Last month, I talked about having the right support to succeed as a mobile tool dealer. What I failed to emphasize was just how important your significant other can be to your business.
As a mobile tool distributor, you’re essentially a small business owner. While you may be a “one-man band” on the road, I’m sure many of you are getting extra help from someone near and dear to you: your spouse.
Husband-and-wife teams are a prominent duo seen walking any tool show floor, and with good reason. Your second half is constantly and consistently assisting with your business, and many know the inner workings of what needs to be done to keep your operation running smoothly.
While you may be dedicated to the customers on your route, I bet at least half of you have a significant other who supports you in one way or another. Who handles special order shipments? Warranties? Inventory? Cash flow and bookkeeping? I’ve talked to a number of distributors whose wives also deliver special orders on non-route days for customers and assist with collecting, cleaning and organizing the truck.
“I basically do everything that he doesn’t have time to do,” explains Teri Gruba, wife of Cornwell Tools dealer Joe Gruba. “Shipping, receiving, all accounting, all bookwork, checking in inventory, emailing, phone calls, follow-up on customer back orders and issues, so he can focus his time with customers one-on-one.”
“Anything that he needs, I do, because it’s our livelihood. What he can’t do and I can do, I will do,” adds Gruba.
Which brings me to this month’s cover story, “Success with Selling Diagnostics.” I have no doubt about the success of the distributors interviewed in this story, and it’s important for you to adopt and perfect certain skills to sell a particular category of tool. (Read up on how to do this here/page xx.) But it was also obvious that these distributors aren’t running the show on their own. Most I talked with explicitly mentioned how much their wives help with the business.
Phrases like “I couldn’t do this without her” and “we work as a team” were said more than once. Not to mention, I worked behind the scenes with a number of these spouses for this article, to help set up interviews, gather additional information and address follow-up questions. This was in addition to their normal daily tasks mentioned above.
I’d like to know how your spouse helps you with the business. Is she your go-to for all internal operations? Or, does she have a few smaller dedicated tasks she assists with each week, like cleaning and organizing inventory on the truck? Big or small, her role surely helps you with the route. Send me a quick note at [email protected] and let me know. I look forward to your comments.
