Aligning with customers successfully
One of the wisest business decisions that Mr. Kiran Kumar made in 2013 was to take advantage of the NH 4 which was being built adjacent to his piece of land in Hosakote, Bangalore rural district. He thought of converting his 6000 sq.ft. area to open a truck wheel alignment center with the help of JK Tyre. It was a good move on his part as there were no wheel alignment centers in Hosakote. After that, he became successful.
Mr. Kiran Kumar, Owner – Balaji Tyres shares, “Roughly a decade ago, we had about 25 trucks of our own. But it became difficult for me to manage due to driver shortage, labour issues and general slowdown in the business. Even our tyre sales business was not profitable because at that time Hosakote was not developed. Then we sold all our trucks. In 2008, we decided to set up a small shop selling radial tyres by JK Tyre. At that time, there were radial tyres by other brands but we preferred JK Tyre because we had always used their tyres in our vehicles. A few years later, JK Tyre offered us truck wheel alignment service center. It was timely because there were no wheel alignment centers around here.”
He says, “After we set it up, slowly people became aware that our center offers excellent alignment service here. It also helped that JK Tyre had a popular image of offering best wheel alignment service. Today, we receive up to 20 trucks everyday. These are local trucks and some come from other cities also.”
As we chat, we see that his Truck Wheels Center is busy with two trucks being aligned. He shares, “Fleet owners and drivers today know the importance of aligning their wheels every 10-20000 kms. Increase in the number of axles today from six to up to 14 has made the fleet owners realize the amount of investment needed in buying sturdy tyres. Today, a pair costs roughly Rs. 40000. So, they want to reduce the wear and tear of the tyres to save fuel and maximize on the tyre mileage. Over a period of time, they have realized that while everything about a truck can be technologically kept in top shape, it is the tyres where they can make some savings. And they know that without alignment, their tyres do not last long after 40000 or 50000 kms but with alignment their wheels cross a lakh or more kilometers. They are happy about the increased mileage that alignment of wheels gives them.”
Without alignment, the tyres give a mileage of 2.8 or 2.9 kmpl but with alignment the mileage goes up to about 3.5 kmpl. Alignment gives better control of vehicles and lessens accidents. This makes fleet owners more confident about aligning wheels.
“My monthly sales turnover is roughly Rs. 1.2 crores while the alignment business gives me a collection of Rs. 3-4 lakhs. We have 30-40 walk-in customers daily looking for tyres,” shares Mr. Kiran Kumar. He is happy that on an average in a month, he sells 500-600 truck tyres and 400-450 car tyres.
Officials from JK Tyre meet Mr. Kiran Kumar’s customers and their drivers at his premises once a month and address various issues. According to him, the fleet owners are mostly interested in knowing how alignment helps them, and they seek tips on vehicle maintenance. Mr. Kiran Kumar laments that overloading is still an issue locally. And these monthly sessions with JK Tyre help create awareness about how overloading causes wear and tear of the tyres.
Mr. Kiran Kumar says, “Besides these monthly sessions, we talk to truck drivers about the importance of timely rotation of tyres, and about maintaining correct tyre pressure. We also offer them one round of free check-up of their trucks and wheel alignment in a month.”
According to him, JK Tyre officials have always helped him with any issue. They are accommodative in providing tyres for the right kind of application as per customer demand. “They service me with whatever is my order. They have helped much with sales promotion, their services are good for our customers, and it is easy to communicate with them,” he says.
With JK Truck Wheels Center helping him, Mr. Kiran Kumar is servicing his clients successfully.