How many times has your company sent you to a tradeshow? Have you gone in the past only to return feeling it was a waste of time and money? Were you prepared to be an attendee? Getting the most from a trade show requires careful preparation. These simple steps will aid you in preparing to get the most from the shows you attend.

1. Before the Show: Make a list of goals to achieve while at the show; both company and personal. Include in those goals the booths you want to visit and the appropriate time you will require at each booth. Then decide who will be visiting those booths if more than one of your employees will be attending the show.
2. During the Show: On arrival to the show, re-plan and then stick to your plans. Did any exhibitors not show? Are there others there you did not originally know would be in attendance? Make time to visit them as well. Finding maps of the floor and knowing show hours will aid in achieving your goals ...[more]

It’s not too late to register for the Tennessee Tire Dealers Association’s annual Convention on August 6-7 at the Nashville Hilton Downtown.  This year’s convention will feature speaker Brian Dodge.  www.bryandodge.com Brian has spoken at a number of tire dealer events and is a fantastic inspirational speaker.  TCS has heard Bryan speak at a number of events and we are excited to hear him once again at the TTDA meeting.  Bryan’s message on professional growth and personal development focuses on three key areas:  First, he will show you how to have your best year ever.  Second, he will coach you on how to create a consistent upward growth in your life.  Third, he will train you on how to harness the power of personal energy and tap into its unlimited supply.  In addition to Bryan’s message, the convention will feature the Tennessee Scrap Tire Update by Joyce Dunlap of TN Division of Solid Waste, Risk Management ...[more]

(Cookeville, TN, July, 6 2010) TCS has expanded operations once again with new positions and hires in their continued commitment to top-notch service as a leading provider of technology to the Tire and Automotive Services Industry.  TCS’ scope of services and brand penetration has increased steadily in the past 12 months and new positions within the company have been filled to continue forging ahead with its growth.

The West Coast presence of TCS got a significant boost with the addition of Bill Williamson as Head of Regional Sales.  Bill joins TCS with 20+ years tire-industry experience; having risen from a junior technician to the owner of an independently operated tire store during his career.

“TCS is delighted with the addition of Mr. Williamson,” stated Barry Reese, President of TCS.  “Being a veteran tire guy himself, Bill has quickly made traction with both TCS customers and future customers. With having “been there” himself, Bill has already ...[more]

(Cookeville, TN, 06-22-10) TCS, a TN based software and web products provider, and Social Butterfly.Pro have initiated a collaborative effort to produce a new brand of Social Media websites for tire dealers.  The importance of Social Media for brand recognition and visibility has mushroomed in the past 12 months, and this new cooperative effort is a powerful enhancement to TCS’ burgeoning array of products and services for the Tire and Automotive Services industry.

“We’ve been helping dealers utilize Social Media over the past two years now and it has become obvious to us that the websites in use today fall short in the tools necessary to fully take advantage of their internet presence,” stated Shawn McKenzie, President of Social Butterfly.Pro, a NH based Social Media support site for Tire dealers. “TCS already has a strong web product mix in place, we had the Social Media expertise, it made sense to work together.”

The biggest adva ...[more]

Show your TCS appreciation this month with a Firefox persona! Wait … what is a persona, or Firefox for that matter? Well the answer to both is quite pleasing. Firefox is a free web browser alternative to Internet Explorer. It has outperformed Internet Explorer in all testing, including speed and security. For more information and a link to download the latest version of Firefox, click here.

Now on to a persona. Personas are free, easy-to-install, easy-to-use themes which change the look of your Firefox web browser. No more boring gray windows to look at … unless that is your thing. More importantly, if you are a fan of TCS, show it with your browser in style. Click here to use the TCS persona for Firefox inside your current or newly installed version of Firefox. We want this to eventually be a fan created theme so if you ...[more]

If selling tires is your job, then ‘Tire Estimator’ is the tool for you! ‘Tire Estimator’ was developed to allow the user to quickly scroll through data and check package pricing for tires without having to jump in and out of a quote for each price.

In Tire Power’s Front Counter, go to ‘Search Inventory’ and search for a tire. Then on the toolbar click the ‘Tire Estimator’ button and you will see the total “4 and out-the-door” package price for the tires. From inside ‘Tire Estimator’ you can also change the quantity, price class, tax group and included package to alter the price. So at this point you are thinking “ok this is nice”, but wait there is more! This window is designed like a toolbar, so you have the ability to go back to the search window in the background and select another tire without closing the ‘Tire Estimator’ window. This is a big time saver! Just move the ‘Tire Estimator’ window off to the side and continue searchin ...[more]

One of the most commonly used windows, and most powerful in Tire Power, is the ‘Search Inventory’ window.  But do you truly know all of the things this window can do for you?  Did you know you can…

• Sort any column, or columns, by simply double-clicking on the column name
• Move the order of the columns by using the ‘Move Column’ feature
• View available product images by clicking on the camera icon
• You can click on any price level on the right which will update all prices displayed in the price column
• When you highlight any item, its specifications will display over at the bottom right of the window
• For multi-site customers, under the ‘Availability’ section, you can see in real-time your other stores current on-hand inventory
• For PartnersXD® users, inventory from any source, including your wholesaler, is displayed in the ‘Availability’ section, in real-time
• Print your inventory reports r ...[more]

16 Million Consumers shopped for tires in the month of Feb on Google Alone!

Each day, more and more people search for tires online. If they can’t find your website easily, you are missing out on revenue. According to broad match, Google’s AdWords tool, over 16 million consumers searched tires in the month of February – That’s just on Google!  Did they find you?  If so, did they actually shop your virtual store enough to request a quote or make a purchase?  It’s not enough to simply expose to the virtual shopper you exist – you have to allow them to shop.

Take the quiz:

• Does my site allow the consumer to see their available tire choices?
• Does my site ask the consumer to contact me so that I can convert the shopper to a buyer?
• When a consumer searches “tires ‘my city’” does my site appear as one of the first choices?
• Is my site compelling enough, yet easy ...[more]

NEWSPAPER ADS

Obviously, newspapers are not considered to be nearly as important as they once were, especially when compared to television, and the internet.  There has also been an increase in the number of weeklies and tabloids, some of which are provided free to the public.

A major drawback of newspapers is your ad can be lost, or be so obscure, it may not even be noticed by most readers.  An ad large enough to attract attention may prove quite costly, especially since most readers limit their reading to specific sections, and have time constraints which prevent them from reading each and every page in its entirety.  Other publications, including automotive, are available on a weekly or monthly basis, and may give you more ‘bang-for-your-buck’.

Regardless of the circulation claimed by the various publishers, there is still no guarantee you will receive the attention you desire through these printed media.  Results are also ext ...[more]

Did anyone see Wynona selling tires on the CBS show “I Get That A Lot”?  This week Wynona appeared as a tire salesman to 25 or so customers at Dunlap and Kyle’s Columbia, TN, Gateway Tire location. Columbia resident Lee Hooks entered the store to see about getting a leak fixed, “My initial reaction was ‘Wow, this lady has really red hair, and she has a lot of makeup on to be working at a tire store,’” stated Hooks. “I told her I had a slow leak and she tried to sell me four new tires,” stated Hooks.  You go girl!  Teach us how it is done.  To see more on the show which recently aired, visit:

http://www.cbs.com/specials/i_get_that_a_lot/video/index.p ...[more]