Online presence key for success in age of information

HILTON HEAD, S.C.—The opening speakers at the 33rd Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference began their presentation in a novel way—with an argument.

While John Evankovich, director of Sam's Club Tire and Battery Centers, tried to begin his speech, David Martin, director of sales for American Tire Distributors, yelled at him to keep it down because he was trying to reach the Internet on his cell phone.

Of course, this was all theater. What Evankovich and Martin were demonstrating in their April 19 presentation was the need for tire dealers to have good apps and up-to-date websites to attract and hold the attention of Millennial customers.

The Millennials—those born after 1989—are growing exponentially as a percentage of the tire-buying market, according to Martin and Evankovich. In six years, there will be 140 million Millennial tire buyers in the market, they said.

Furthermore, the Millennials are changing dealers' relationships with their customers, and changing them fast, they said.

"Your use of technology will determine your future success," Evankovich said.

Unlike previous generations of tire buyers, Millennials don't have much brand loyalty and don't generally have strong relationships with brick-and-mortar dealers, according to Evankovich and Martin.

For them, tires are usually an "uh-oh" purchase, and the day they buy tires is not a happy day for them, Evankovich and Martin said. When they buy tires, Millennials' needs are simple, they said—they want it all, they want it cheap, and they want it now.

But although Millennials don't usually know much about tires, they said, they can find out a great deal about them online, within seconds.

This is why tire dealers have to be up to date technologically, and give Millennials all the information they need exactly when they need it, according to Martin and Evankovich.

Martin quoted Buckminster Fuller's theory about "The Age of Acceleration." According to that theory, Martin said, the sum of human knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years.

But by World War II, it doubled every 25 years. And it has been expanding exponentially ever since, Martin said.

"Knowledge will soon be doubling every 12 months, and soon after that every 12 hours," he said.

"It took 18 years for 50 million people to have radios, and 13 years for 50 million people to have televisions," Martin said. "Pokemon Go had 310 million followers a week after it was introduced."

Tire dealers have a big advantage compared with other businesses when it comes to online customers, Evankovich said.

"Consumers still have to come into the dealership for service," he said. It is then that dealers can form a bond of trust with young consumers, he said.

"The relationship between dealer and customer will still matter, but your app will determine whether you get that next click," he said.

As little as seven seconds can determine whether you get that new customer, according to Martin.

"You've got to understand the heart of the new information flow," he said. "It's the customer. They still need help installing tires, and this works to the installer's advantage if he takes the time to understand what's going on."