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Robert “Sonny” McDonald is the Senior National Training Manager for Toyo Tires Corp USA. He started his sales career in the tire industry as a representative for The Tire Rack, where he worked for over a decade, and has been in his current position for more than 20 years. Sonny has also served as an aircraft maintenance specialist in the US Air Force.
In this episode…
As anyone in the tire and auto repair industry will tell you, customers don’t come to your shop because things are going well — if their car and tires were in good shape, they wouldn’t be in your shop. So what steps can you take to ensure your customers stay happy in unhappy situations? How can you get them to trust you enough to come back to your shop the next time they need help?
According to Robert “Sonny” McDonald from Toyo Tires Corp USA, it starts with great training. His philosophy is that when you’re more comfortable with something, it is easier to sell. When a customer service provider asks the right questions, the customer will feel more comfortable. Sonny says great training excites people, not only about the industry but also about what they do.
On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Sonny to discuss how the tire and auto repair industry benefits when its employees receive stellar training. Sonny shares how he came to appreciate the benefits of training, how it makes customers feel more comfortable, and why employees feel great about their jobs when they are well-trained. He also reveals which 1980’s TV show led to him being called “Sonny” instead of Robert. Don’t miss it!
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Robert “Sonny” McDonald’s origin story
- The Notre Dame football eras Sonny most enjoyed having season tickets for
- How Sonny got started in the tire business
- What makes the sales team at Toyo Tires successful?
- The keys to consistency in the tire industry
- Sonny shares how he, as a college student, got to know Tire Rack founder Peter Veldman
- Why people started calling him “Sonny” instead of Robert
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Robert “Sonny” McDonald on LinkedIn
- Toyo Tires
- Peter Veldman, Tire Rack Founder
- Traction Summit 2023
- Smithers
- Mike Edge on LinkedIn
- Tread Partners
Transcript
Announcer:
Welcome to the Gain Traction podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now, let’s get started with the show.
Mike Edge:
Welcome To the Gain Traction podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host today. Robert “Sonny” McDonald, the senior national trainer for Toyo Tires is my guest today. Folks, this guy is an outstanding trainer and makes Tire talk exciting. I can’t wait to break into this conversation. But before we get started, I would like to promote the Traction Summit hosted by Smithers. This year’s summit is May 23rd through the 25th in San Antonio, Texas, where attendees will have the opportunity to understand and discuss the future of the tire industry, while also networking with fellow colleagues and professionals. This year’s theme is: sustainability and tires. Smithers provides custom tire analysis and standard testing to meet your requirements. Find out more at tractionsummit.com. That’s tractionsummit.com.
This episode is sponsored by and brought to you by Tread Partners. If you sell tires and/or offer auto repair services for multi-locations, contact Tread Partners to do a digital marketing audit for your company today. Stop the leaky spending and get more cars in your base while spending your money more efficiently. Most multi-location operations waste thousands of dollars every month because they don’t work with a digital marketing agency that understands or specializes in tires. To learn more, visit treadpartners.com. Sonny, welcome to the Gain Traction podcast, man.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Mike, I am so excited to be on here. I can’t wait to talk to your listeners. I mean, I’ve just been waiting since I met you, since we’ve talked. This is so exciting. I’m just pumped.
Mike Edge:
I’ll tell you what: it was a treat to watch you in action and I really appreciate you inviting me to the training session at the customer close by me and you invited me when you knew I lived near, and I was blown away by a guy making tires so exciting, man. That was fun.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Well, first of all, Toyo Tires, we’re an exciting brand, so it’s so easy for me. I mean, our motto is, “We make tires people love,” so when I get excited about the product, I get our dealers excited about the product. Our consumers are excited about the product. Everybody’s excited about Toyos, and we’re talking Toyos. And that’s my whole goal is to go out there and build a whole network of brand ambassadors for Toyo products.
