“I didn’t grow up in the automotive industry,” independent distributor Jared Charlesworth says. “When it came to tools, I learned most of my stuff from my customers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.” 

You don’t need to know how to operate the tool, but you should understand its abilities and benefits to sell it to your customers. While the training a technician does isn’t necessary for a distributor, it is valuable to educate yourself on these tools. To stay up-to-date, Charlesworth utilizes YouTube videos and the knowledge of his customer-base.  

Over the years, he has cultivated strong relationships with his technicians where they feel comfortable coming to him with their questions, and they can in turn share their knowledge with him. This symbiotic relationship makes the sale just that much easier and helps Charlesworth with future customer interactions. 

“I have a couple technicians that I’ve built relationships with over the years that if I have somebody asking questions about programming or whatever it may be, I send them that direction,” Charlesworth says. “I’ve always cut them a better deal on a tool, or I set them up with something where it [becomes] an incentive for them to help me teach these new technicians.”