Seth Sands is the Co-CEO of Good Turn Tire & Auto, a company with a portfolio of 14 brands and 35 locations across four states, including Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Michigan. With an early career in finance, investment banking, and private equity, Seth shifted gears to focus on family- and founder-owned businesses. He and his partner leveraged their financial expertise to fill a gap in the tire and auto space by utilizing technology and customer-centricity to grow Good Turn Tire & Auto into a substantial platform.

In this episode…

The tire and auto repair industry is undergoing significant changes as businesses adapt to new technologies and customer expectations. How can companies in this sector enhance their growth by focusing on technology and customer experience?

According to Seth Sands from Good Turn Tire & Auto, the key to success in the tire and auto repair industry is leveraging technology to provide a superior customer experience while maintaining a strong focus on both employees and customers. Seth notes that the industry has traditionally been fragmented and has suffered from a lack of scalable technology solutions, which has contributed to a negative reputation. By addressing these challenges, his company has been able to expand from three to 35 locations across four states. Their strategy involves preserving the local brand identity of acquired shops while offering essential support in areas like financial management, marketing, and recruitment, thus enabling these businesses to thrive.

On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Seth to discuss the intricacies of the tire and auto repair industry. They explore maintaining local brand identities, managing front and back shop operations, and the importance of customer service. Seth shares his journey from finance to the auto industry, emphasizing empathy and honesty in customer interactions. The conversation also covers market expansion strategies and the importance of succession planning for business owners.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [1:44] How Seth Sands' journey took him from finance to the fragmented tire and auto industry
• [3:46] The “platform” approach that allows local auto brands to thrive under Good Turn's umbrella
• [5:25] Why preserving local brand names can be key to retaining customer loyalty
• [7:40] Good Turn's strategy for geographic expansion and market density
• [9:28] The importance of differentiating the front shop from the back shop to optimize customer experience
• [12:07] How a consumerization focus is changing auto shop customer service expectations
• [18:15] Insights into employee empowerment and open communication with management
• [20:47] Seth discusses his hobbies, including fishing and flying airplanes

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Seth Sands on LinkedIn
• Good Turn Tire & Auto
• James O'Reilly on LinkedIn
• Trail Tire
• Mavis Tires & Brakes
• Tire Choice
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

Quotable Moments:

1. "It's not price, at the end of the day, that people generally care about; it's the experience and how they are treated."
2. "The hardest thing we can do, or we try to avoid, is to enter a market and get stuck with one or two locations."
3. "If there's some reason I need to understand something technical, we've got a lot of people that can dumb it down to a way that I can understand."
4. "The only thing you have is your name and your word — make sure you approach business from doing the right thing."
5. "Ultimately, it's going to work out. As long as everyone knows that there's this, we're all playing by the same rules of the road."

Action Steps:

1. Focus on customer experience in every aspect of your business: It creates loyalty and differentiates your offerings.
2. Prioritize honesty and integrity in all internal and external dealings: This creates trust and builds a solid reputation.
3. Optimize the alignment between front-end and back-end operations of your business: Strengthening communication between customer-facing employees and technical staff is essential for seamless service delivery.
4. Develop a clear succession plan or exit strategy long before it's needed: Proactive planning prevents haste and helps maximize value.
5. Embrace technology and innovative practices to stay competitive: Adopting new technologies enhances customer engagement and business efficiency.

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. 

At Tread Partners, we provide digital marketing for multi-location tire dealers and auto repair shops. 

By using our strategy, branding, and marketing services, we help shops sell more tires and put more cars in bays.

We’ve helped companies like Action Gator Tire, Colony Tire and Service, and Ulmer’s Auto Care Center bring extreme growth in paid leads, ROI, and searches. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Visit www.treadpartners.com or email [email protected] to learn more.