Trust is the magic word

Next Article

The trend is your friend

WHY HP/UHP TIRE CUSTOMERS HAVE FAITH IN HM MOTOR WORKS

Mike Manges By

Haleem Mediouni says success in selling high performance (HP) and ultra-high performance (UHP) tires boils down to one word: trust.

“You need to get your customer to trust you,” says the owner of HM Motor Works in Merrimack, N.H. “And to get them to trust you, you need to befriend them. There needs to be a relationship.”

For 13 years, Mediouni has developed close relationships with vehicle owners who entrust their expensive, high-end cars to his care. He doesn’t take the faith they place in his shop lightly.

A car guy

It helps that Mediouni is a self-professed “car guy. Growing up, I was the kid with the poster of a Porsche 911 on his wall.”

His daily driver is a Land Cruiser, which shares his home garage with an Audi A3 and a 23-year-old BMW M5.

“I also have a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. And I have a restoration project on the lift — a 1972 Porsche 911.”

Before he founded HM Motor Works in 2010, Mediouni worked in a European car repair shop.

Opening his own business was a natural next step, he says. “This is a very well-to-do town. There are a lot of Audis and BMWs that come with UHP tires. There also are a lot of Italian and British exotics within a 30- to 40-mile radius.”

New car dealers are “over an hourand-a-half away,” which forced many vehicle owners to explore local options when it was time for new tires and wheels.

“Word got around” that HM Motor Works could meet their needs. “We started selling more low-profile HP and UHP tires.”

Mediouni also is an amateur racer. He says word about his shop’s expertise spread among local “track day addicts.

“I’d get a lot of inquiries from guys on track days. ‘How can I shave 2/10 of a second on my lap time? What kind of tire can I put on this car to make it faster than my buddy’s car?’”

Since then, Mediouni has only deepened his involvement in racing. “We have a Champ Car team that I use as a teambuilding tool. My staff loves it. Having a team that shares the same passion adds an accelerant to the whole thing.

“Most guys who have a track day car drive something similar at home.

The guys who drive a BMW 3 Series (at an event) will drive a BMW M3 as their Sunday car. They bring their track day cars to me and they bring their daily drivers to me.”

Many of HM Motor Works’ enthusiast customers do their research, according to Mediouni.

“They are typically very tire-loyal — not just brand-loyal,” he says. “When a company discontinues a tire, these customers go into panic mode. They are very data-driven.”

But not all the data they uncover is correct, he adds.

“There can be some misinformation. It’s our job to educate them and set the record straight.

“After we educate them, they never question us. Trust is built through educating your customers. That’s how I’ve always done it.”

While money is no object for many of HM Motor Works’ customers, some of them are budget-constrained, says Mediouni.

“And we work within that budget” when selling HP and UHP tires to them.

However, this often requires a deeper discussion at the sales counter.

“We ask customers, ‘What are your wants? What are your needs? What are you doing with the car? What are your performance expectations? Do you have a long commute? Do you work from home?’

“How do they perceive their car? Is it a tool or is it a big part of their life? All of that factors in.

“We’ve found that people either use their cars because it gets them from point A to point B or they cherish their vehicles. Then we’ll figure out what the best package is. Do we sell them a General AltiMax or a Continental ExtremeContact?”

Sterling reputation

What happens at the sales counter is one part of the equation, says Mediouni. The other is what happens in the service bay.

“My technicians go to a lot of training classes” to stay current on the latest products, machines and procedures.

“We have a good relationship with K&M Tire,” one of HM Motor Works’ suppliers. “They always point us in the right direction for education. They have allowed us to go to (training) events hosted by various tire companies.

“We’re proactive — more than I think most shops are. We’re also very proactive when it comes to equipment. We update our tire equipment every three to four years — all brand new machines. It’s a huge investment.”

Mediouni says his dealership’s hardwon reputation for excellence is paying dividends.

“One of my most memorable moments is when we had a new Mustang Shelby GT350R in our shop,” he recalls.

“The customer told me, ‘I’m bringing this to you because I’ve heard about you. I’ve never been here before, but I expect excellence. I need tires. But just so you know, the wheels (on the Mustang) are $3,000 to $5,000 a piece because they’re made of carbon. I know exactly what they look like. I know every single ding that’s on them. And I expect to receive them in the same condition I’m giving them to you.’

“The anxiety of that conversation spread throughout the shop like wildfire,” says Mediouni. “Every single one of us was concerned.

“My foreman took the project under his wing. He pulled the car in and waited until after 5 p.m. to work on it. He told everyone to go home — including myself. He said, ‘You all need to leave so I can mount and balance these tires. I’m not going to have nine people staring at me.’ He wanted to minimize all distractions. He spent three-and-a-half hours mounting and balancing four tires!”

The customer, says Mediouni, was thrilled with the results “and has since come back and spent well over five figures with us in the last year.

“We’re not afraid to take on challenges,” he adds. “It’s a brain trust here. We’ll figure it out.”