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Crissy Zellers is the Owner of Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions, which helps tire dealers succeed with retail tire programs. She uses unique tracking tools and detailed program knowledge to help retailers stay focused on their weekly goals, maximize their earnings and prioritize their purchases. Crissy started her own business in September 2020, after 11 years of working in management and sales for tire distributors Max Finkelstein and Tire Centers.
In this episode…
As a tire dealer, have you found yourself managing multiple programs at once with a particular distributor? What about multiple programs with multiple distributors? If so, your email inbox has probably been flooded with messages and you’ve faced the unenviable challenge of remembering where each distributor is on every program. If you have more than one retail location, the headaches are multiplied. What if there was a way to streamline that process and stay on track? Crissy Zellers of Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions has a solution on this episode of Gain Traction!
On this episode of Gain Traction, Neal Maier welcomes Crissy to discuss the all-inclusive program management tool she developed to make life easier for tire retailers who are managing multiple different programs from multiple distributors. Crissy explains how this new technology keeps managers at tire dealerships on track with what can be an overwhelming amount of information, allowing them to stay on track on a weekly basis. Her tool reports goals, numbers, and potential payouts. Don’t miss it!
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Crissy Zellers shares how the struggles of the pandemic led to the idea of Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions
- How an all-inclusive program management tool Crissy developed helps tire dealers stay on track
- Various tasks Crissy’s tool completes to save tire dealers time and effort
- Why Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist is Crissy’s favorite book
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Crissy Zellers on LinkedIn
- Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions
- Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist
- Neal Maier on LinkedIn
- Tread Partners
Transcription
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.
Neil:
Hi, I’m Neil Maier, and I’m the host of Gain Traction, where I talk with top automotive business leaders about their journeys. I’ve had the great fortune to interview lots of founders and CEOs with some great stories, and today’s guest is no different. Before we jump in with today’s guest, this episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Tread Partners is the home of ReTread, our new customer re-engagement program. By using targeted digital ads and communications, we’ll help you win back your best-lost customers and even guarantee a 10:1 ROI. So what are you waiting for? Visit us at treadpartners.com. Today, I’m joined by Crissy Zellers, owner of Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions, which helps tire dealers succeed with retail tire programs. Crissy, welcome to Gain Traction.
Crissy:
Hi, Neil. Thanks for having me today.
Neil:
Well, Crissy, we’ll jump right to it. Where’d the idea for Accelerate come from?
Crissy:
The idea for Accelerate came from some misfortune that I had during the whole COVID outbreak, as many people had. I have been in the tire industry for 13 years and found myself unemployed at the height of the pandemic. At that point, I had several of my clients that I had had relationships with for several years reach out to me, obviously with concerns, and had mentioned to me that they would hire me if they could afford me, which was a great feeling. But after the shock had gone away, I was able to reach back out to them and say, “Hey, why? What is it that makes you say that?” And it kept coming back to the amount of information that I provided them on their programs to help them to be able to succeed. That’s where the idea came to build an all-inclusive program management tool, to be able to go out to market and help these small to mid-size retail tire dealers be able to know where they are on every aspect of their program on a weekly basis in one easy-to-read report.
Neil:
So your background had been in tire distribution.
Crissy:
Yes.
Neil:
And you’d been helping them… Just through working with a distributor, you’d been helping them manage those tire manufacturer and distributor programs?
Crissy:
Exactly, yes. At any given time, we were managing three to five programs at a time with a particular distributor. Those tire dealers are getting those emails from three to four or five different distributors, anywhere from 5 to 15 different programs at a time. Tracking them and remembering where they are on every program and every promotion is very difficult, especially for those small to mid-size dealers that don’t have a dedicated program manager on staff.
Neil:
I imagine if you’re 3, 4, 5, 10 locations, and especially if you’re in different markets as well, there are a lot of relationships, a lot of relationships between distributors, but also manufacturers.
Crissy:
Exactly.
Neil:
I would imagine that keeping all those pieces together and figuring out where the advantages are and opportunities is a full-time job almost.
Crissy:
It is. And like I said, I knew that there was a need just dealing with the independent tire retailers on the distribution side. And at that point, like I said, I was only dealing with the programs that that distributor managed. Once I started doing this and I’m actually receiving the program updates monthly or quarterly promotions from the manufacturers, the monthly, quarterly, or weekly promotions from the distributors, it’s an overwhelming amount of information coming in sometimes, especially at the beginning of the quarters and at the end of the year. So for me, that is what I do. For me to feel like it’s a lot, I can’t imagine what the tire retailers are thinking. And to expect that they are seeing, reading, and understanding every one of the emails that are coming through is a lot, especially these days when many of these independent tire retailers are short-staffed but they have a line out the door of business.
Neil:
Yeah, yeah. And they’re inundated with emails and communications. And it’s quite a task just to manage day-to-day business, much less programs.
Crissy:
Yes.
