Professional Distributor - 38

From sharpshooter to tool dealer
Nigel Clarke, previously a professional shotgun competitor,
is now a family-driven tool dealer.

N
BY KAYLA OSCHMANN,
ASSISTANT EDITOR

800-547-7377 x1764
Kayla@VehicleServicePros.com

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igel Clarke of Fleming Island, Florida,
has been a Mac Tools dealer for nearly
seven years. He first started selling Mac
Tools in 2013 for Big Boy Tools, a tool company
comprised of five tool distributors in and around
Virginia Beach, Virginia. Just under four years in,
Clarke decided to branch off and start his own
route in Jacksonville, Florida.
His route now covers part of Northeast Florida,
from Jacksonville to Orange Park, Fleming Island,
and Green Cove Springs. Most dealerships he serves
are independents; however, his biggest dealership
and customer is General RV, a national RV dealer.
Prior to becoming a tool dealer, Clarke was a
competitive shotgun shooter and traveled around the
country taking part in professional competitions. All
the traveling meant he was away from his wife and
family, so he decided to look for a career that would
bring him home to be with them. Becoming a tool
distributor was a great fit.
"[Starting my own route] had its challenges, but
it has been rewarding for our family ... being able
to have a business that we can set up and run as
our own and make our own schedule," Clarke says.
"It went extremely well the first year; we set some
impressive numbers." In fact, Clarke made Mac
Tools' President's Club for overall purchases in the
U.S. for both 2017 and 2018.
Clarke's wife, Tamiekah, handles all the "behind
the scenes" work, such as paperwork, invoices, and
checking in all the inventory, while Clarke is out in
front of the customers. Of their three children, the
two oldest boys, Payton, 14, and Noah, 10, also help
on the truck from time to time. Their daughter, who
is just seven years old, doesn't help quite yet, he says.
So, what are Clarke's sales techniques that have
customers coming back?
"I'm not pushy," he says. "I don't try to force the
customer to make a purchase. I listen to what they
want. It may not be on my truck that day, but if I
know I'm going back there the next week then I
make sure I have a couple of options of what they
are looking for."
And, he's honest.
"Honesty goes a long way," he adds. "[Customers]

38 Professional Distributor I September 2019 I VehicleServicePros.com

Top: Clarke made Mac Tools' President's Club for overall
purchases in the U.S. for both 2017 and 2018.
Above: Clarke and his wife decided to start their own
route in December 2016.

may ask me for something, and rather than give them
an answer that really isn't true or I'm not 100 percent
certain [of], I'll tell them that I'm not sure and that
I'll get back to them with the correct answer."
Clarke will also go out of his way to get a tool to
a customer to complete his job. Even if that means
driving from one side of Jacksonville to the other
or communicating with other Mac Tool dealers in
the area.
"Reaching out to other resources will only make
you more successful," Clarke concludes. "What I've
learned in seven years is that honesty goes a long
way with customers and ... I've learned that if you
can be the tool truck that [customers] call first, then
you've earned their respect and they will call you
first in any situation."
As for future plans, Clarke would like to expand
his business.
"I would love to have an employee and possibly
a second truck to get to a point where we have two
routes that we can manage," he concludes.
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