Still Growing: N.C. Dealer Continues to Boost Business Despite Recession

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While most of the nation continues to suffer from the hard body blows delivered by the biggest recession since the Great Depression, you won’t find any bruis­es at Family Tire & Auto Cen­ter in New Bern, N.C. Recession isn’t part of their vocabulary.

Instead you will find a 10% growth in their business from 2008 through 2009. If that isn’t a “wow,” what is? Dave Bucher, owner along with his sister and father, opened for business as an independent tire dealer in 2005 after both father and son ended substantial careers with Bridgestone Americas, where they learned the ins and outs of the business.

Operating out of one brand new tire dealership in New Bern with another under construction in Morehead City, Bucher says his daily car count in New Bern averages 45 with as many as 69 cars on a busy day, all with just nine bays.

“We have 15 employees at the New Bern location and will hire 15 new employees at the Morehead store when it is finished. Our plan is to operate five spit-and-polish tire stores in our market area.”

Another part of his strategy is to make his first store, and soon his second, look like a tire company store. “Each of my locations will feature the same general appearance and each will employ the same operational obligations such as mopping down the service bays every evening, even if means working late.”

How did Bucher get so far so fast, with no sign of a letup? “I can’t say enough about Bridgestone,” he says. “They created my path to success and I follow it because, like me, they are extremely customer-oriented. From my techs to my counter people, everyone is caught up in our customer service programs.”

So impressed are the Buchers with Bridgestone that they will never consider being anything else than an affiliated dealer with the Nashville-based company. “If it weren’t for them, we couldn’t and wouldn’t be doing so well,” he says.

All About the Details
Check out the women’s rest room and you will find fresh cut flowers daily, along with great-looking wallpaper and a unique antique table for their purses. The rest room is scrubbed clean as a whistle each day.

“We know that some 50% of our customers are women so we go overboard to provide everything they expect from a visit and lots more. My focus on customer service is almost over the top.

“Every day, in every way, our focus is on listening to our customers and changing our customer service policy in a way that will please them.”

For example, in the waiting area, Bucher changed the free snacks he was offering from candy to fresh fruit. “That’s what our customers asked for and that’s what they’re getting,” he says.

His plan is working. Very recently two of Bucher’s competitor’s shuttered up their windows and called it quits.

“When I read that Detroit is reeling from a 28% unemployment rate, it’s hard for me to believe. We are not about to let that happen here. We will never be known for being the cheapest, but we are already known for being the best. Our constant goal is to find a set of tires that meets the needs and wants of the customer, both price-wise and performance-wise. If we fail to do that the customer will walk.

“In a general sense, the public doesn’t know a great deal about the tires they are about to buy, so we take the time to explain everything that is pertinent to the way in which the customer will use and drive their vehicle. With jobs and money in such scarce supply, our customers deserve nothing less than the best we have to offer,” he says.

One reason Bucher made the decision to be a tire dealer we’ve already enumerated – his supplier. But another reason was his personal disappointment at the kind of customer service he received as a consumer, whether it was at a tire store or another retail operation. “It just wasn’t there,” he says. “I knew I could do better and all of us here at Family Tire have focused on making every customer’s visit – even a short stay – as comfortable as their den at home.”

In that regard, his store affords a WiFi environment, a computer station with wired Internet, a toy box with lots of options for the kids and a neat play area. “We also have a 40-inch flat screen TV on the wall and plenty of comfortable seating. Fresh coffee and free sodas are always available. And if Bucher comes up with another thought to make his customers even more informed and comfortable, it won’t take him long to add that.

Plenty of Support
“We also try to have several events each year to show our appreciation. Each October, on our anniversary, we host a week-long tire sale, hire a hot dog vendor, bring in the Big Foot monster truck, and hold drawings for a free set of tires, a television and other prizes,” Bucher says.

“Again, the goal is to always have something going on to show our customers how much we appreciate them, what we sell, what kinds of services we offer – the entire menu. A perfect example of what I’m talking about is a customer drawing we held in October for two free tickets to a Carolina Panthers game.”

Bucher said another goal is to make certain customers know how involved Family Tire is in the community. The dealership has made donations to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of North Carolina, the U.S. Marine Scholarship Fund, the Relay for Life, the Eastern Carolina Pregnancy Center, the New Bern Civic Theater, the New Bern Fire Department and various schools and school sports teams.

In addition, Family Tire also supports the local bloodmobile by having the unit at the New Bern store for a day. The Buchers also work in concert with The Marcus Fund, the New Bern Chamber of Commerce and hold an oil change event for underprivileged members of a local church.

It should come as no surprise that Family Tire was voted the top tire store and top auto service center in a reader poll conducted by the local Sun Journal newspaper.

Bucher, already looking at land for a third store in Pamlico County, N.C., and following his formula, is pressing ahead with his goal of having five stores.

Good fortune has also helped Bucher in his march away from the recession. Located between his New Bern store and his soon-to-be-finished Morehead City location is the Marine Corps Cherry Point Air Force Base, the largest Marine Air Base on the East Coast.

“We go to great lengths to help families at Cherry Point when their spouses are overseas. We work on their family cars when they’re deployed and their specialty cars when they return on leave,” says Bucher.

Bucher understands one key to outstanding customer service is training. Four of his service techs are ASE certified, and others recently attended high performance tire training and updated training on proper wheel balancing.

“In addition, we have received training on proper tire repair and irregular wear evaluation, and several of our techs attend alignment training seminars provided by Hunter Engin­eering,” says Bucher. “If you don’t know how to perform the work at hand in a professional, state-of-the-art method, customers won’t return, so training along with customer service go hand-in-hand with everything we do. It can’t be any other way.

“Finally, our entire staff has been carefully schooled at treating all customers who come through our front door in a friendly manner, including a smile. We take our customers out to the car and show them a worn out part, a brand new part, where it fits, what it does and answer any questions they may have. We also tell them why we are replacing the part. It’s ‘show and tell’ at its best.

“Because we are in a business where trust is a big issue, we feel that this is important and helps us develop and maintain our customer loyalty. That’s why we go to such great lengths to bond with our customers in a manner that works.”