Salt Lake City-based Mac Tools distributor J.D. Whittington wants to prove it’s the person, not the route, that determines the success of a mobile tool distributor.
Starting his original route, which he still runs today, back in January 2013, Whittington had continually heard from others that he had an ideal route – good customer base, minimal windshield time. But, he felt this discounted the amount of work he actually had been putting into the business. He had some vindication, with the fact that a number of other competing distributors with his route have come and gone. But he wanted to prove this to others.
To demonstrate the importance of the person running the route, Whittington purchased a second Mac Tools route adjacent to his own.
“I got kind of tired of everybody saying, ‘Oh it’s your route, it's your route.’ So, I went and took an empty route,” Whittington says.
Whittington went through two employees before his high school friend took over the route. His friend had never been in the automotive business prior to taking on the route.
As an additional incentive, Whittington promised his employee the option to purchase the route if the employee made the business successful.
“He did it in less than a year,” Whittington says. “He turned that route from a $3,000 route to a $13,000 [route]. I sold it to him; he wanted to buy it. I'll keep my word. About three months into it, he had the same attitude [as me].”
When Whittington knew his friend and employee was serious about the business, Whittington sat him down to discuss business tactics.
“First off, every technician has to buy tools (from somewhere). Period,” he says. Whittington says it's important to take the extra steps to figure out why a customer may not be buying from you.
“You can either be pissed off and write that customer off… or, you can take a look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to make this guy start buying tools? Why is he not buying tools (from me)?’ And, it might take a conversation.
"Whatever the right reason, there’s a reason. You need to get in there and find out. It sucks looking in the mirror and saying either 'They don’t like me,' or 'They don’t like my product.' So what is it?” Whittington says.
“We had a talk, I prepped him through a few things and within a couple weeks, his numbers just started climbing. And all of it was attitude.”
While Whittington is somewhat sullen about giving up the second truck, he held to his promise and sold the route and is satisfied knowing he was able to prove what he set out to do.
“I was sad to see my other route go because it was kicking butt, and we were breaking records, and I had him tuned in.”
“It was so awesome to see it was truly the guy in the route,” he says.
“That is the guy,” Whittington emphasizes. “That’s what they preach, ‘It’s the guy, not the route.’ He had to break it down, and do a lot of gut checks, and figure out why they’re not buying from [him].
“You don't want to buy from me? There's something I'm doing wrong. Sometimes they won't like you. Some personalities aren't going to work. But, you can't write anybody off. You can't write a shop off. You've got to keep putting in time, and just keep working hard,” Whittington says.
