Often, as is the case, a tire and automotive shop will employ a store manager. That is what we call the job, a store manager. But is your store manager really a store manager? Or is he or she a sales manager? Let’s look at the differences.

A store manager’s primary duty is to protect the assets (people, property and inventory) of the company. Store managers should have operational control over the day-to-day activities of the store. This includes but is not limited to hiring and firing of employees who report to the store manager. They are either directly managing workflow (ticket assignments to technicians, estimating tickets, procuring parts/tires) or overseeing another employee who manages this job function.

Store managers are responsible for setting and adjusting inventory levels of tires and possibly automotive parts, scheduling employees’ work weeks, managing or overseeing customer appointments, customer satisfaction and CRM systems. A store manager is also expected to develop, deploy and adjust sales, gross profit and payroll goals and benchmarks on a daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. They are expected to engage the local community as the face of an independent small business and develop meaningful relationships with other local businesses. Read More…