Tyre change season: how to handle the rush of calls and the queue
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
In tyre change season, calls bunch into a few days: with the first frost or warm weekend, everyone rings the tyre shop at once. To prepare, work out your daily capacity (bays × hours × cars per hour), list prices by rim size, and before the cold, call last season’s customers into early slots. On the phone, ask the rim size, wheel type and where the tyres are now. On peak days an unanswered call is a customer gone elsewhere, so an AI operator can answer the phone too.
What happens in the season
All year, calls to a tyre shop come at a steady pace. Then the first frost hits, or the forecast says snow tomorrow, and in one day there are several times the usual calls. Spring is the same, after the first warm weekend.
The fitter is busy and the phone keeps ringing. A customer who gets no answer doesn’t wait: they call the next shop or drive over and queue for half a day. Neither is good for you.
Prepare two weeks before the season
- Work out daily capacity. For example: 2 bays × 10 hours × 2 cars an hour = 40 cars a day. Don’t book more than that by phone.
- List prices by rim size: R13–R15, R16–R17, R18 and up, with crossovers and commercial vehicles separately.
- If you store tyres, write the price and terms exactly: how much per season, whether you wash them.
- Prepare last season’s customer list: name, number, car, rim size, whether their tyres are stored with you.
- Decide what to do with walk-ins: take them if there’s a free slot, otherwise book them a time.
What to ask on the phone
| Question | Why |
|---|---|
| Car and rim size (R15, R16…) | Price and job time depend on it |
| Wheels: steel or alloy | Alloys need more care and cost differently |
| Where the tyres are: in the car, at home or with you | Stored tyres can be ready in advance |
| Is balancing needed | You quote the right time and price |
| Preferred day and time | The customer skips the queue and leaves on time |
Offer two exact times and say how long the job takes, so the customer knows whether to wait or leave the car.
Call your regulars before the cold
The simplest way to flatten the queue is to call first, before demand peaks. Especially customers whose tyres you store: they’ll come anyway, and you get to choose when.
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, is that Nodira? This is Malika from G‘ildirak Servis.
Caller: Yes, speaking.
Sado: Your winter tyres are stored with us. It’s getting colder, shall we book the change early? Next week there’ll be a queue.
Caller: Yes, that would be good. Is this week possible?
Sado: Wednesday at ten or Thursday at four are free. It takes about half an hour.
Caller: Thursday at four.
Sado: Done, Thursday at four. We’ll have your tyres ready and take the summer ones into storage. See you then!
In a few days, calls like this move a large part of last season’s customers to early slots, and the phone is lighter on peak days.
The phone on peak days: an AI operator
In the season dozens of people call at once, and a receptionist can talk to one. Sado answers incoming calls at once and handles more than ten conversations at the same time: it asks about rim size, wheels and tyres, quotes your price list and books a free slot. When it doesn’t know an answer, it says “the fitter will call you back”.
Calls to last season’s customers go through AI outbound calls: upload the list as an Excel file to the portal’s Auto-calls section and set the calling hours and a daily limit. Preparing the list: calling a list from Excel. Every booking and call is in the portal. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
When should we call customers before tyre change season?
One or two weeks before the peak: in autumn before the first frost, in spring before the warm days. Customers then book early slots and the queue evens out.
How do I know how many cars to book per day?
Multiply the number of bays by working hours and by cars per hour per bay. For example, 2 × 10 × 2 = 40. Don’t book more than that by phone, and keep a small reserve.
What if the customer speaks Russian?
The AI operator answers in the caller’s language, Uzbek or Russian. Bookings look the same in the portal either way.