TALES FROM THE ROAD
BY DAVID BRIERLEY,
MANAGING EDITOR
920-563-1622
David@VehicleServicePros.com
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your story?
Have an interesting
experience to
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fellow distributors?
Share it with us!
Contact Managing
Editor David Brierley
at David@
VehicleServicePros.com.
Making it memorable
Mac Tools dealer Brian Teets goes the extra mile
to make his customers feel appreciated.
After working as a service manager at a
“As far as I’m
concerned, Mac's
20V 1/2” impact
gun is basically
top of the line,”
Teets says.
Teets
drives a
mixed route
in his 18’
Chevrolet
C5500,
partially
urban and
partially
rural.
Ford dealership, Brian Teets of Delaware,
Ohio, decided that he didn’t want to
stop working in the automotive industry. After
weighing his options, Teets realized there hadn’t
been a Mac Tools dealer in the area for a number
of years.
“That’s what pushed me towards Mac,” Teets says.
“I wanted to stay in the business. I’m not really in the
business anymore, but I’m still in and out of dealerships
and I’m around cars all the time.”
He has been driving a tool truck for two years
now, and he says, “I love it. I wouldn’t tell anybody
not to do it.” Teets seems to have found success from
the start, and was a bronze level dealer in 2017, his
first full year driving a tool truck.
Being a new dealer for a flag that hasn’t been in
the area for a while, Teets had to put in extra effort
starting out to gain the trust of local technicians.
“I’m still fighting an uphill battle against our
Snap-on guys around here, so that’s my biggest
challenge,” he says. “But I’m slowly climbing the
mountain.”
Teets drives a mixed route in his 18’ Chevrolet
C5500, partially urban and partially rural. He stops at
a variety of locales, including heavy duty truck shops,
farms, airports, Meineke Car Care Centers and, of
course, dealerships.
Along his route, Teets says that while he offers
an assortment of products, a few have stood out as
top sellers.
“I sell a mixture of everything every week,” he
says. “We had a promo last month on multimeters
and I had a hard time keeping those on the truck. I
sold bunches of those.”
Teets also mentions a unique tool that he says has
gotten great feedback from customers.
“One thing that guys are asking me for that I’ve
been selling ... is the Lock Technology Texas Twister,”
he says. “It’s a neat tool, and it does exactly what it’s
designed to do. People love it so far.”
Teets notes a couple of other items that customers
like, including the Mac Tools MDT 10 scan tool and
the cordless 20V 1/2” drive impact wrench.
“As far as I’m concerned, our 20V 1/2” impact
38 Professional Distributor I September 2018 I VehicleServicePros.com
gun is basically top of the line,” he says. “I have won
battles with our competitors’ guns out on the road.
Comparing one to the other ... putting lug nuts on and
taking them off. I can put lug nuts on with my 20V
and my competitor’s gun won’t budge it.”
A tool dealer couldn’t ask for a better demo
than that.
One big-ticket item that many dealers love to
sell is a toolbox. But Teets takes a slightly different
approach when he makes a box sale; he makes it a
special experience for the customer.
“I had a toolbox sale on Wednesday, and I kind of
like to make a big deal out of it when somebody buys
a toolbox from me,” he says. “Instead of being at the
shop for 20 minutes or half an hour, I was there well
over an hour taking pictures and putting the drawer
liners in for him, and helping him switch stuff over
from his old box into his Mac box. A lot of times
I’ll put the box out beside my truck and put the customer
over there and take their picture against the
side of the truck, and I always put them on Facebook.
Guys like that.”
While it’s hard work and long hours, Teets doesn’t
seem to regret his decision to become a tool dealer.
“It’s something you have to work at,” he says.
“There’s a lot of work involved in this – it’s not your
normal ‘eight-to-five and go home and forget about
it.’ It’s 12-plus hours a day sometimes, and then you
don’t even forget about it when you get to go home.
“But, you reap the rewards instead of someone
else. You’re your own boss. That’s Mac’s slogan: Be
your own boss. And it’s true.”
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