Toolboxes and carts can take up valuable real estate in a tool truck that’s already limited by space.
Cornwell Tools dealer Sean Ostler says he likes to have a toolbox on display to pique his customers’ interest. Customers who are drawn to the box are automatic prospects.
“If I get them on the truck and the first thing they do is go to the toolbox and start playing around, looking at it, opening the drawers, measurements – a lightbulb goes off," Ostler says. "Their eyes say a lot, and if their eyes go right to the toolbox, then I know its somewhere in their mind that they might be needing it now, or needing it soon."
Independent distributor Steve Johnston explains that he and his drivers do not use the tool storage on display in the truck for additional storage. “Then people begin to look at it as just a shelf that you’re using, it’s not a pretty item that they want to buy,” he says.
Mac Tools distributor Nigel Clarke makes sure to rotate the boxes on his truck.
“I try to keep a healthy stock of toolboxes," Clarke says. "I try to keep a variance of colors, I don’t want to have all black. I try to mix up the presentation so people can get a feel for the different colors."
He also makes sure to keep a tool storage catalog near the cash register, for some customers that may be passively looking at options.
Also on Clarke’s truck, he has a customizable build-your-own tool storage unit available through Mac Tools, called the Toolbox Configurator. This program allows customers to use Clarke’s laptop, set up on the truck, to build their own custom toolbox, and display the results on a screen viewable by others on the truck.
This visual can help encourage the customer to make the purchase, Clarke says, while also showing off the customizable program to others on the truck.
“What’s cool is it’s up on the computer screen, and you’ll have three or four guys on the truck and you’ll see them look up at the toolbox his friend is building. Then they’ll say, ‘Hey, let me build it.’ Just seeing other people build the toolboxes get them interested,” Clarke says. “I actually had one guy who was building one, and two other guys ended up ordering their own.”
