Tales from the Road: Taking the opportunity to grow

Cornwell Quality Tools distributor Eddie Neugebauer mainly sees independent shops on his route in Lawton, Oklahoma, although he also visits a couple of dealerships along the way. When he originally stepped away from his previous venture in the cannabis industry a few years ago, he wasn’t sure what was next for him. He’d built a thriving business from the ground up, but found himself starting over without the capital to launch a new one in the same industry. He called his brother, a Cornwell dealer, who had a simple response: “It’s all good man, just buy a tool truck.”

A Neugebauer beginning

Despite the change in industries, Neugebauer has found success by leveraging his skills as an organizer and salesman.

Despite not having any experience as a technician or in the automotive industry, Neugebauer took the advice and made his start as a tool distributor. He was honest with every one of his customers about his lack of experience, but as most distributors would probably agree, you learn quickly in this industry.

“My biggest struggle was obviously not knowing what any of this stuff was. I’ve never turned a wrench in my life. All of this was completely foreign to me, so just figuring out what I needed to sell these guys... They’d say, ‘I need a tool that does this,’ and I’d go, ‘Huh, hold on, let me phone a friend.’ My first few months, I was constantly on the phone with my brother and other dealers.”

While his tool knowledge was still being developed, Neugebauer’s salesmanship and customer service skills were as sharp as ever and translated across industries.

“I dealt with business owners in the cannabis industry, so I’m very comfortable going in and talking to owners,” he says. “I’ve always had good relationships with my shop owners.”

The years Neugebauer spent developing and expanding brands gave him a significant advantage as a distributor, and it’s also why he’s proud to be under Cornwell Quality Tools’ flag.

“Having a franchise is a little different [than running a company],” he says. “Most people who come into this have no idea what it takes to successfully build a brand. And having someone like Cornwell, who’s been around since 1919, I didn’t have to worry about that coming into this. That helped a lot.”

Being the tool guy

Even though he’s only been a distributor for around two and a half years, Neugebauer has made some pretty big waves. Switching industries didn’t change the fact that, at the end of the day, it’s all about the people you serve. Each year, the distributor runs a raffle for his customers, offering up the chance to win a new Cornwell tool cart as a prize with every bike donated to give away to local kids.

Every time he stopped, Neugebauer's customers would bring him new bikes to give away.

“I try to be as active in my community as possible,” he says. “For the last two years — this will be year three — we’ve done a bike giveaway at our Christmas parade here in town. The first year, I gave away 33 bikes. Last year, we gave away 88 bikes. It’s made a huge difference.”

Neugebauer’s community involvement isn’t limited to holiday giveaways, either. He’s sponsored multiple events and prizes for local organizations, organized a 150-person parade for a young girl after she was struck by a stray bullet, and gathered customers and their families to give away hundreds of plates of food to homeless people.

The impact isn’t just felt by the members of the community receiving the support, but these sorts of charitable efforts transform the lives of the people pulled in to help out. Neugebauer fondly remembers having one of his customers, a seemingly gruff technician that always exchanged friendly insults with him on every visit, help serve food for dozens and excitedly ask the distributor when they could do it all over again. Another one of his customers bought a new bike every paycheck for Neugebauer to give away.

“I see [my customers] daily,” he says. “Being the tool guy is way more than just selling tools—I’m their bartender, their therapist. I might be the only person they feel comfortable talking to. They know I’m not going to judge them. It’s so much more than just selling tools. So I give them opportunities by saying, ‘Hey man, we’re feeding the homeless this weekend. Come on.’”

The person behind the wheel

While there are direct business-related benefits to community engagement, it’s ultimately about supporting the community that supports you.

“People ask me all the time if what I spend on these things gets me more customers, and yeah, ultimately it does,” Neugebauer says. “I come from a very different industry, and I bring a certain look and vibe. Some people see me for what I was doing before this and don’t take me seriously. They might not give me time. ... When they see or hear about what I do in the community, those people who wouldn’t deal with me before will talk with me now and say, ‘Oh, you’re actually a decent dude.’

Neugebauer's charitable efforts bring in bikers, technicians, shop owners, family members, and more to help out the people in his city.

You choose your distributor based on who they are. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mac, Matco, Cornwell, Snap-on, none of that matters. The person behind the wheel of the truck matters.”

Building for the future

Part of building a successful business is planning for the future, and Neugebauer’s plans are to keep building on everything he’s built so far. He’s recently found success with Cornwell’s Z-Series ratchets, as well as THINKCAR’s scan tools, though he’s still adding new tools to his stock when he can.

“I recently expanded and bought myself a 24’ truck. I inherited my brother’s hand-me-downs, so to speak, but I’m looking forward to expanding inventory and continuing to grow,” he says. “We’ve got new forms of tool storage coming out. I’ve got this fancy 79” Arca on my truck right now with the industry’s largest power drawer in it, all outfitted with Mantis Tool Grid, it’s awesome.”

Of course, he’s also got extensive plans for ramping up his community involvement as well. He and his brother are aiming to give away 200 bikes to children this year, and given how charitable their customers are, they’ll have to aim even higher for next time.