I haven’t been on a tool truck in months now. And you know what? Since travel has all but halted recently, I miss it. One of my favorite things as PD’s editor soon became striking out to a little hamlet in the South, or a big coastal city, and spending some drive time with tool dealers and their amazing technician customers. We always share some laughs and I always learn something new. I like to take note of the consistency, care, and ingenuity with which different mobile tool sellers stock and manage their inventory (and how customers respond).
So indulge me, if you will, as I embark on a remote “truck tour” across the pages of Professional Distributor. What do visitors see and feel when they take that first step onto your truck?
Mac Tools distributor Russell “Burton” Harbin (p. 18) makes great use of space in his Freightliner MT45. Products are stacked floor to ceiling – but they aren’t unnavigable. It’s truly a well-lit, well-stocked store. But more than that, the organization and care of Harbin’s layout directly correspond to his tuned-in personality, and the relationship he brings to customers on his rural South Carolina route. While Burton did do a bit of customizing to his Freightliner MT45 (a workhorse vehicle with 258,000 miles) to fine-tune his mobile store, he knows it’s not necessarily about the truck; it’s what’s inside.
“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, 10, 15, or 20 minutes that we’re about to spend.”
Alan Sipe offers his take on store layout and presentation in this month’s Go Sell Something column (p. 36). You might say to yourself, “I have the right tools. Why does it matter how I stack them up?” One reason is because you never know who’s going to step foot on the truck. If it’s a customer who doesn’t know what they’re looking for, a well-placed display might ignite that mental shopping list.
“If you are thinking to yourself that your mobile store is just a tool truck and it doesn’t need to be clean, logical, and well merchandised, you are setting yourself up to miss ... add-on, impulse, and very profitable sales,” Sipe says.
A little bit of presentation means a lot, both in life and in tool sales. If you strive to maintain a fairly clean, well-organized, and well-stocked truck, shoppers will take note. If products are organized logically, and the aisle dotted with effective sales displays, this can only boost the trust they already have in you, their professional tool seller.
Show us your mobile tool store
Until our editorial team can get back on the road again, we look forward to checking out your trucks in pictures (or video!). Keep sending them our way at [email protected].