Mike Edge:
Well, I think you did it the other day. I mean, I’ve sat through several tire meetings before and I’m telling you, you see a lot of people have to get up and go get coffee and whatnot. I mean, you had everybody engaged. It was a lot of fun.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, I love it. I mean, I really do. I try to take a different approach to training. I mean, we’ve all been at training meetings in the past where you have somebody presenting up there. They’re reading off the screen.
Mike Edge:
Yep. Oh yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
They’re tearing tires apart, molecule by molecule.
Mike Edge:
That beautiful PowerPoint, right? That beautiful PowerPoint, everybody?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, I mean, what do we need us for? We can all read a screen, right? But I like to take it to an approach of, “What can I offer our dealers, some information behind the counter, to actually help them sell more tires and understand our industry,” making sure they’re asking the right questions, and making sure we’re qualifying the customer for the right products as well, too. But, yeah, my goal is to make sure that our industry…
I mean, we’re already at a high standard. I mean, the tire industry’s exciting. I don’t care whether you’re a lawyer or doctor or anything else. Whatever you drive, you’re going to need tires. And at some point, you’re going to need some professional advice. We go to a doctor, we have an issue, same thing here. Somebody comes in, they need a set of tires. We have to make sure that we ask the right questions to make sure that we can diagnose any issues or improve anything that the customer wants and make sure that we get them the right product.
Mike Edge:
Well, let’s back up here a little bit and talk about you.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
All right.
Mike Edge:
This is kind of biographical, so our audience wants to know: Where is Sonny from and how’d you grow up?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
All right. So, I am born and raised in South Bend, Indiana.
Mike Edge:
Okay.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So it’s been my home for all this time. What I love about it is the fact that I’m in the Midwest and so I’ve had the experience of having the four seasons, which I really enjoy a lot. So, now, winter, as I’m getting older, Mike, maybe not so much. It’s still fun to drive in.
Mike Edge:
Maybe a little slicker faster, right?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah. But other than that, it’s great. But no, no, born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. My dad’s originally from here as well, too. My mom is actually from Spain, which is great, so I’ve got a nice background there as well. My dad was stationed in the Air Force in Spain. He met my mom, and then they came over here, and that was great.
Mike Edge:
Fantastic. So are you bilingual?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I try.
Mike Edge:
I love [inaudible 00:05:02].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I tell people I understand better than I speak.
Mike Edge:
I get you. I get you.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And then, I do try to visit my family at least once a year in Spain. I go to visit them. And what’s interesting is I try to go over there to practice my Spanish, but then all my relatives want to practice English, so it kind of defeats my whole purpose, so I’m like, “Okay.” But that’s the way things go.
Mike Edge:
That’s awesome.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
But born and raised in Sound Bend, Indiana, so obviously we have a little football team up here.
Mike Edge:
What would that be?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
A little football team called the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, I think.
Mike Edge:
Yeah, yeah, I think I’ve heard of those guys. Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I think so, too. Now we’re probably either getting yeas or we’re getting a lot of boos.
Mike Edge:
Oh yeah, right now. I can hear them. Yeah. There’s a lot of people, honestly… That’s true though. They have a national following, so you’ve got a lot of people going, “Hell yeah, I love these guys. This is great.”
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, but what’s interesting is: My mom worked at Notre Dame for 23 years, so I had the opportunity to have two faculty tickets, and me and my dad attended all the home games growing up, which was really great.
Mike Edge:
Man, now I got to tell you: you’re rotten then. You’re just spoiled rotten on that. Two tickets to Notre Dame for 23 years?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Exactly.
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:06:11] all the great teams they played? That’s fantastic.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Some great games that we watched together. Great wins. [inaudible 00:06:19].
Mike Edge:
All right, this is important for Notre Dame fans. If you don’t mind aging yourself a little bit, tell us what era/timeframe you had those tickets.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So, we would be back… See, 23 years. My mom’s been retired about eight years ago, so we’re going to start off with the Lou Holtz. That whole era through that way. Yes.
