december2022 - 39

FIXED TIP V-NOTCH
CONVERTIBLE
as possible. I went from zero to 150 customers
in about six weeks. My district
manager commented on how I was the
fastest to 150 that he had at that point.
It felt natural like it just happened. "
Richardt says he only really understood
what listening to the customer
meant once he started paying attention.
" It's just being alert and aware of
what customers say, how they're acting,
what they're looking at, and keeping
those mental notes. It's funny how
often I'll listen to their conversations
or something they saw on Tik Tok and
then bring something similar to their
attention. They eat it up. "
Richardt notes that his selling style
Richardt and his 16-month old daughter and
dog help him on the truck.
Photo: Kevin Richardt
Milwaukee and Northern Illinois markets
were available. " The irony was, where
I was working at FedEx, my main office
was dead center in the middle of this
territory. I figured I'm already driving up
here daily and am familiar with the area;
this might be a good opportunity. Everything
kind of fell into place from there. "
Most of his territory had been covered
by the previous Cornwell dealer, so
there was business on the table already,
according to Richardt. " I chased the previous
dealer down and got to know him
a little bit, felt pretty confident that he
was a good dealer. He wasn't out there
doing shady things. I didn't want to have
to do damage control. And so I thought
I would roll the dice and give it a try. "
Richardt rolled into his new business
in August 2020. " It was pretty successful
right out of the gate, " he recalls.
" The performance of my business from
day one has exceeded what I thought
was realistic. "
While Richardt had to handle warranties
and so forth at first, customer
interest was always there. " Cornwell says
the goal is to get to 150 customers as fast
is slightly different than others, but it
works for him.
" I start the day later than most, and I
run full throttle until I'm done. I've realized
that I can't promote to every guy in
every shop. I have more of a blitz-style
approach. I fly through as many people
as possible, as quickly as possible, and
show the ones I think will be receptive
to certain products. Often I sell stuff by
not even showing them anything. I sell a
certain line of heated gear, I wear it and
talk about it, and people are interested, or
it plants a seed. So, when it's 10 degrees
outside three weeks from now, suddenly,
they're like, 'Hey, I need one.' "
FUN FACTS:
Powersports
Owns a Waverunner and
restores Buell motorcycles
Food
Sells premium beef jerky and
energy drinks
Knives
Never thought knives would
be a big seller until he moved
the display
Mindset
Outside the box thinker
WWW.LANGTOOLS.COM
For more information, click on " PD e-inquiry " at
VehicleServicePros.com
Professional Distributor I December 2022 I VehicleServicePros.com 39
2212PTED_AandEHandTools.indd 1
10/27/22 4:46 PM
#3595
Also available in a six
piece kit or individually.
MADE IN U.S.A.
* SWITCH CHANGES BETWEEN
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WITH
EASE WITHOUT SEPARATING
THE PLIERS
* CONVERTIBLE FOR USE ON
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL SNAP RINGS
* CUSHIONED GRIP HANDLES
* PACKAGED IN A PLASTIC BLOW
MOLDED CASE FOR PROTECTION
AND EASY USE
RETAINING
RING PLIERS
http://WWW.LANGTOOLS.COM http://prodistributor.hotims.com/r5/search.asp?action=search&return_by_category=y http://www.VehicleServicePros.com
december2022

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