From Left to Right: Josh Burnett, Rosalio "Chacho" Quintana, and Greg Weaver
Meet Josh Burnett, owner of Burnetts and Son’s Tools, LLC, based out of Fresno, California. Josh has been a franchisee for three years in Couture FPT, Southwest region where he and his Assistant Store Manager, Rosalio “Chacho” Quintana, are creating quite a mark. Prior to this, Josh was a store manager for veteran Snap-on® franchisee, Donovan Styles (owner of CDRT Tools) for five years.
His story is truly one of legacy. Josh grew up with Snap-on® tools being a BIG part of his life. His dad, Terry Burnett, has owned and operated a shop specializing in air-cooled Volkswagen® for 40 years. It is still in operation today. In fact, Josh recently sold his dad a beautiful new toolbox – a topic we’ll cover more on later.
Vintage photo of an older Volkswagen Beetle® in front of Terry Burnett's shop (left). Terry Burnett, Josh's father, with his new toolbox.
Josh’s Sales Developer, Greg Weaver, had the very same route in 1985, nearly 40 years ago, and sold tools to Josh’s dad, Terry. Greg knew Josh when he was a toddler.
A second great legacy story stems from that. Greg sold the very first MT2500 (the beloved “red brick”) in the route, when it first came out in 1988. That customer, Phil Gray, master tech automotive, is still in business and Josh just sold him a ZEUS+™ Workstation earlier this year. How is that for keeping a Snap-on® Diagnostics tradition?
Master Tech Automotive, Phil Gray, just bought his ZEUS+TM
Josh’s partner in life and business is his wife, Courtney. Not only is she a fifth-grade teacher but is also very involved in their business, handling many administrative duties and tasks. Josh and Courtney are definitely in this together.
Josh and his wife, Courtney, work as a team!
Josh and his Assistant Manager, Chacho, have been a team for over two years and are both highly knowledgeable about Snap-on® Diagnostics products. Chacho’s bilingual skills allow him to present the tools to the Hispanic community in the route. He is very much an integral part of the success of this franchise.
Josh, being a big believer in goals, set out to be #1 in Diagnostics sales in the Southwest region in 2021. He achieved that by coming in with an astounding 51 FTAs that year.
We asked his Sales Developer, Greg Weaver, what makes Josh so successful with Diagnostics products. Greg immediately cited 3 key strategies.
- Josh believes in the product line 100%. Nothing even comes close. NOTHING.
- He believes that every single customer on his route needs a Snap-on scan tool – NO exceptions
- He and Chacho target prospects that are due to trade-up, every week, and make offers.
We mentioned the banner year in 2021 earlier, resulting in the #1 spot in the region. What about 2022? The Burnetts achieved #1 again but not without adversity. Sadly, on January 27th, 2022 someone drove through an intersection and T-boned their truck. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but what about servicing the route? How do you keep the business rolling?
Josh told us he really counted on his sales developer for guidance. Greg was the first person he called after the incident. Within hours, Greg had arranged for a trailer to rent from a retired franchisee. The next day they were loading it up with all the Diagnostics gear, tools, and boxes necessary to turn a profit. As it turns out, Josh and Chacho would be operating from the trailer for seven months.
Damage caused to their Snap-on® Truck
Josh quickly decided that because of room constraints in the trailer, diagnostic tools would need to be his main big-ticket item. To put that segment into overdrive they needed a new aggressive strategy.
Josh and Chacho’s plan was to become product experts on all things Diagnostics. They took the on-line training for the basics but then learned directly from their customers just how vital our tools are. Their DSD (Diagnostic Sales Developer), Gabe Lazoro, was always available to answer further questions allowing them to really up their diagnostic tool knowledge fast.
The next step in their strategy really launched them into an entirely new mindset and sales volume: Every existing customer is now on a very specific Platform Upgrade Schedule. This does not mean a software update, or subscription, but rather it means a trade-up to the next diagnostic tool. Oh, and why wait for three years to upgrade a platform? Josh started to trade them up after only a year. Why, you ask?
To answer that we want to share a quote from Chacho when asked, ‘what makes Josh so hugely successful in business?’ “He is totally honest with customers and truly wants what is best for them.”
Josh believes that no matter which platform a customer presently has, he would be MUCH better off with the next one, immediately. Top-down selling is always a good plan, but Josh also practices “skill set” up-selling. When a customer has the skill set to move up to the next platform, he/she absolutely should, and fast.
If a customer has a SOLUS™ Series, they will be much better off with an APOLLO-D9™ and Fast-Track® Intelligent Diagnostics. If a customer has an APOLLO-D9™, they need a TRITON-D10™ with Guided Component Tests as soon as possible. TRITON-D10™ customers should be in a ZEUS+™ yesterday. A rather unusual, yet successful piece to this mindset is regarding workstations. A ZEUS+™ customer should absolutely get into a workstation sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, Josh keeps a workstation on the truck at all times for this very reason. He has dedicated a corner of the truck called; you guessed it - “Workstation Corner”. A workstation being a part of normal stock might be a bit unusual, but it is highly effective with the trade-up strategy the team has going on. This year alone, they have already sold five workstations and have a goal of twelve by the end of 2023. Wow, that will be north of $120,000 in sales in workstations alone!
Those of you reading this are likely thinking that you would have a good bit of your profit tied up in the trade-ins - then what do you do with all the accumulated trade-ins? Josh moves those trades to customers that do not own their own tool or are a little weak on credit. He is constantly moving the tools around throughout his customer base. It reminds us of a master chess player moving the pieces around the board, always planning several moves ahead.
Josh is not a chess player, but we suggested he take it up.
A unique promotional idea that has been very successful for Josh is a Bucket Raffle. They put 100 tickets in a bucket numbered one through 100. Whatever you draw, is what you pay to enter the drawing. Tickets range from $1.00 up to $100.00. After all tickets are purchased, a winner is drawn. The Prize? An APOLLO-D9™- what a way to keep the Diagnostic conversation going week after week!
We mentioned that Josh is very goal oriented. When asked about 2023 goals he first cited the twelve workstations, but he won’t stop there. He wants to remain at the top of FTAs in the Southwest region with a goal of 52 FTAS for 2023, that’s one per a week. Presently, subscription dollars are producing over $350 per week for him while he aims to shoot higher to receive $500 per week. Imagine getting an extra couple grand each month in residual dollars - what would you do with that extra cash flow?
Thank you so much for sharing your story and the great insights about growing your Diagnostic business. We look forward to hearing about your success in the future.
Jamie at Valencia Automotive Moises at Brothers Automotive