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So, it was great. [inaudible 00:06:40]-
Mike Edge:
Well, it started out on high then, right? It started out real-
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Oh yeah. Yeah, but it’s been ’86 since we’ve done anything, so we got to get back into that tradition. Get rid of that Four Horseman thing. We got to get back to winning football games and national championships.
Mike Edge:
Hey, you’ve been close, right?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yes.
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:06:58].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
We’ve been close.
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
But what’s interesting is: I’m an IU graduate, so I went to school at IU. My definition of a Hoosier: Notre Dame football fan/IU basketball fan. Because I grew up during the Bobby Knight era, as well.
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:07:16].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So, that’s kind of… Right.
Mike Edge:
Yeah, you took the best of both, didn’t you?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, I’ve got the best of both worlds. So, leading off of that, how I got started in the tire business was interesting. So, while I started going to college, obviously I was looking for a part-time job, and I actually found a job with Discount Tire in South Bend, Indiana. It’s on Michigan Street. And I started off as a tire tech.
Mike Edge:
There you go.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So I learned how to mount, balance, repair, unload trucks, load trucks, do all that fun stuff, even in the wintertime. I mean, all of you, though, in the Midwest: You get that first snowfall, your business is closed at 6:00, but you walk out at 10 o’clock at night because everybody’s trying to get last-minute with the winter traction on the tires, so I learned how to stud tires as well, too. And I tell everybody, “Once you get in the tire business, you almost can’t get out. You get that carbon black into your system and it just stays there.” I mean, how many of you have known friends, Mike, that have left and then came back?
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:08:18].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Anybody familiar?
Mike Edge:
Everybody. And I’m one of those guys. I didn’t grow up in the tire industry, but I’m just saying from a marketing standpoint, I got in it and then I had to leave for a little bit. And then, I got an opportunity to come back to it, and I literally raced back to it. Me and you talked about this just in previous meetings, but I love people; so, this biographical podcast we do, it’s a blast for me and I love the people of this industry. And at all levels. They’re just salt of the earth. True blue. I mean, we’re just a necessary industry. It’s one of those necessary things, and the people that support this industry… I meet very few people at dislike in this industry. That’s the amazing part about it.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah. And Toyo, we… I’m going to say this because I’m… And you talk to everybody, I mean, we have the best sales team in industry. There’s no question. Okay? We’re small. We’re like the Navy SEALs. We get in there. We build relationships. I still think, and I hope everybody believes, that this is still a people business. We want to build relationships with our dealers. We want to build rapport with the consumers as well, too. But that relationship, that thing I always talk about: “Do what you say; say what you do.” Build that trust first. And that’s something that Toyo has always been very good at. Our staff is well-trained. Again, we do everything we can to help that dealer grow, promote their business, and understand their business as well, too. So we’re just not order-takers. I mean, that’s not what we do here.
Mike Edge:
And I love the pride you have in your brand. Just for the audience’s sake, you’ve been with them for 20-plus years now?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
20 years. Yeah. In August, I had the honor of celebrating my 20th year with Toyo. The reason why is, I always say this, again: We make tires people love. And I love our company. I love the way we go to market. I love our products. And that’s why I’ve stayed here and still have all this enthusiasm going for Toyo. And I don’t see it slowing down. Trust me, Mike.
Mike Edge:
That’s awesome. I love your enthusiasm. I find it contagious. I like to be enthusiastic. You’re probably the same as me, but when I look at a company, I think the first thing that says it’s a great company is if your turnover is low.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Correct.
Mike Edge:
And that says everything. I don’t really need to research too much more. If you keep that many employees that stable, it says something. Because people don’t want to move, but they will if they’re miserable. And if they’re not moving and they’re staying with the company 20-plus years, man, that’s huge.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, and not only through our sales team, but all of our support. Our marketing department. Our tech department. Our consumer relations. Everything, even from the HR, the people in warehousing, I mean, everybody has the same common goal of making sure… Again, we believe in the product. We make tires people love. And we have that company philosophy throughout at all aspects of our organization, and people believe in what we do.
