EDITOR’S NOTE
BY SARA SCULLIN
EDITOR
920-568-8394
Sara@VehicleServicePros.com
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The Do It Now approach
Your attitude can make the difference between
a good day or a bad day, a sale or no sale.
Are you a list maker? I
plead guilty to that one.
Upon my return
from a week-long odyssey
to Vegas for another year of
AAPEX and SEMA shows, I felt
a bit overwhelmed. My list of
to-do’s had big items and small
items. Items in all shades of ‘high
priority’. Things requiring long
lead times and others demanding
a quick turnaround. Where
to begin?
I think there is nothing
wrong with making lists, as
long as you don’t see or interpret
each item you want to
accomplish as having a stop (or
yield) sign. Rather than dwelling
on that client who hasn’t called
you back yet, or the customer
conversation you are dreading,
sometimes a simple “do it now”
can come in handy. A swift kick,
if you will. Repeating this phrase
in moments of hesitation can
help us tackle not only all those
little daily tasks we face, but even
some of the benchmarks we hope
to reach in life.
From what I’ve seen, a lot
of mobile tool distributors have
this “get in, get it done” attitude,
and use it to the benefit of
themselves, their business and
their customers. It’s something
I admire. I see this when a tool
dealer jumps off the truck at a
routine shop like it’s the first
time, ready to demo a tool and
make a sale, despite the fact that
the shop’s technicians maybe
haven’t been ready to make a
purchase in some time.
Perhaps that “do it now’
mantra ignited the process of
buying or rebuilding a new
truck, or laying plans to take on
an additional route. Sometimes
you just never know whether a
plan will pan out until you get
the ball rolling.
4 Professional Distributor I December 2018 I VehicleServicePros.com
Mac Tools Distributor Joe
Hardin, based in Bowling Green
Kentucky and this month’s cover
story, is a good example of someone
who makes up his mind to
take action and then goes for it.
Hardin just marked his twentieth
year in the business and recently
started his third truck on the
road. He and his team sell an
impressive amount of product –
toolboxes in particular – to their
loyal customer base. And Hardin
is as quick with his gratitude as
he is with his sales. Each toolbox
sale is celebrated on social media.
“If you walk in with a lousy
attitude they’re not going to buy
anything that day,” Hardin says.
“If you just straight out ask for
the sale … you’ll get it.”
Hardin reminded me that
sometimes we have to get out of
our own way. Forget the history.
Throw away any preconceived
notions. Get in there and put
your best foot forward. Mark it
off the list.
I know repeating the phrase
“do it now” has helped me to get
out of my head and get cracking
again (following the haze of
a big tool show like AAPEX, for
example). And sometimes, just
a short phrase can take you a
long way.
Do you have a mantra on the
road?
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