Toward the front of his truck, Mac Tools dealer Craig Starks has his "popcorn sale" items, such as air tool oil, airline fittings, butane, and cut-off wheels. "It’s stuff that as they are coming up to the counter or heading towards the door, they go, 'Oh crap, I need that,'" he said. "A lot of times, they will grab it and turn around and purchase it."
Just above the cab entrance is a monitor that rotates promotional videos, specials, flyer items, or any videos that Starks has filmed himself. With the new truck, Starks decided to put in a much bigger desk than he had before that allows for a larger work area for doing tool repairs. Since the pandemic hit, Starks made the decision to go “all-in” with his business and started purchasing in quantities.
"My mentality was, 'If I have it, I can sell it'. Because if you don’t have it, it’s most likely going to go on back order, and you’re not going to be able to get it for a while," he noted. The same rings true for promotional items, and he has figured out how to keep making money off of them even after the promo is done.
"In any given month, I will recycle my older promotions in from two months ago," he says. "I'll pop those in there, maybe one or two of them — and I’ll say, 'Hey I found these left over, you better grab them. They were from a promotion.' It kind of gives them that urgency and that, 'Oh crap, I have to get this.'"