Neil:
I think looking back, I feel like there are two points that we’ve encountered these programs. It’s usually towards the end of the year. Holy cow, we’ve got to order and move an immense number of these brands of tires. And then the other side is, what do we do with all those co-op funds that accrue? We don’t want to lose it.
Crissy:
Exactly. Exactly, yes. The whole end of the quarter, end of the month rush is, again, it’s one of those overwhelming things. And then they get to a point where a lot of times, they’re picking and choosing which ones are really worth it. The tool has given my clients the ability to stay on track on a weekly basis. It’s given them the tool to be able to present to their sales team as well to say, “Hey, I need you to focus on these two programs for the rest of this month. Or you need to really keep an eye on these loyalties for the rest of this quarter.” It’s given them a lot of tools.
And you mentioned the co-op. Yeah, the co-op is also another portion of what I do with Accelerate. And that is to not only give them the information as to how much they have available, whether it be dollars or points, or every program has a different description of their co-op. But I also, if need be, will help them to decide how to spend that co-op and do the submissions for them. Some of the programs are more complicated than others. Everybody knows which ones they are.
Neil:
Of course.
Crissy:
So having that assistance to be able to make sure that the funds that are ultimately many times considered in their net-net pricing of a tire when a distributor is trying to get them to buy, making sure that they’re utilizing that, so they don’t lose that is very key.
Neil:
So you mentioned a tool. So you are helping dealers to be able to visualize what’s happening?
Crissy:
Exactly. The tool that I’ve built includes every single one of the manufacturer programs. It reports all of their goals and numbers, as well as potential payouts. It includes all of the manufacturer and distributor promotions that may be going on that quarter. It tracks any annual bonuses that they may have opportunities for, whether that be an annual goal or a next-level annual number that they could then earn for all of the units they purchase for the year. It tracks their co-op. It tracks their year-to-date earned on the program. And it tracks their loyalty for them. It’s all on one sheet. It’s a red and green report. So it’s as easy as if they’re super busy, they get my email, they scan down through it. If there’s something red, look at it. If there’s something green, they know they’re good.
Neil:
That’s fantastic. That’s got to be a really great tool to take back to their staff, to know where they may need to adjust pricing, where they may need to adjust inventory levels, or even reconfigure a good, better, best.
Crissy:
Exactly. And some of my clients have done that. One in particular is making a decent amount back, in addition to the regular program dollars on two particular brands. We’ve been tracking his number obviously for the year. He’s looking good, but it’s looking like it’s going to be a little bit of a stretch. So he has adjusted the pricing on those two brands on his wholesale website.
Neil:
Excellent. Yeah. I didn’t think about how this pretty quickly moves not just beyond retail, but also for the larger groups who have a wholesale program, too.
Crissy:
Exactly.
Neil:
It’s extremely impactful there, too.
Crissy:
Yes.
Neil:
I’m certain that your tool and your help has been well-received.
Crissy:
Yes. It has definitely changed the program game for some of my clients. The fact that they don’t really have to put so much time into trying to understand the real value behind every single promotion, they can just look at this report that gets sent to them every single week and they know exactly where they stand. They know where the real value lies for them. If they don’t have the ability to buy into every single program or promotion every quarter, they can really strategically decide which ones they want their sales team to focus on.
Neil:
That’s excellent point. Well, Crissy, I think the obvious is you can not only help a dealer identify and not miss opportunities, but they can also take full advantage of a program. So I think that’s a tremendous value.
Crissy:
Yes. It’s been proven with my clients to be a very, very large value for them. And again, I think it’s also been a value for some of the distributors that I work with as well. When they have those promotions, they’ve got, I know from experience, hundreds of clients per salesperson. If they know that, you know what, they send this to me, that I’m going to help my clients to support this promotion by making it make sense for them, it helps them out as well.
Neil:
Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes great sense. Well, Crissy, I have one final question for you.
Crissy:
Yes.
Neil:
I know you’re an avid reader.
Crissy:
Yes.
Neil:
What’s your favorite book?
Crissy:
My favorite book is called Present Over Perfect. It’s a book about slowing down, and then really enjoying the life versus the fast pace of what a lot of us get caught up in. I think we’ve all gotten caught up in the career and trying to be the best and the greatest at what we do. And at the end of the day, the real importance is slowing down and just enjoying life. So that’s for sure my favorite book and for sure has the most dog-eared pages and circles and little notes written in it that I own.
Neil:
I love it. I feel like that’s advice every entrepreneur could use.
Crissy:
It’s a great book.
Neil:
Well, fantastic. We’ve been talking with Crissy Zellers, founder and CEO of Accelerate Personalized Sales Solutions. Crissy, where can people learn more about you?
Crissy:
Sure. My website is acceleratepss, that’s Paul, Sam, Sam, .com. And my email address is [email protected].
Neil:
Excellent. Well, thank you again for your time. It’s been a pleasure talking with you.
Crissy:
Thank you, Neil. I appreciate it.
Announcer:
Thanks for listening to the Gain Traction podcast. We’ll see you again next time. And be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.
Transcript
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