six or seven weeks and she’s really one of the top people in the shop. Her attention to detail is incredible and she brings an energy because she’s also young. I didn’t realize how much of a win-win it’d be for the both of us. I’m fortunate to have her.”
Pierce said his team members who are women have “outstanding attention to detail” and customer service comes easily to them.
“I think it’s essential to have different people at each of our locations for this reason,” said Cole Benton, who is being trained in all aspects of Black’s Tire Service’s business by his father, Rick Benton, and uncles, Jeremy and Ryan Benton.
Benton says that having different people with different strengths within the organization helps Black’s Tire Service be more successful.
Adapting to trends
Panelists agreed electric vehicles (EVs) will change certain aspects of tire sales and service. Benton noted that Black’s Tire Service is looking into EV tire training for its managers and other employees.
The panel also noted that customers have been “tiering-down” to less-expensive brands, but the extent depends on what communities they serve.
“I’m in a rural area and there’s still a lot of old-school people who will say,
‘You tell me what to get,’ but in other areas, people are looking for the cheapest option,” said Pierce.
Ransom said customers have become less brand-focused and are more focused on tire performance. “Customers aren’t coming in asking for specific brands. They’re asking for tires that give them certain results.”
Challenges and rewards
Spann said the biggest challenges she’s facing as a manager are new hires and what they want and expect due to the rising cost of living.
“Often times, because of the new hire situation and cost of living, we’ll sometimes get pinned into a corner where we will get a person with little to no experience (who’s) expecting experienced pay. It becomes a challenge because you have the guy who has been working with you for five to six years and you’ve just hired someone for potentially the same wage. So balancing performance reviews along with bringing in potential help and (also) keeping current employees at a rate in which they can live has been a tough balance.”
Ransom said he always thinks about what drives Ricky Benton, the owner of Black’s Tire Service.
“Ricky always told me if we can get to a point where we care enough about our people to see them do well, that’d be the goal. That’s what drives us and the guys in the shop.”
Spann recalled a piece of advice Ransom gave her when she first moved into a managerial role. “He told me ... with coaching my people, I will be quite busy.”
This even applies to matters outside of work. “I have a 21-year-old who got their first paycheck and I sat down with them and told them how to cut their paycheck so they can pay their bills. Guiding and teaching your people goes beyond just the skills they need for their jobs.”
McNally said a significant part of his job is counseling employees. “These kids come to me — and I call them kids, even though they are in their 30s — and they’ll say, ‘Hey, I’m having problems with my (kids). Can you listen and help?’ When you see a big, burly mechanic come in and he starts crying to you ... you have to respond.”
“It’s that 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. window, where you’re standing outside the store and everyone’s just unloading (their problems) onto you,” said Spann, who added that being a manager means you’re stepping into a role where others look to you for both professional and personal guidance.
“It’s the most difficult part of the job, but it’s also the most rewarding part of the job,” said Ransom.
“Managing, to me, is all about the relationship you have with the people you manage,” said Pierce.
Advice for others
Managing others also can come with a dose of humility. “Realize that you’re not always right,” said Ransom. “Remember you had to learn at one point, too, and you may not be right in all situations.”
McNally said if a manager is full of pride and ego, they’ll never be able to hear what their people are saying. “When you become a manager, sometimes a bit of an ego comes with that and it’s important that you check yourself when that happens.”
Spann said it’s important to not only ask for help, but it’s vital to ask for recommendations and advice, too. “Ask from the people you manage — not just those above you. It opens the door for a lot of great conversations and will teach you how to manage your people better.”
Above all, “treat everyone on your team the same and if there is a difficult situation, handle it in private,” said Nobles.
