Max Shipler, Independent Distributor out of Las Vegas, Nevada, recommends getting creative.
Shipler came up with his own way of expanding display space in the truck. He designed a 28” by 77” wood frame in the middle of the truck that holds six movable pegboards, 2’ wide by 6-1/2" tall. He fashioned half-inch square wood into tracks that guide the frames. Tracks extending from the wall at the top and bottom of the frame allow the pegboards to slide in and out.
The pegboards remain stationary in the frame while the truck is in motion. 7/16 square-inch tubes on the outer edges and inner edges of the sliding pegboard stiffen the pegboard so it doesn’t bend in the middle.
The pegboards display blister packed tools. A customer standing in the center of the truck can pull out a pegboard and see the products it holds. Most customers pull out each pegboard to see the tools.
Shipler first tried displaying blister packs on the pegboards using pegboard hooks. “They (the hooks) did not work at all,” Shipler says. The hooks wear out the packaging and the pegboard, and they make noise while the truck is being driven.
Instead, he glues carpet to the pegboard, which allows him to hang Velcro-padded packages onto the pegboard. Since the packages don’t come with Velcro, Shipler attaches the Velcro to the packages himself. “It works great.”
“I just knew I needed the display space because there are so many specialty tools,” he says for his movable display boards.
When using Velcro to hold packages, Shipler says it is important to make sure the Velcro will stick to the carpet. He says there are different types of carpet and Velcro will not stick to all carpets.
Cutting Velcro and attaching it to blister packs is part of Shipler’s weekly routine when he receives deliveries at home. This has become a habit, just like shipping products for warranty, looking up part numbers for tools that need fixing, tracking down skips and cleaning the truck. “The secret to success is to form the habit of doing the things the other people in the business don’t like to do,” he says. “That works for any business.”
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