Professional Distributor - 4

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A day in the life
Get in front of the chaos, survive, and
thrive when the working days are long.

Printed in the U.S. Volume 27, Number 10; December 2019
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - TRANSPORTATION

Larry M. Greenberger
LMG@VehicleServicePros.com
PUBLISHER Kylie Hirko

630-253-4034 Kylie@VehicleServicePros.com
EDITOR Sara Scullin

920-568-8394 Sara@VehicleServicePros.com
David Brierley
920-563-1622 David@VehicleServicePros.com
MANAGING EDITOR

BY SARA SCULLIN
EDITOR

920-568-8394
Sara@VehicleServicePros.com

rofessional Distributor
recently surveyed a
sample of its readers to
better understand the current
state of the tool dealer profession and the metrics associated
with this group of professionals,
specifically when it comes to
hours worked. The majority of
respondents were single truck
mobile dealers working with a
flag. About 20 percent of those
polled were single-truck independent mobile dealers, and
a few were franchise mobile
dealers who also ran multitruck routes.
One of the most striking
takeaways of this survey was the
reporting of hours worked. Now, I
know the majority of mobile tool
dealers work a great deal more
than 40 hours in a typical week,
and sure enough ... nearly 94 percent of you clock in more than 40
hours in a week ... with a good
amount of you even putting in
60 hours or more. That's a lot of
hours in the books - on the truck,
on the phone, on the computer,
and simply mentally preparing
at home.
No one who knows this business would dream of comparing
it to a 9-5 gig. In fact, the nature
of this work is highly mobile and
unpredictable - which can be
good or bad. Planning is important, but so is going with the flow.
In this month's "Go Sell Something" column (p. 28), Alan Sipe
addresses the long days and the
numerous factors that can either

make or break a well-planned
schedule. So much of it is out
of your control (an afternoon
phone call about a broken tool or
a sick kid). Sipe reminds readers that even the best strategies
may depend on unchangeable
forces (like afternoon traffic), and
sometimes the best-laid plans are
thrown out the window.
But don't despair ... if you are
conscious of these facts and still
manage to plan and execute small
changes (and not get discouraged),
you are ahead of the game. In
his article, Sipe mentions some
time "hacks" that may be gamechangers to help balance out the
insanity of a 50+ hour work week:
things like scheduling big-ticket
item sales presentations for later
in the afternoon when you've got
nowhere else to be or setting aside
a time midweek for housekeeping tasks like chatting with your
warehouse distributor or thinking about how to handle major or
recurring customer problems.
Following the question on
hours worked in a typical week
was another question pertaining
to job satisfaction. And the good
news is, the vast majority of tool
dealers surveyed said they were
satisfied or "highly satisfied" with
this career. Things that keep you
getting up for the grind every day:
variety, self-employment, and a
reliable means of support.
In all things, we take the good
with the not so great. How do you
balance out your long days and
still keep momentum high?

4 Professional Distributor I December 2019 I VehicleServicePros.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Tyler Fussner

920-234-6232 Tyler@VehicleServicePros.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Emily Markham

920-234-6359 Emily@VehicleServicePros.com
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920-563-1764 Kayla@VehicleServicePros.com
MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Cortni Jones

920-568-8391 CJones@EndeavorB2B.com

MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Diane Braden

920-568-8364 DBraden@EndeavorB2B.com

MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Mattie Gorman

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PRODUCTION MANAGER Connie Wolf

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ART DIRECTOR Eric Van Egeren
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