Even after 38 years in the tool business, longtime Mac Tools distributor John Marshall is still trying to reinvent himself.
The Howell, Mich.-based tool salesman got his start in April of 1979 thanks in no small part to the Mac Tools distributor who serviced the small, rural dealership Marshall worked at as a service writer, porter and manager. Despite being very young at the time, Marshall quickly developed a desire to make a living for himself selling tools. Within six months, the Mac Tools distributor who serviced Marshall’s shop became a district manager. The area the previous Mac distributor covered was expanding and Marshall deemed himself up for the challenge of trying to make it on his own as tool salesman.
“The guys I worked with and I kind of gravitated to the Mac guy, and I watched him conduct his business very professionally,” he says. “Though I was only 22 years old, I saw him, how he conducted himself and thought to myself, ‘I can do this.’”
Now, nearly four decades later, he is still going strong. Marshall’s current operation is more unconventional than most. It consists of two trucks -- one tool truck and one Ford Transit -- as well as 4,000 square feet of warehouse space filled with tools and equipment. The space serves a few purposes. First, it allows him to store items he does not have room for on his trucks. Second, it offers a place for customers to stop by at their convenience to look at (and potentially buy) tools and equipment. Third, Marshall says he respects his competitors and the quality of their products, so the warehouse serves as a means for him to differentiate himself and his business from those of his counterparts.
“It was pretty much a business decision to help me compete better,” says Marshall of the warehouse space. “I don’t know anybody else who has something like this. If you saw it, it would be like walking into a Target store. It’s completely full of million dollars of inventory.”
The veteran Mac Tools distributor got the idea for the warehouse from a previous venture in the video rental business. Several years back, he says, he built a 7,000 square-foot store to house approximately 40,000 movies.
“The idea was to keep competitors at bay, so to speak,” he adds. “You need to invest in yourself.”
But it takes more than a willingness to spend money to make it in the tool business, says Marshall. Over time, he continues, he learned to evolve and reinvent himself as a distributor. Eventually, he learned he could out-inventory his competition and enjoy a competitive advantage over them.
“We all can’t just run around in a big truck and expect to be in business and survive today,” Marshall adds. “But the one thing I can do with a guy? I can out-inventory him.”
His passion and enthusiasm for selling tools certainly has not waned with time. Instead, Marshall says being a distributor consumes his life a little bit. And though he admits he’s slowing down a bit with age, the veteran Mac Tools distributor can’t imagine stepping away anytime soon.
“You’ve got to be willing to make a commitment,” says Marshall. “It’s a time commitment and a financial commitment. It’s like any business you get into. The formula is not any different. The tool business is a lifestyle.”
