Although Elias Valdovinos had never thought of running a tool truck, he decided to give it a go after his tool distributor, Brian Fahlgren, told him that he was going to retire and wanted Valdovinos as his successor.
Once the decision of who was taking over his route was made, the next step was all about transition. Valdovinos spent three weeks riding around in Fahlgren’s truck to learn the ropes.
During his ride-along time with Fahlgren, Valdovinos mentions how he was constantly taking notes, making sure he knew how to run things similarly. The new distributor explains how, if a customer approached Fahlgren about a broken tool, he didn’t need to hear about how the tool got broken; he would just hand them a replacement and send them on their way. Since taking over the route, Valdovinos has made sure to uphold that kind of relationship with the customers.
“If it’s an issue for [the customer], it’s an issue for me,” Valdovinos says. “I try to run [the truck] the same way [Brian] did.” Though he jokes that he has changed the type of candy that he keeps on the truck from what Fahlgren had.
The biggest piece of advice Fahlgren imparted to Valdovinos was ensuring that when you leave a stop, your customers are talking about what you did for them and not what you did to them.
