An automotive technician putting down their wrench to become a mobile tool distributor is a relatively common story in this industry — one that we have told in the pages of PD many times. But not all tool dealers come from a background in wrenching.
Chris Stone got his start in the mobile tool business after working for 15 years in telecommunications. When he started out under a flag, he admittedly didn’t know much about automotive tools and equipment.
“Coming from the telecom industry, realistically I didn't know what this stuff was and I didn't know how to use it,” Stone says. “But I made it work."
He caught on quickly, and after only a few years as a mobile distributor, Stone proved just how well he was making it work by earning a spot as a top distributor with his flag.
After six years with the flag, Stone decided to make a change and became an independent dealer selling with the GEARWRENCH Street Team.
Now eight years into running his own tool truck, Stone is helping others get their start. His brother-in-law, Mike Yarter, has his own route that he runs on Saturdays. Yarter currently works in IT for a fortune-100 company during the week, but plans to make the switch to selling tools full-time in the near future.
Since neither Stone nor Yarter had prior experience with automotive tools, they relied instead on building relationships with their customers by being dependable and honest.
“If they [customers] have a broken warranty part, regardless of where they purchased it, I honor it, because it’s lifetime,” Yarter says. “I listen to them, I always greet them when they come to the truck, and I'm always honest with them. If I can't do something, I'll tell them I can't.”
The two mobile tool dealers are also sure to stock what their customers want and need, trying to anticipate demand.
“First and foremost, we tool up; our trucks are full whenever we roll into a shop,” Stone says. “That's a big factor because if a guy comes on the truck and you don't have any inventory, it’s kind of hard to sell anything like that, and you can't really sell [from] pictures. I told Mike in the beginning, you cannot have too much inventory.”
When it comes to the competition, Stone and Yarter don’t engage in pettiness and tend to keep to themselves.
“We mind our own business,” Stone says. “I don't care what any other tool dealer is doing, I don't care what any other tool dealer is saying. I don't stir the pot with that.”
The two also work hard to keep their trucks clean and tidy. Since a tool truck is a mobile distributor’s storefront, it’s important to make it a place customers want to visit time and time again.
“Our trucks are always clean, our trucks are always swept out on the inside,” Stone says. “And, as strange as it sounds, I have a lot of guys get on the truck and say, ‘Man, this is the best smelling tool truck I’ve ever been in.’”
Both coming from very different industries, Stone and Yarter enjoy working in mobile tool sales and plan to continue until their respective retirements. For now, they’re content doing what they love.
“We want to go out, we want to work, we want to get paid, and we want to come home,” Stone says. “We want to play whenever it's time to play. But when it's time to work, it's time to work.”