Mike Edge:
So, speaking of what we’re talking about here, you’re saying that throughout all the departments, you have a lot of longevity?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
We do. We really do. We’ve got some very experienced people throughout, whether it’s logistics, whether it’s management, again, consumer relations, HR, technical, I mean, we’ve got some of the best people. Marketing. I mean, we’ve got the best people industry. They’re driven. They know the ins and outs. They know what it takes to get the job done. Again, making sure that we can sell as many Toyos or get the word out about building that brand equity and building that line of brand ambassadors for Toyo.
Mike Edge:
You know me and you can talk all the time, and I’ve noticed that me and you can take little tangents. I’m going to go on a tangent here real quick because-
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Please.
Mike Edge:
… I’m going to back up what you’re saying about Toyo. So, you’re making tires and you want to make consistency. Here’s a great story. There’s a restaurant in my hometown, Owensboro, Kentucky, it’s called Colby’s. I don’t mind plugging them. And literally if you ate a meal there 35 years ago, it still tastes the same today. And I was talking to the owner the other day, he came by the table, and I said, “Colby, I got to tell you man,” I said, “it never felts. I swear I think I ate this in high school. The same taste. I mean, you guys do such a good job at consistency.”
And I said, “And there’s another reason this place is always packed.” And don’t get me wrong. He’s one of those hands-on owners. He’s always there, and the quality’s always there. And he goes, “Well, Mike, I got to tell you a little secret I got.” Well, first of all, I was complimenting him. I said, “You’re one of the only restaurant owners I’ve ever seen that have waiters and waitresses still here after 15-20 years. I mean, they’re the same people. And they know you when you walk in, and this is a good, busy restaurant.”
Talking about the food, he goes, “Well, I got to tell you,” he said, “it goes back to food prep and our cook.” He said, “I’ve had the same guy for 34 years.” And I went, “Are you kidding me?” I said, “No wonder the food is identical every night.” And he doesn’t change the menu up very often, because you literally go back and you go back for this or that or whatever, and it’s going to taste identical to the last time you had it. That’s what’s great about it. So I think that… You’re talking about the recipe and making tires, you guys having the same people, the consistency, the quality, I put it right there, man. That’s cool.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah. And you talked about tasting that same food for years, the beauty of what Toyo does is we have four major manufacturing facilities across the world, because obviously we’re a global company. But one of the things that we do: We control and own our own factories. We use very high-tech machines and equipment to make sure that our consistency, across the board, whether a tire’s made in a Malaysia plant, Japan, Serbia, or right here in the United States of America, that quality and consistency remains the same.
I mean, you think about: How many times do you have, let’s say, somebody that tries to franchise their business, and you start from ground zero and it’s always the best, but then, when they start to franchise, they kind of lose some of that? Not with Toyo. I mean, we really, really go out of our way to make sure that every one of our plants, the way we build our products, is consistent, the quality’s the same, and that’s what we always strive for. And that’s what our customers expect from us, and definitely our dealers and distributors as well, too. And that’s given Toyo, again, that name. I’m going to say it over and over. You’re probably going to get tired. “We make tires people love.” Without question.
Mike Edge:
No, I love the tagline. I mean, it says everything.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yep.
Mike Edge:
Well, we’re bouncing here. Or I am. I’m being a bad host here.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
That’s okay. No, you’re doing great.
Mike Edge:
But let’s go back to you. So, you were working as a technician?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Oh yeah. So I was working at Tire Tech. I did all that. And then, the opportunity came. It was a great story. I used to pick up tires from the Tire Rack.
