As a port city, Savannah, Ga., provides a number of opportunities for Goliath Tools & Equipment independent distributor Nicolas Kapp to service semi-truck repair and maintenance operations.
“I go to big equipment shops. Big bulldozers and stuff. I try to orient the stuff on my truck for stops like that. I try to get bigger items on my truck,” says Kapp. In addition to common inventory, which he sells at these and traditional automotive repair shops, Kapp also sells heavy duty tools such as 2” sockets and larger wrenches, sometimes up to 50mm.
Now 20 years old, Kapp got his start out of high school working on “18-wheeler tires” before he moved on to a scrap metal company.
He joined Goliath Tools & Equipment in February 2016.
“This is better pay and easier on me. The job before this was hard manual labor,” says Kapp. “It’s a lot easier than what I was doing.”
The route was in poor shape prior to Kapp coming on board. With the help of Goliath Tools & Equipment owner Myron Colley, Kapp took over and has seen steady success.
“We had a lot of people that we had to get back straight to get back on the truck, because people had ruined our reputation down here. I had to build the reputation back up,” says Kapp. “If I’m not going to be here, if I’m sick or something, I’ll call to tell you I won’t be able to see ya’ll this week.”
Kapp’s approach is to reach out to every current and potential customer in the shop.
“I try to walk through every shop I go to and talk to almost everybody. A lot of tool truck drivers don’t do that; they have their clientele already, and just stay out on their truck and wait for them (customers),” he says.
“Most shops I go to, I get out and walk through the whole shop and let everybody know I’m there. That way, if they need something or want something, they come out.”
With Kapp’s previous professional and personal background of working on his own vehicles, he’s able to more readily approach technicians in the shop.
“I feel like I connect with the mechanics, because I understand what they’re talking about when it comes to certain stuff. I just talk with them. It makes my day better, it goes faster,” says Kapp.
