Taking the opportunity to grow

Despite not having any experience as a technician or in the automotive industry, Neugebauer took the advice and made his start as a tool distributor. He was honest with every one of his customers about his lack of experience, but as most distributors would probably agree, you learn quickly in this industry.

“My biggest struggle was obviously not knowing what any of this stuff was. I’ve never turned a wrench in my life. All of this was completely foreign to me, so just figuring out what I needed to sell these guys... They’d say, ‘I need a tool that does this,’ and I’d go, ‘Huh, hold on, let me phone a friend.’ My first few months, I was constantly on the phone with my brother and other dealers.” 

While his tool knowledge was still being developed, Neugebauer’s salesmanship and customer service skills were as sharp as ever and translated across industries. 

“I try to be as active in my community as possible,” he says. “For the last two years — this will be year three — we’ve done a bike giveaway at our Christmas parade here in town. The first year, I gave away 33 bikes. Last year, we gave away 88 bikes. It’s made a huge difference.” 

Neugebauer’s community involvement isn’t limited to holiday giveaways, either. He’s sponsored multiple events and prizes for local organizations, organized a 150-person parade for a young girl after she was struck by a stray bullet, and gathered customers and their families to give away hundreds of plates of food to homeless people. 

The impact isn’t just felt by the members of the community receiving the support, but these sorts of charitable efforts transform the lives of the people pulled in to help out. Neugebauer fondly remembers having one of his customers, a seemingly gruff technician that always exchanged friendly insults with him on every visit, help serve food for dozens and excitedly ask the distributor when they could do it all over again. Another one of his customers bought a new bike every paycheck for Neugebauer to give away. 

“I see [my customers] daily,” he says. “Being the tool guy is way more than just selling tools—I’m their bartender, their therapist. I might be the only person they feel comfortable talking to. They know I’m not going to judge them. It’s so much more than just selling tools. So I give them opportunities by saying, ‘Hey man, we’re feeding the homeless this weekend. Come on.’” 

You choose your distributor based on who they are. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mac, Matco, Cornwell, Snap-on, none of that matters. The person behind the wheel of the truck matters.” 

Building for the future 

Part of building a successful business is planning for the future, and Neugebauer’s plans are to keep building on everything he’s built so far. He’s recently found success with Cornwell’s Z-Series ratchets, as well as THINKCAR’s scan tools, though he’s still adding new tools to his stock when he can. 

“I recently expanded and bought myself a 24’ truck. I inherited my brother’s hand-me-downs, so to speak, but I’m looking forward to expanding inventory and continuing to grow,” he says. “We’ve got new forms of tool storage coming out. I’ve got this fancy 79” Arca on my truck right now with the industry’s largest power drawer in it, all outfitted with Mantis Tool Grid, it’s awesome.” 

Of course, he’s also got extensive plans for ramping up his community involvement as well. He and his brother are aiming to give away 200 bikes to children this year, and given how charitable their customers are, they’ll have to aim even higher for next time.