Before we get into the topic at hand, let me assure you that I realize as a mobile jobber you are trying to get ten pounds of stuff (tools) into a five pound truck and that every square inch is important. Today, we are going to talk about how you use those valuable square inches.
Back in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in the 1950’s (yes, I mean the 1950’s), we had one local hobby shop: Stumpf’s Hobby Shop. It was crammed with so much stuff that “Stumpfy” had to literally set products out front on the sidewalk so he could get in the door. If you knew what you wanted, he knew exactly where it was, but there were no displays – just piles and stacks of models, guns, baseball stuff, football stuff, hunting stuff, fishing stuff, and lots of other stuff! As a kid, you feared for an in-store merchandise avalanche crushing you as you squeezed down the aisles. Unfortunately for Mr. Stumpf, when I was about ten or 12 we got a Walmart and a well merchandised sporting goods store which soon put an end to Stumpf’s Hobby Shop. I will tell you as a kid in the 50’s Stumpfs Hobby Shop was the coolest place on earth!
Now let’s think about you and your family’s shopping location preferences today. I’ll bet your grocery store is spiffy clean at all times and laid out logically for customer convenience and selling success. The milk and eggs are in the back of the store so you must walk by all the other products, and you probably buy something additional as you run in to pick up a dozen eggs. I’ll also bet that if you walk in a grocery store and it is a pit and smells funky, you will not be shopping there again.
Go to Costco for a $4.99 rotisserie chicken which is displayed in the back of the store. If you’re like me, you will come out with $100 to $200 of other “had to have” merchandise that you didn’t even know you needed when you walked in the front door.
So, here’s the question for you: Is your mobile store a Stumpfs Hobby Shop or a Dick’s Sporting Goods? In other words, is your store a clean, neat, well laid-out selling environment, or a pile of tools riding around in the back of your truck?
Shoppers come on your truck with many thoughts in mind. The following are probably the most common shopper mindsets, followed by my thoughts on each.
1. I have no idea what I want, but I like looking at new tools.
Having a well merchandised store will be the key to success with this technician. They want to buy something; you just need to capture their interest. These are the plus sales.
2. I know pretty much what I want, but I want a choice.
The objective here is to provide the correct value for this customer. If the prospect does body work and does a lot of wiring, they need a great heavy duty wire stripper. If this person is a general technician and crimps a wire about once a week, a good mid-range tool will satisfy them. If all you are showing is a high-priced tool, you may be forcing your customer to go to Home Depot or Amazon. These are the sales that make a big difference in your revenue. These shoppers have a price in mind, and you either get the sale or you get nothing.
3. I know exactly what I want; I’ll buy it and get back to work.
If this customer can’t find what they want, they will either buy from the competition or have you find it if you’re not busy. If you are busy and can’t help this customer, it is a lost sale and it gives the competition a good shot at your customer. If you have to spend your time looking for a simple socket, you’re probably missing the opportunity to service some other customer.
4. It’s hot in the shop and your mobile store is air conditioned. While I’m cooling off, maybe I’ll buy something.
See point number one above.
For those technicians who come aboard, is your mobile shop a place where they see displays of like products together that offer good, better, best selections? Is it a place where they see good merchandising of those new and exclusive products?
Here’s another point I sometimes ponder: Some of the mobile stores I’ve been on look more like a 7-Eleven or a variety store than a tool truck. In my mind, beef jerky, gum, peanuts, lemonade, throwing knives, or t-shirts do not shout to your customers “buy your tools from me.” Be sure your store is positioned as a great place to buy tools.
Think of those other tool-shopping alternatives your customers have: Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, O'Reilly, NAPA, and your own local independent tool stores. Each of them is well merchandised with silent sales displays and are organized logically. If you are thinking to yourself that your mobile store is just a tool truck and it doesn’t need to be clean, logical, and well merchandised, you are setting yourself up to miss those add-on, impulse, and very profitable sales.
Take off your mobile jobber hat. Put on your retail shopper hat. Walk onto your truck and decide, “Would I shop in this store?”
Now go sell something.
