Happy Thanksgiving and a Quick True Story!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’d first like to thank the readers of the GFT RIDER Newsletter for your continued support.  Your comments and suggestions are gratefully appreciated and your support of our products far surpass my original expectations.  Your reorders show me that we have a good thing going and I’m happy that our products are able to satisfy your needs.  Most of you are ordering in small quantities at first, just as I recommended.  Your reorders are getting larger and larger in quantities, as it should be.  Anyway, thank you and continue to let me know what you like best about the GFT RIDER brand.

I’ve mentioned before how I think the GFT RIDER brand represents the best VALUE in a commercial truck tire.  How, when considering quality and price together, the GFT RIDER tire gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

To illustrate the third ingredient in our VALUE PROPOSITION, Customer Experience, I’d like to share a true story.

I received a call from a customer a while back.  It was only the second time I had spoken to this customer.  He shared the fact that he had purchased 4 GFT RIDER tires about 90 days earlier and they were showing unusual wear.  In fact, 2 GFT RIDER tires had “blow outs”.  A tire reseller never wants to hear this, but it happens.  It is especially troubling for the manufacturing of that tire.

Fortunately, I don’t deal with this situation very often…almost never, but we talked for a few minutes both trying to understand the situation, him from a customer’s point of view and me from a manufacturer’s perspective.  Under the circumstances, he was very calm and professional.  I appreciated that.  Bottom line…he was out 4 tires and about $1200, and wanted to place a warranty claim.  For me, I had a customer who had an issue, and was this issue a symptom of a larger problem?

My customer asked what I wanted him to do.  I wanted to make him whole ASAP so I asked him if he was agreeable to me sending out 4 replacement tires right away.  Later, if it was determined that the tire failures were due to a manufacturer defect, there would be no charge and if it was determined that the tire failures were caused by anything else, he would pay for the tires at a respectable discount.  He agreed and I asked him if he would mind holding for a moment.  I placed him on hold and called my warehouse and asked them to ship 4 tires to this customer immediately.  30 seconds or so later I informed my customer that he would have 4 new tires in less than 3 hours.  Obviously, he was more than pleased.

On a normal warranty claim the injured party is required to do some research, fill out a form (it’s only a one page form, but still a pain in the butt), and take some pictures.  For most imported tires the entire process could take weeks or even months for a resolution.  Provenant Tire & Rubber Company, however, is located in Maryland, only our manufacturing plant is overseas.  Before putting my customer through the claim process, I asked if I could come out to inspect the 4 GFT RIDER tires.  Knowing my boss, the owner of Provenant Tire & Rubber Company was on the road, I called him and asked if he would be able to see our customer that day.  He said sure and took a detour from his schedule.  45 minutes later he was at the customer’s site.

Imagine my customer’s surprise and delight when the owner of Provenant Tire & Rubber Company appeared at his shop to problem-solve.  Upon inspection of the 4 GFT RIDER tires, and after some on-site training, it was determined, and my customer agreed, the two blow outs were due to the truck carrying an overweight cargo and hitting a curb.  It was also determined that, for the other two GFT RIDER tires showing excessive wear, the cause was improper balancing of the tires at mounting.  It also appeared that his trucks were due for realignment.

Let’s recap.  Customer called with an issue.  The issue was researched and the tires inspected that same day (by the owner of our company, no less).  An education process took place to the customer’s satisfaction, and the problem was resolved, all in less than 5 hours.  This same issue, through another manufacturer, would have taken weeks, if not months.

Now, I don’t care what you call it; customer service, customer experience, customer satisfaction.  It’s another success story that I am proud of.  The GFT RIDER and its Value Proposition…Great Quality – Great Price and a Great Customer Experience.  This is what you can expect everyday from the Provenant Tire and Rubber Company.

To truly appreciate the GFT RIDER, you must experience the GFT RIDER.