Evolving Well: Burnett White Tire Bridges Generations, Gender Gap
Dawn Tilghman admits it wasn’t easy starting as a woman in the tire business, even though she had an excellent mentor in her father, Dave Tilghman. She came into the business in 1989, gradually learned the ropes and acquired the business from her dad in 2000.
Now the third generation is involved, with Dawn’s son, Jed Dougherty, 30, active in the business for the past 10 years. Dawn is proud that the family tradition continues, and tries to see to it that the business grows and thrives.
Burnett White Tire & Auto Center has been serving commercial and automotive customers in Salisbury, on Maryland’s eastern shore, since 1938. Dave Tilghman came to work at the shop in 1959. The White family, which had acquired the business from its founder, sold the business to Dave in 1976. He kept the well-known Burnett White name and its reputation as a family-owned business.
With her dad working beside her for 12 years, Dawn says she was surrounded by a wealth of knowledge. So, it was an easy transition when she took over the business and eventually became majority owner with her dad as an employee. However, there were challenges in the beginning.
“I had to work really hard to get the gentlemen to want to talk to me. But once I earned their trust, I had a hard time getting the gentlemen not to want to talk to me,” she says, laughing about her success.
How did she earn that trust? “It was probably my follow-through skills,” she says. “If I told you I’d call you back, I called you back. If I told you I would find two or three different brands to compare prices, I found them.” She also credits her honesty about her lack of experience. “If I don’t know the answer, I’ll tell you I don’t know, but I’ll get back to you with the answer.”
Dawn is happiest at the front counter. “I’m a people person, the door greeter,” she says enthusiastically. She knows almost everyone who comes in. While she may not have planned to be in this occupation, someone paid her a compliment by telling her, “You’ve made Burnett White your own.”
She attributes this achievement to her passion for the customers, the employees, and seeing the business as being a family.
“I put Burnett White’s name on it when it leaves this place, but it took a lot of hands to make that happen. The guys in the back changing tires are just as important as the person up front, and they know it. There’s pride throughout the establishment.”
Old Friends, New Business
Burnett White’s one location, on Main Street, has four inside bays, one medium truck bay and three outdoor scissor-lifts where almost all of the tire work gets done. The business has 14 employees, including Dawn, the president and CEO. “I get to hire and fire – and clean the toilets,” she quips.
Nowadays, she’s turned the hiring and supervising over to her son, Jed. There’s not much turnover – six people have been there seven years. The last big changeover came when many of her dad’s employees retired.
Maybe it’s not surprising in such a close-knit community as Salisbury that two of Dawn’s male employees are her former high school classmates. Steve Smith was a former manager at two competing tire stores before joining Burnett White. Jay Bailey, who works on the front counter, has been a friend since elementary school. Prior to joining Burnett White six years ago, he was in a car dealer’s parts department.
Now Jed’s friends from high school work at the store, and send their friends as customers. “We take care of entire families: mom and dad, a child who then becomes a driver, their brothers and sisters, and friends,” Dawn notes with satisfaction.
When she took over the business, Dawn shifted its focus. The small town already had a big commercial tire dealer, so she sought other markets. By transitioning from commercial accounts to retail, cash flow improved.
The mix went from 60% commercial and 40% retail when she took over the business to 30% commercial and 70% retail. Most of her commercial customers now are smaller fleets, mainly electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors with vans.
She’s still proud to be the tire supplier to the City of Salisbury. And since farming is an important business in the region, Burnett White still mounts tractor tires.
New Markets, Novel Reach
One of Dawn’s ideas was to go after the preventive maintenance market on “moms’ vehicles.” She came up with the idea of a “Day Spa for Your Car” – promoting oil changes, fluid flushes and tires (overall, the business remains 60% tires and 40% service). She believes her female customers like things explained to them a bit more than the male customers. “They ask, ‘Why is this better?’ By answering, we build a better bond with these customers and more loyalty,” Dawn says, whereas she thinks men are more dollar-driven.
Her most successful ad campaign to-date was one in the local newspaper for “Best Doggone Waiting Room,” which featured different dogs posing for the shop. She coordinated the campaign with the local humane society to support some of its fund raisers. The ads worked well for name and community recognition. “Now, everybody knows us for our love of dogs,” Dawn explains. “It brings a smile to someone’s face, and they think of Burnett White.” Five years later, customers still ask her about her own dogs, who are frequent visitors to the shop.
Another big success has been the store’s Web site, which includes coupons. And each week, Dawn responds to a half-dozen e-mails about tires from people shopping online. Dawn captures those e-mails because the medium is “fast, direct, free and easy,” she says, “and you can send promotion reminders to these addresses as long as you don’t bombard them.”
She adds e-mail is a good way to tell customers at their desks at work that their vehicles are ready, “or to communicate that we’ve started work and noticed the air filter is dirty, so we give them a price and ask if they want the work done.”
Even though the shop dates to 1941, it has been renovated, and Dawn is proud of the waiting area’s coffee shop atmosphere with warm colors, natural stone and windows into the shop so customers can see the work being done. There’s an area for children with a small desk and crayons, plus all of her POP displays showcasing her affiliations. The company pays for monthly AutoNetTV waiting lounge programs on DVD to play on a 52-inch flat-panel screen. She likes how it coordinates with seasonal promotions such as rebate programs that can serve as a nice little upsell.
Recognition
Burnett White reaches out to the community it serves, supporting local youth softball and soccer leagues, Red Cross, the Wellness Community of Delmarva and other groups. The business community has noticed. As of April, Dawn is the new president of the 840-member local chamber of commerce. “I was invited to join the executive board, and once they know you are a doer, they ask!” she says.
As Burnett White’s Top Shop nominator noted, “Her generosity and saying ‘do it anyway’ if it will help people in need has served her business well.” The shop’s customers also know the job will be done right – that reputation comes from experience.