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:15:38].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
They used to send-
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
They used to send me over. And one of the owners was Pete Veldman, who was one of the founders of Tire Rack. He worked in the warehouse. I mean, that’s what he loved to do. Here he is, that’s what he loved to do. He owned the company, but he worked in the warehouse. Well, they would send me over to pick up tires. And I remember that every time I’d go over there, I’d talk to Pete. He’d always tell me, “When you finish college, you come see me.” And I was always like, “That’s great.” So as soon as I graduated, went right over there, they hired me, and I stayed over there for 10 years.
Mike Edge:
Oh, 10 years?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And what a great experience. First of all, when you talk about the Tire Rack… I put a lot of emphasis on training and knowledge. One of the most knowledgeable companies. One of the things that they instilled in us was: Train, train, train. Be able to answer the questions efficiently, whether it’s a tire or wheel question. Suspension. We were very well-trained. And that’s one of the things that I wanted to bring once I joined Toyo. So, I was with Tire Rack for 10 years. I did both retail and wholesale sales over the phone, so I got a lot of good phone skills. Awesome company.
And then, the opportunity came up. My dream was always to work for a tire manufacturer. And one of the interesting things about Toyo was, when I worked at the Tire Rack, I kept hearing this company “Toyo,” and people were asking me about sizes that nobody else was making in the industry. It was like, “2054017s” and “3054022s” and some really unique sizes. I’m like, “Man, this sounds like dot-com company that I want to work for.” Because Toyo has always been on the cutting edge of new products, new sizes, and I just figured, “Let’s go for it.” And so, I went. Interviewed. The position was to be… At that time, I was a high-performance product specialist, or UHP product specialist, and that’s where I got started. So, I got started I always like to say in the “Fast and Furious” era. The original one.
Mike Edge:
Right.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Not the ones they got now. Not the crime-fighting ones. Okay? The original, lifestyle-branded ones.
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And so, again, it grew. We went from there. We went through the tuner phase. And now, we’re still in demand at the UHP level for sure. Our products are very well-known in motorsports and everywhere else. And then, like everything else, those kids that had those type of tuner cars and everything else, they grew up, and guess what they started driving? Jeeps, trucks, and all that fun stuff, and so it was a natural evolution for us to go from the leader, and we still are, in UHP to now the leader in light truck products, as well.
Mike Edge:
Man, that’s fantastic. And how we got connected is really cool story, too. So then, when you got into training, or they just moved to that, [inaudible 00:18:29]-
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Actually, what was interesting is that, during that time period, we were all about plus-sizing and going from putting 13- or 14-inch… That came OE on a Civic and asking a customer to put 17-inch on it. Plus-four, plus-five fitments. Really unique things. But the problem is we were out there promoting it, but nobody was teaching our dealers how to actually do proper plus-sizing, and one of the things that obviously I learned from the Tire Rack is because Tire Rack was all about plus-sizing wheel and tire packages. So, I thought, “We really need to start educating and training our dealers on how to walk the walk and talk the talk about proper plus-sizing, maintaining proper load indexing, air pressures, staying within certain parameters, so the proper fitments,” and really, we didn’t have that.
And so, what I wanted to do was take us to the next level at Toyo, because we already had world-class products. Why not have world-class education and training? And all it did was just help our dealers become more comfortable. And as you well know, Mike, the progression is: When you’re more comfortable with something, the easier it is itself. And that’s exactly how that started. So, I guess I kind of developed it on my own, and then finally it said, “Hey. Sonny, you’re doing a great job. Let’s just make you national training manager,” and that’s something that’s been to my heart for the last 10-12 years in this position as a national training manager.
Mike Edge:
I love the fact that you saw that, but I don’t think people understand the progression or the inertia effect of wanting to see, let’s say, an ROI. I would say it probably took a couple years just to get that inertia out of the way of getting out there, getting people comfortable, letting them get to know Sonny. “I’m a resource for you. I can get you more.” And then eventually, all of a sudden, you get that inertia out of the way and it’s like a rock rolling down the hill now probably for you after 10 years, I would say.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Oh, I started a brush fire. I mean, really.
