The recent decline in the US economy has affected us all as consumers in some way. Most products have increased in price, tires especially. When those prices increase, fewer products are being purchased by the consumer, meaning more product stays on the store shelf. When more products stay on the shelves, less is ordered from the manufacturer. The tire industry is not immune to this trend.  This leaves manufacturers with a large surplus of tires waiting to be sold. The overall time frame from when a tire rolls off the manufacturing line to when it is sold to a customer, until the end of its tread life has increased. No one knows how long the new time frame is. You could be selling or buying tires much older than you actually think. Just because you bought it does not mean it is new. In general, tires shouldn’t be run if they are more than 6 years old. But how do you know how old a tire really is?

All tires are equipped with a number from the Department of Transportation; i ...[more]

Google Wave is a self-described “personal communication and collaboration tool” announced by Google at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009. It is a web-based service, computing platform and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis and social networking. It has a strong collaborative and real-time focus supported by extensions which can provide spelling and grammar checking, automated translation among 40 languages along with numerous other features.

At the 2009 Web 2.0 Expo in New York City, Gina Trapani (author of the “Complete Wave Guide” and founder of lifehacker.com) gave an informative talk on the basics of Google Wave and how it may be used for team-based document collaboration. Here is a link to view Gina’s full 15 minute talk, “Making sense of Google Wave”.

htt ...[more]

Although change can occur at any time, the beginning of a new year offers a great starting point. As a business owner, you may have established some resolutions for your tire and automotive service company.  What would you like to see change this year? Is there anything you want to do differently? Are there any processes you want to change? What areas do you want to improve? Take time to reflect on the past year and write down exactly how you want 2010 to be different. Get a clear vision of this in your mind and establish concise goals which will achieve your desired end-state. Next, think of the steps you will need to take to make that a reality and develop a plan of action.  It is imperative to write everything down. Think of this as your blueprint.  A contractor may have a vision in mind of the home he is about to build, however he would not attempt to begin construction without first having the blueprint in hand. This action plan will be your blueprint for success. The power ...[more]

I love working in the Tire Industry.  The ubiquitous products are a mainstay of modern civilization:  Everybody needs them; they have a lifecycle, and all the goods, services and travel that ride on tires make the world go round.

The downside of tires is environmental impact.  In the last decade the United States passed the 400 million mark for number of scrap tires sitting in heaps.  But the last 20 years have also seen innovative ways to recycle and reuse spent rubber.

At the turn of the recent century, markets existed for 78% of the scrap material available.  That number has climbed into the 80’s since then with new uses for used tires including highway noise ...[more]

Facebook is more than a website for friends to connect with each other. It is also a great marketing tool which is boosting brand recognition and sales for local businesses everywhere.

Here are 3 ways facebook can help your local tire and automotive service business:

1. Customer Service

You can setup a facebook business page for your company. This is a great way for your customers and prospects to find and connect with you. Here you can answer questions, get feedback and build relationships with customers in your area. To get started, go to our Social Media Resource Center and download the ‘How to put your business on facebook’ guide.

2. Affordable Marketing Communication

Local tire and automotive service shops need to communicate in a cost effective way. Creating a facebook business page allows them the ability to post news, events, promotions and any other useful information i ...[more]

Are you making the most of your Tire Power software?  Keeping abreast of new or not so obvious features can enhance your experience with the software, and make you and your employees more efficient.  In this continuing series of blogs, we will shine the spotlight on these features in order to help all our users make the most of their software.

A new feature we have recently added in Tire Power is the ability to sort the list of vehicles assigned to a customer on the ‘Search Customers’ window.  On this window, once the customer is selected on the left of the screen, the vehicles assigned to this customer are listed to the right.

Typically, if the customer only has a few vehicles assigned to them, it is not a big deal to see the desired vehicle and then select it to ...[more]

As software developers, our job is to design and build applications which are easy to use, work reliably, adhere to industry standards and are intuitive to use.  In the Tire Power suite we try our best to keep it simple!  But it is not always easy to make clear all the choices available for the end-user.  This is why we work so hard on creating great documentation!  No matter where you are in Tire Power just click the F1 key to get context-sensitive help.

The Help File contains:

• Complete Feature Breakdowns – We walk you through each window and explain the controls and features.
• “How To” Guides – Step by step instructions will walk you through any process.
• Tire Power System Requirements
• Software Installation Instructions
• 3rd Party Integrations – All the information you need to setup any of our 3rd Party Integrations.
• Searchable – Search the Help File for any topic!

...[more]

(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]