Russell “Burton” Harbin has been a Mac Tools distributor for four years now. His route takes him from Greer, South Carolina, through Spartanburg, and on to Gaffney. Covering around 600 miles per week, the majority of Harbin’s business comes from mom-and-pop shops, with a few dealerships in the mix.
Harbin got his start as a tool distributor as part of a multi-route operation. After owning and operating his own landscaping company, Harbin sold his client list and worked in the oil fields of North Dakota for some time. He then worked in sales before joining the distributor industry. An acquaintance of his brought Harbin onboard with the understanding that Harbin could purchase a portion of the route, along with the truck, when the time was right. Within two years, Harbin purchased his route along with the 16’ 2002 Freightliner MT45 he had been driving.
“When I climbed in at first, four years ago, the truck had 147,000 miles [on it]. Now it has 258,000 miles,” Harbin says. Those 100,000-plus miles didn’t come without some maintenance.
Through the repair of a blown head gasket and completion of a full air conditioning overhaul, along with some other maintenance, Harbin’s MT45 has been reliably serving South Carolina.
Harbin found little need for customization to the interior of the truck, saying, “it basically maintained its original fixture … If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
“My truck is so crowded, being in a 16-footer. I have to stack stuff, especially if I’ve got a large inventory,” Harbin says. Speaking to his organizational preferences with his product, Harbin says that certain items, such as blowguns, are stocked all around the truck. “Things I’m going to sell a lot of, I like to have multiple of. I like to post them throughout the entire truck; whether I staple them on this wall, or that wall, or the back wall, while the customer’s eyes are wandering, they get the chance to look over the hot sellers or the stuff that they need,” he says.
Harbin’s display methods echo his sales style, an approach he picked up working in sales before becoming a distributor.
“I learned to make a quality relationship and to [have] a quality conversation as fast as you can,” Harbin says. “When you’re trying to hit 20 to 30 shops a day, [my approach is to] have the best quality conversation that we could possibly have within that five, or 10, or 15, or 20 minutes that we’re about to spend. I want to have that quality relationship with them and relate to them.”
Knowing his customers on a personal level helps Harbin successfully implement his approach. “Anyone is welcome on my truck,” he says. “Of course, there is the impulse buying. The things I know I’m going to sell a lot of are scattered throughout the truck … I want to have that presented to them. Everything else, what I know I don’t have a lot of stock of, that’s what’s in the back of my mind.”
Harbin “presents” his products through conversations with his customers. At each and every stop Harbin asks, “What do you need today? What do you want today? Let me help you out.”
It is through his conversational approach that the truck’s product display is second fiddle to Harbin’s personality.
“My customers build a relationship with me; they don’t build a relationship with my truck. If they get on a nicer truck, so be it. There are customers in need that will buy from a larger truck because [that truck] has it in stock, and it’s an impulse buy,” Harbin says. “I give my customers anything and everything that they want or need, so [another truck] shouldn't [jeopardize] whether [or not] we do business. My business is not defined by having a 2002 MT45 with 258,000 miles on it.”