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I mean, we really have. We are the in-demand for training, and there’s no question about it. And I can’t do this on my own. I mean, I’ve got a very, very good support team, again, back from corporate. I’ve got the help of marketing. I’ve got the help of tech. I’ve got the help of our CSRs. I mean, it is a team effort to what I do. But taking all that and putting into a big print presentation and getting people excited not only about Toyo but our industry, and making people feel good about what they do, that’s important to me.
Some people go to work, “I just work here. I just work here. I’m in the automotive business.” No. To me, we are an essential… I mean, obviously during the pandemic, what stayed open? All the automotive repair. I mean, we are crucial. I mean, we make the economy go. And I want everybody to feel like, “Hey, our industry, is something to be exciting about. We’re needed. We’re wanted.” And that’s just something that I’ve always tried to instill, that, “Hey, we provide a value to our customers, and then to our dealers as well, too.”
Mike Edge:
And it’s a spirit of accomplishment. Every day you wake up and you know that, “Hey, I’m really, truly helping people.” Look, at the end of the day… I mean, Toyo obviously supplies a lot of happy sales. I mean, you guys got some really cool products. But a lot of times, people are in the tire business and they know that customers… He don’t want to buy tires today, but he has to, right?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Right. Right.
Mike Edge:
And I have seen some very good counter people and owners that literally will be joking with… I’ll never forget this guy. He was a mechanic, too. And he walked this lady out to the car, and she’d spend $800 with him. And he opened the door and let her in. And I said, “Chris, you’re amazing, dude.” I said, “You’ve caught onto this thing quick.” And he goes, “Listen, if she’s going to write me an $800 check, I’m going to make it as pleasant as possible.” And he goes, “Because it’s not like she wanted to spend that money today, and I know that. I’ve got a family,” et cetera. And he was just like, “So, you know what? She’s going to tell…” I think at the time, his shop was near the hospital locally, and he’s like, “She tells all her nurse friends. They’re going to be back down here, and I’ll walk every one of them out to the car and make them feel like at least it’s gotten to be a little bit better day.”
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Right.
Mike Edge:
And I think with your training, even your selling the fun stuff or the necessary stuff, whatever, let’s make it as pleasant as possible, right? Why not?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Exactly. Exactly. I mean, I always like to use the analogy, “You ever have a toothache and you’ve got to go to the dentist, and you’re kind of dreading it because it’s probably going to be expensive? It’s probably going to be a little bit painful, right? But it’s got to be done.” Right? And so, the same idea is: When it comes time for any automotive repair, nobody has a savings account set aside for, “Well, I’m going to save because in 40,000 miles my OE tire should be worn out, so I better put some money aside from there. My brakes should be going out at 60,000 miles, so I better put a little slush fund for that.” That’s not the way the world works.
So, when that time comes and somebody says, “Hey, I need tires,” then my job is to say, “Well, I need tires, but we want Toyos,” and that’s our whole philosophy and that’s what I try to strive for. Because, again, we do make the best products in the industry. We have the best following. I mean, how do you build a product that’s a “need” to a “want” brand? And that’s exactly what we’ve been striving for, because that’s really it. I mean, it’s like anything else. It’s time to come, but how do you take that “need” product? We all need tires at some point. But when that time comes, how do you become a “want” brand?
Mike Edge:
You have a very simple philosophy. And when I say “simple,” I mean it as a huge compliment. Just the way you go about it with the enthusiasm, the knowledge, and then take care of the people. And then, follow through on your tagline, which is: “We make tires people love.”
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Exactly. And at the end of the day, it’s always about the experience. Is it not?
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
So like you said, you go into an automotive, the person behind the counter, you’ve got to spend $800 to $1,200 for a set of tires today. That’s not uncommon anymore. That’s going to be a little painful for the consumer. They’re a little anxious, because like you said, they probably got other things on their mind. But at the end of the day, you ask the right questions, you make them feel comfortable.
