Larry Moskalyk, an independent mobile distributor in Largo, FL, learned that small shops don't necessarily mean small business.
Something that surprised him was that the size of the shop was not always an indication how good a customer it is. Moskalyk ultimately realized that shops with three or four techs were some of his best customers. "You do better business in them than the big ones," he says. "They just buy more stuff."
Moskalyk learned that establishing a good rapport with customers helps reduce collection problems, which he views as the most difficult part of the job. "Collecting money takes talent," he says. His better customers will warn him if someone should not be trusted. In one case, he got a call from a shop where a technician had recently quit. The people at the shop asked him if this technician owed him money on any tools. They promptly confiscated the drill that Moskalyk had sold that tech and held it for him.
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