(Cookeville, TN, January 7, 2010) — Today TCS, software provider for the tire and automotive industry, further sharpened their competitive edge, rolling out their latest technology service for the tire and automotive service industry:  Utilizing the soaring growth of social media to enhance the bottom line for their customers and clients.  This expansion of services comes as a result of the recent partnership between TCS and JTMarCom, a Nashville-based social media marketing firm co-founded by John Taylor – a longtime tire industry PR executive.

2009 was a year of phenomenal expansion for social media, and the business benefits of reaching audiences of such magnitude are at the forefront of TCS’ new comprehensive strategies.  Current estimates number social media participants worldwide at over 1 billion, with Facebook.com passing the 350 million user mark early this December.  Over 700,000 businesses have a presence on Facebook, and TCS, along with JT MarCom ...[more]

Wow!  The beginning of a new year already?  The nation, our industry, and each of you have survived a trying and turbulent 2009, and with the turning of the calendar, we all reflect on the year and its results.  I too look back in appreciation on each of you who either chose TCS as their partner this year, or continued with us as your technology partner in 2009.   I personally thank you for entrusting TCS to help assist you in running your business with its suite of solutions.   

As we look ahead to 2010, I am excited because TCS not only weathered the storm of 2009, but we had huge growth in the industry with the addition of many new customers, added another office which greatly expands our employee base, developed a multitude of new products becoming your total technology provider, and developed significant relationships with 3^rd party products and industry groups to better serve you.  Because we spent 2009 moving, growing and DOING, it means each one of ...[more]

Now that the New Year is here you may be have your 2010 marketing plan on your mind.  We hope that internet marketing is part of that plan and social media is on the top of that list.  Social media will have many positive effects on your marketing strategy from improved customer service to getting your website showing up higher on Google search results.

If you have not setup any social media accounts and the word Facebook makes your head spin, do not worry, in the next few weeks we will be releasing our Social Media resource center that will help you get accounts such as Twitter setup.

For those that are tweeting or want to learn more about tweeting; here are a few of our Twitter Dos and Don’ts for the tire and automotive industry.

1. Do post tweets often a few times a day is good and remember to space them through out the day.  Nobody likes a twitter pucker (someone that tweets 5 times back to back).  You can use applications such as Tweet Deck or Hoot ...[more]

Studies and surveys show the lack of appreciation and encouragement among the top reasons employees leave a job. In an economy going through rocky times, it is very important for everyone in the workplace to recognize and look for opportunities to encourage one another. Webster describes encouragement as: The rising of one’s confidence especially by external agency or to spur on. Motivating employees requires providing support and feedback to let them know the company values their efforts. Unfortunately, employees may only get negative feedback on a day-to-day basis. Supervisors tend to focus on what an employee is doing incorrectly, and miss opportunities to let them know what they’re doing well. All too often, the annual review is the only time an employee gets positive feedback.

Showing appreciation and encouragement should be a continual process, not just an “employee of the month” program. Lack of appreciation can lead to lack of morale, and moti ...[more]

We have added many new features in ePower to give our customers even more flexibility and encourage their customers to buy from them over their competition.

• Sell Rate/Markups – Users of your website can now create a markup off of their cost.
• Add-Ons – Allows user to save predefined add-ons that will display on the customer printout.
• Part Inventory Display Settings – Allows you the control of default settings to your website.
• Specials Page – Now you can dynamically add a Specials Page to your site.
• Activity Logs – You can see who is logging into your site and when, what they are searching for and what they are doing.

With ePower the wholesale tire dealer has an eCommerce website designed for the industry. For a demo of all of the new features please call 888-449-8473.

One of the things we at Tire Company Solutions really want for our customers is for them to get the full experience, or ‘power’ if you will, from their Tire Power software.  As I mentioned in my last blog, it can be fun discovering and using some of the lesser known features in the software.  With that in mind, here is an overlooked feature, this time for you accounting people.

A widely used and very powerful feature in Tire Power is the ‘Query’ option available on all history windows.  This feature is especially useful in the accounting areas of Tire Power.  It is inside one of these account history windows where you will find this hidden gem of a feature which really is a complement to the query feature.  In Office Manager, go to the View | Accounts section where you would normally find your GL accounts.  Pick an account, and go to its history.

...[more]

Leaders understand that people represent an organization’s most appreciable assets. No resource is more valuable than your people. Therefore, a leader’s people skills and how he grows relationships are his most important attributes. The following are principles gleaned from Proverbs and present some fundamentals on relationships. At the core is if people are esteemed, relationships are redeemed and people will be inspired.

1. Don’t brag – Leaders understand how little they get from self-promotion.
2. Don’t envy – Leaders sabotage themselves if their motive is to keep up with others.
3. Be forthright – Leaders don’t fear confrontation, but speak the truth in love.
4. Don’t forsake your roots – Leaders understand the power of relational heritage.
5. Stay close – Leaders work at maintaining each relationship and understanding needs.
6. Add value – Leaders sharpen those with whom ...[more]

The holiday season is upon us and there is no more important time to prepare your employees to handle any situation that may arise. Customers are a bit more stressed this time of year and can be especially reactive to a bad customer service experience. You cannot do enough to plan ahead and prepare your employees to prevent a situation before it starts.

There is an enormous pool of information to pull from out there but one has stuck with me from my years in college is a book by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, titled “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. The book has several chapters and leads you through each of the 7 habits.  However the resounding theme of the book is we need to strive to be proactive and not reactive. This is true in almost all situations of life and especially with an upset customer.  When I was in the industry as a service advisor at a Ford dealership, I found that my customers were not always happy about bringing their vehicles in to get service. ...[more]

The internet is continuously making it easier to both access, and promulgate information.  The costs of communicating and sharing one’s ideas, thoughts, feelings, opinions, and experiences have never been lower; all that’s required is desire, a computer, and an internet connection.  And with further advances in communication technology, this trend is only likely to continue. 

The good news is that it’s easier for your customers to share their opinions about your business, products, and services with others than ever before.  A happy customer is not only likely to be a repeat customer, but if happy enough, they’ll probably tell others, and generate new business for you in the process. 

The bad news is an unhappy customer will likely not return, but they can (and if unhappy enough, WILL) share their experience with others, and in doing so, either persuade current customers to stop giving you their business, or convince people that have never ...[more]

The phrase doesn’t always mean “low profile tires”.  In business software this refers to the time it takes to get the data you request to your screen. This is a key factor in customer satisfaction, as well as your satisfaction with Tire Power desktop software or our ePower websites from Tire Company Solutions.

So how can you as a end-user, get the best results? 

First a bit of background, after 25 plus + years in SQL databases, what worked years ago still works today, and will work in the future; “Be as specific as you can!”.

When you search for a product, part or name, the more information you provide the faster the information or data can be found; for example when searching for a name:

1. Entering “S” will search for all names starting with S.
2. Using “ST” will be faster as it will find only those with ST
3. Using “STA” will be the fastest to gain what you’re looking for.

Using a ...[more]