“I feel good about the decision that I made today, the experience walking out of there.” That’s the lasting impression you want to make. And that’s why when we build our products, we design our products, we want to make sure that it’s… People just think of tires as tires. Black, round, and holds air. But it’s the experience. Once they’ve mounted our product and they go out and drive it, and they’re in the wet, they’re in the snow, they’re in the dry, they’re in the mud, sand, what’s that overall experience, that satisfaction going, “You know what? I made the right choice and the right investment.”
Mike Edge:
Well, and there’s nothing better than loving a product that you supply the market, and there’s not a better answer sometimes, like when I’m not sure about following through on something, and it may be a healthcare issue or whatever, but my prominent question is, “All right, Mr. Salesman, doctor, whoever you are, if you were in my position, what would you do?” And when they tell you, “Well, I already own that,” or, “I already have them on my car,” or, “I already take this medication…”
“You do?”
“Yeah, and I’m younger than you,” and I’m like, “Good point. Okay.” You know what I’m saying?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Right.
Mike Edge:
Practicing what you preach. And I feel it through your enthusiasm with Toyo.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And not only that, but I mean… First of all, we are the number one brand on social media. We just cracked over 4 million followers, okay? You talk about the experience. When you’re number one with Instagram, when you’re number one with YouTube with all of our cool videos we make… And now we’ve got the Gen Z, because now we are number one on TikTok.
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And so, we’ve got everybody talking Toyo. When people are excited about a product, they want to go on social media. They want to talk about it. They build their truck. They build their Jeep. They build their tuner car. They build their muscle car, and they’ve got Toyos on there and they want to share it with the world… Again, we make tires people love and we want people to be able to express that through social media. And if people think that social media doesn’t sell a brand or a product, you got another thing coming. It’s become very, very important. It is like the best customer review you can have, in my opinion.
Mike Edge:
Amen to that. So, all right, we’re running up on our time stop, so we’re going to go to some other tough questions here. You ready?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Oh, I’m ready. Fire away, Mike.
Mike Edge:
You got to make us, the audience, laugh now. Tell us a funny story about yourself, or an embarrassing moment if you want to be self-deprecating. Whichever way you want to take it. You got something you can tell us that’ll make us laugh?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah, I’ll give you a couple examples. So, when I first joined the Tire Rack, there was some Bobs and there was some Roberts there, right? And one of the things that Tire Rack is kind of noted for, and it’s kind of an interesting thing, is we all kind of have aliases, because we don’t want anybody to have the same name, that way when you call… And so, they asked me and they’re like, “Hey, what do you want to be an alias? What’s something that you think is going to stick? Something that people are going to remember?”
And so, when I was in high school, and again, I could prove this to you because I have it in my high school yearbook, it says… They asked one of the questions: “What’s your favorite TV show?” And it was Miami Vice at that time. And so, I said, “Well, Sonny Crockett.” And I thought, “Who doesn’t love Sonny Crockett?” So I said, “How about ‘Sonny’?” And they’re like, “That’s great. It’s easy to remember.” I’ve got a lot of energy, so, “Sonny, bring on the sunshine,” and all. So I actually took that and said, “I’m going to go with Sonny,” and they said they loved it. And then, when I made-
Mike Edge:
So you named yourself your own nickname. It had no meaning other than your favorite TV show.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Other than my favorite show. Yes. [inaudible 00:28:40].
Mike Edge:
That is fantastic.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
It is hilarious. So when I tell people that, they just laugh. And the younger kids, they don’t, because they didn’t grow up with Miami Vice, but that was one of those things. But that’s how I got that. And then, when I joined Toyo, they’re like, “Oh no, no, no, we want to keep Sonny,” because for 10 years, I built my reputation at the Tire Rack, and so they wanted me to take that out to the field. So it’s kind of like an easy name to remember.
Mike Edge:
No, it is. It’s fantastic. Matter of fact, as we were getting to know each other over the last few weeks and scheduling this and everything, I couldn’t remember your first name and I needed to a couple times when I would find [inaudible 00:29:17] email again.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Right.
