Texas-based Independent distributor Geoff Beveridge finds that demonstrating a tool while helping to solve a technician's problem can help make the sale.
He describes some of his more effective sales efforts: “Sometimes I’ll walk in with a headlamp on my head; I’ll get under a hood with a guy. I’ll turn it on, light it up, and they’ll be like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’ll [say] ‘I’m shedding some light on the situation for you ... And how’s that kink in your neck from holding the flashlight?’ You just get involved. Interact with the customer.”
Another customer once asked about a slim jim lockout tool.
“Well, slim jims are old news,” he says. “Nobody sells slim jim’s anymore. They sell new lockout tools.” Beveridge saw a learning opportunity here. “I walked it out to him … to a brand new minivan with the keys locked in it and [a dead battery]. Less than 30 seconds I had it open.”
The customer bought the tool on the spot.
Those who do business with Beveridge see him as a problem solver, not a just a salesman.
Freeman Honda Service Director Mike Hyland looks around the truck a bit. He tells me, “Since [Beveridge] has been coming to our dealership, I think the technicians are not only excited to come out and make their payment, but they come out and try to get a tool to solve a problem that they have, and they walk out of the truck smiling every time. You get more for your money and that’s a big deal to a tech who has to use his own money to work on cars in today’s market.”
“I don’t make anybody buy tools, I just show them all the reasons why they should,” Beveridge says.
