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ITDA News
Annual Meeting & Trade Show February 27, 28, 2004
Tire Registration Forms
Remember when the tire industry fought in Congress to get rid of mandatory tire registration. The argument by our industry was that retailers would give the forms to consumers and that the forms would be sent in. There was no need for the heavy hand of the federal government to mandate the forms to be handled and returned by the retailers.
How are we doing? If human nature hasn’t changed, and it hasn’t, we suspect that most retailers have become lax and aren’t handing out the forms. Customers either don’t know about the forms or have forgotten about them as well.
There are parts of the federal law that remains which could really get your attention. If you’ve forgotten about the tire registration forms, we would suggest that you get back into the habit of giving customers the forms. Failure to provide registration forms could result in fines of up to $1000 per tire and up to $200,000 in penalties. Those kinds of penalties could put a lot of people out of business. Manufacturers are required to provide the forms to dealers. If your manufacturer has become lax, you should demand that the forms be sent to you.
With the heightened interest in tires these days, it would be wise to get with the tire registration program to the letter of the law.
ITDA News
Iowa Tire Initiative
The Iowa Tire Initiative (ITI) is a marketing program that ITDA members should take a look at. ITDA staff has been meeting with representatives of ITI to look at ways to partner with tire dealers in order to inform the public about tire safety and the proper ways to dispose of tires.
ITI will be running TV advertising, as they did last year, a couple of weeks prior to Memorial Day. This year, ITI wants to add to the program by having a tire safety week. This special event is where ITDA members can get involved. ITI will have special materials printed that you could display in your store. ITI is also recommending that tire dealers selected to partner in this venture have a radio remote from their store.
There obviously will be some expense to you to become a partner with ITI. However, there are numerous benefits. First, most of you have an advertising budget anyway. All you need to do is to dedicate some of it to this event. Then you have the obvious benefit of having potential new customers come to your store in conjunction with this event.
The next obvious benefit is that the public will see you as being concerned about tire safety and about a clean environment. The public may also assume that you are a special business if you are partnering with your public waste authority in this event.
What will tire dealers do on the special tire safety day? Have the radio remote and be interviewed about tire safety. Officials from ITI will be on hand to help you do some of the interviews. The public will be invited to your store to have their tires checked, both for air and for any signs of wear and tire. If you find tire problems, you can make appointments with folks to come back for more detailed service.
If you have an interest in becoming the tire store for the ITI Tire Safety Week, please contact ITDA. Also, representatives from ITI will be on hand at our trade show to answer your questions about this event.
RMA and Tire Safety
RMA is publishing a new brochure on tire safety, will place more safety information on their web page, and will come up with public relations events to promote tire safety. We’ll keep you advised on this situation. Tire dealers who join in on safety promotions will be rewarded by consumers.
The
Marketing Minute
Please don’t ignore me. Nearly 70% of business lost in America is lost due to post sales apathy. Amazing isn’t it? We spend all this time and effort luring them to our business. We seduce them on the sales floor. We listen attentively to their problem and help them find a solution. We give them a fair price. We smile and wave as they leave. And then we ignore them.
There is no hotter prospect than your current client. They know you. They liked you enough to try you once. Hopefully, they had a reasonable or even good experience the first go around. So why aren’t you talking to them? Why aren’t you telling them more about you? Why aren’t you asking them more about them?
If you don’t have a customer retention program- one that turns your clients into raving fans…you need one. Make it simple, easy to implement and something you will actually do. Consistently. Start on it today. It’s that important.
Federated Enhances Retirement Program
Federated Life Insurance Company is adding ten new investment account choices to its Retirement Shield annuity product. Wells Fargo Funds will be the investment manager for nine of the funds. In 1978, Wells Fargo introduced a model for tactical asset allocation based on the work of Noble Prize winning economist, Harry Markowitz.
Delaware Investments will handle the tenth new investment account. Delaware has been managing mutual funds since 1938 and currently manages more than 40 billion dollars in assets.
ITDA endorses Federated for money management, health insurance, property/casualty, and workers’ compensation insurance.