Meet Brian Bradfield (left), owner of SBB Enterprises, LLC based out of Western Kansas, Garden City area, Central Region, Jacobs FPT. Pictured at this year’s Kick Off Meeting, Brian is receiving one of several awards from his Sales Developer, Bryan O’Grady. One of the awards he received is the coveted 18+ FTA (First Time Activation) Award. Actually, Brian was #1 in the Jacobs FPT for 2022 with 39 FTAs! His goal for 2023 is 52 FTAs, one per week -- and he has a solid plan to get there.
When we asked Brian’s Sales Developer, Bryan O’Grady, if he could describe Mr. Bradfield in one sentence, he only needed two words: Master Prospector!
When we asked Quintin Sams, DSD, the same question, he also only needed a few words: Master of Trades. When asked to expand on that, Quinten said that Brian always sets the expectation for a future trade on every sale. For example, when selling a SOLUS LegendTM, Brian will say, “We will trade you up to an APOLLO-D9 TM or a TRITON-D10TM in a couple years.” Wow! That may be the key to how Brian consistently sells new and used platforms at such a high level.
Brian’s Business Manager, Cord Jacobs, spent some time on Brian’s store during leadership/socket week and witnessed top down selling at its finest. He told us that he was amazed that no matter what platform a customer was interested in, or price range they could afford, Brian always demonstrated a ZEUS+TM (This explains why exactly half of their total FTAs this year are ZEUS+TM). Brian’s attitude on this boils down to three things Cord said:
1. Top down demonstration/selling and then set the expectation for future trade ups.
2. Always write an offer (quote) on ZEUS+TM along with an offer on the platform that fits their current budget.
3. Demo and write quotes to everyone, every day.
Brian told us that his assistant of 4 years, Nick Maas, was an important factor in the success of the diagnostic portion of his business. He actually called Nick his “ace in the hole.” In fact, Brian said if a customer wanted to get too technical, he would hand them over to Nick. Nick loves Fast-Track® Intelligent Diagnostics and closes 90% of platform sales using it.
Last fall during the ZEUS+TM product release, Brian and Nick decided to “go big” and ordered an unprecedented amount - TWELVE! Then the work began where Nick and Brian brainstormed on their sell-through strategy. They decided to start with trading up their existing heritage ZEUS® customers. Wondering what approach would be best, Nick had an idea to compare upgrading to ZEUS+TM as if upgrading to the latest cell phone. It turned out to be a GREAT IDEA! Compared to national results, their ZEUS+TM FTA percentage to total platform FTAs is extremely high.
Brian stated that diagnostic tools are the best and “easiest to sell”. We repeat: Easiest to sell. That’s a rare statement, so we ask him to elaborate. Brian gave us several reasons:
• He thinks that a Snap-on Scan Tool is a necessity, not just a luxury anymore. It’s easy to share that message.
• He believes EVERYONE needs a diagnostic tool. It’s easy to talk to EVERYONE from the oil change technicians to shop owners.
• It’s easy to take notes in Chrome to remind us when customers will be ready for their first scan tool or to trade up to the next level.
• It’s easy to “mine” for prospects from the Super Speedway surveys. Need a big ticket sale for the week? Look there.
• It’s easy to create excitement when our TechKnow, Jared Lane, is in the route with his showroom. Sold a couple workstations already this year with him.
• How easy can it be to keep loaner scan tools in the hands of customers, instead of on the store? There is always someone in the route willing to try one out - and when someone holds a puppydog - they usually want it!
We heard that Brian was very creative with Reasons To Buy Now (RTBN) items. He will walk through Sam’s ClubTM and Walmart® looking for ideas that will make someone want to buy. He has bought them out of electronic equipment and sporting goods, on the quest to sell more. He has even had items custom made to cause a RTBN.
When asked about taking trades, Brian said he loved taking a competitors tool on trade. Not to resell, of course, but to do side-by-side comparisons. Using this tactic of comparative advertising, his customers see that there is none better than a Snap-on® Diagnostic diagnostic tool.
Brian and Nick, thank you for sharing your highly successful ideas with us and we certainly wish you continued success. Keep having fun.