Mike Edge:
And it’s [inaudible 00:29:20], “Where’s Sonny?”
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah.
Mike Edge:
I love it.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And it’s funny because my friends that I grew up with in high school, they still call me Bob, and then I have my tire industry friends who call me Sonny, and then I have ones in the middle, so some of them call me Sonny Bob. So, kind of get the best of both, so that’s just another little thing. “Hey, Sonny Bob,” that means that [inaudible 00:29:41].
Mike Edge:
I’ll a little secret of myself. I can date you. If you call me Michael, I know that you’ve known me since childhood. Does that make sense?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Okay.
Mike Edge:
You know what I’m saying?
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yes, exactly. Yep. Yeah.
Mike Edge:
If someone calls you Bob, you know that you go way back then.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Right, exactly.
Mike Edge:
[inaudible 00:29:57].
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And then, finally, my most embarrassing story, and this is great. So, this was back in my Discount Tire days. So, I went in early on a Saturday before our store opened, and I wanted to rotate the tires on my vehicle. I had a little Toyota pickup truck. Great. And so, I went in. I was by myself. People were coming in, getting the shop ready, and I was sitting there rotating my tires, and you know how you’re kept going. And then, my manager kept going, “Okay, come on. We’re going to open up in a few minutes. Hurry, hurry, hurry.” But I kept getting distracted, right? So, I thought, “Okay, I’m going through.” I got pulled away, came back, and all of a sudden, “Hurry, hurry, hurry. We got a whole line of people outside waiting in the parking lot,” because Saturday’s always busy, right? So I thought, “Okay.” Well, I was just going along, zipping along, didn’t think anything of it, right? I dropped my car down, pull out, and within two seconds the right rear wheel fell off.
Mike Edge:
Oh no.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Snapped the lugs and everything. In front of everybody. Everybody. So, here I am pulling out a vehicle.
Mike Edge:
No. No.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
And all of a sudden… And we’re supposed to be a… You know what I’m saying?
Mike Edge:
Oh yeah, it looks like, “They didn’t do that guy’s car truck right.” Oh my gosh.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I pulled out and it slammed to the back. I had forgot to put the lugs on the right rear.
Mike Edge:
Oh my goodness.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I don’t know what happened. You know you have one of those moments…
Mike Edge:
Yeah.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
I don’t know. And I had one of those… I called it a “Sonny Gump moment,” so that’s what it was. I really messed up.
Mike Edge:
Oh my gosh. But the funny thing is you didn’t just embarrass yourself, you affected the store, because it looks like they did it.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yes. And it slammed down, and I came out. And I’m going to tell you what, I had my Discount Tire clothes on and everything, and people are just staring at me. My manager’s not happy. The assistants aren’t happy. The tire techs, of course, are all laughing at me, so it’s like…
Mike Edge:
Oh yeah, they’re loving it.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Oh, they’re loving it. So, I’d never lived that moment down, but that’s just one of my embarrassing tire moments that-
Mike Edge:
Well, you know what? You got to go through those moments sometimes and, look, you get a story 35 years later, right? Or 30 years later.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah, and I’ve never forgot it.
Mike Edge:
That’s fantastic.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
Great.
Mike Edge:
Well, Sonny, I tell you, it’s been a real pleasure and thank you so much for being part of Gain Traction.
Robert “Sonny” McDonald:
You know what, Mike? Thank you so much, and, really, I thank you and your company for what you do. I mean, again, stuff like this, I know people feel good about what they do. Podcasting. We talk tires. We talk about the industry. It’s the best industry that you could ever be in. We’re in the people business, and this is what I love best.
Mike Edge:
Well, you make a great guest. I appreciate it. To all our listeners out there, thank you for being part of the podcast today. If you would like to recommend a guest on Gain Traction, please email me at [email protected], and we do take all inquiries very seriously and we look forward to hearing from you. Till next time, have a great day and stay safe.
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